jake thiewes

Rachelle's Email

An email from my Aunt Rachelle after I sent her some pictures of my new purchase. She had owned a Miata when I was younger - pretty sure hers was a '96 Montego Blue B-Package.

Bill's Final Email

This was the final round of updates from Bill after I bought his car. Truly a nice guy who wanted his car to go to someone else who'd care for it.

Bill's Second Email

Received this email from Bill, the seller, when I got home after the purchase.

AutoCheck Report

I ran an AutoCheck report on the car before I drove to Williamsburg. I'm the third real owner. The report says I'm the fourth, as the car began life as a lease.

Mazda3 Shift Knob

My parents bought me this shift knob for Christmas after I bought the car. It's a fantastic replacement for the stock vinyl knob. The extra weight of this knob decreases shift effort slightly. Although it does extend the throws just a tad, the feel and look are well worth it.

Aluminum

This radiator was purchased "gently used" from a nice guy on the Miata.net forums. I needed it, as my stock plastic-topped radiator was beginning to fracture and ever so slowly leak coolant.

The aluminum units are a hair wider than the stock radiator in manual-transmission Miatas. The automatics (ever rare) use a larger radiator to allow for cooling of the transmission. Or something like that.

Regardless, when you buy an aftermarket radiator, it will be "one-size-fits-all" to allow for the rare auto-trans Miata.

Kosei K1 Racing - 15x7

Yes, they're blue. I think the Kosei K1 Racing wheels are one of the best aftermarket wheels for the Miata. I bought this set from an MM alumni who had them on his Civic. He had painted them blue a while back.

I'm currently considering stripping the blue paint - it looks pretty shoddy up close - and doing a gunmetal finish with red lug nuts.

The wheels are 15x7 and are currently wrapped in a set of Dunlop Direzza DZ101s, sized 205/50/15.

JVC Arsenal Head Unit

This head unit is great. I wanted a unit that provided an excellent USB-based iPod interface, and the Arsenal delivers. The high-quality display and easy controls seal the deal.

I bought this unit as an "open box" clearance from Crutchfield. None of the plastic in the box had been broken yet! The unit is Bluetooth-equipped for my iPhone as well. It's pretty cool to stream Pandora to the car using the AT&T network and Bluetooth, completely wireless.

The Arsenal allows custom coloring of the backlights to match your dash, which was another key selling point. It shows white during the day, and at 7 PM, switches to Mazda Green.

Racing Beat Cold Air Intake

Adds some good noises under-hood when you're really "on it" and in the powerband. The car sounds stock until 50% throttle or more is applied, then it gets more guttural.

The power increases are debatable. Racing Beat claims 5 to 7 HP, and of course, their website has the reviews and articles to back that up. I'm not entirely convinced, though the car does pull a bit stronger in the high RPM ranges.

Bob Wade Auto World - Service

Ad created for Bob Wade Auto World, highlighting their service department.