2000 Special Edition #2441

[lifebyevan]

March 15th, 2021

Happy Birthday to Quinn!! 2000 SE #2441 was built 21 years ago on March 15th, 2000.

To celebrate here are some of the best photos I have of Quinn since I've had the pleasure of owning him.


Photoshoot from my friend who lives near me in Orlando:












Weekend trip to Miami:

[Slampen]

nice and clean.

[HarryB]

That colour scheme is stunning.

[chiefmg]

Your car has only the second of those trunk organizers I have seen (mine was the first). It seems to be pretty rare. Did you get the umbrella with it? I don't know for sure if one was included or not, I didn't get one.

[lifebyevan]

Your car has only the second of those trunk organizers I have seen (mine was the first). It seems to be pretty rare. Did you get the umbrella with it? I don't know for sure if one was included or not, I didn't get one.

I did not get the umbrella with mine either. I always assumed it was an option when ordering the trunk organizer because of how rare they are. They show one in this Saratoga ad a fellow enthusiast shared with me a while ago: https://imgur.com/GX6l4ea

I'll probably source a similar-looking umbrella to go there at some point.

Fun Fact: I keep a spare supercharger belt and a fresh set of plugs in one of my pouches and sunscreen in another (top-down life)

[chiefmg]

I also have one of those small pouches (just right for holding CDs) shown in the ad that I keep in the trunk organizer. Since it just Velcro's to the carpet I don't want to risk some clown thinking they need it worse than I do.

[— kung fu jesus —]

That SE was supposed to come with a picnic basket set. A friend bought one new and he had it.

[chiefmg]

That SE was supposed to come with a picnic basket set. A friend bought one new and he had it.

From what I can gather, owners of the SE were given some sort of voucher that they had to submit in order to get the picnic backpack. Not everyone did. You can find them on eBay occasionally, that is where I got mine from. There was also some sort of CD that was supposed to showcase the Bose system, I haven't found one of those.

Other SE models had similar offerings. I have a leather duffle with a Miata SE badge, as well as a folding ground mat (like for when you have a picnic). No idea just which years those were for.

[Greasemonkey2000]

https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=737046

[lifebyevan]

I also have one of those small pouches (just right for holding CDs) shown in the ad that I keep in the trunk organizer. Since it just Velcro's to the carpet I don't want to risk some clown thinking they need it worse than I do.

After reading this I actually started using mine to hold CDs I keep mine on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel.

From what I can gather, owners of the SE were given some sort of voucher that they had to submit in order to get the picnic backpack. Not everyone did. You can find them on eBay occasionally, that is where I got mine from. There was also some sort of CD that was supposed to showcase the Bose system, I haven't found one of those.

Other SE models had similar offerings. I have a leather duffle with a Miata SE badge, as well as a folding ground mat (like for when you have a picnic). No idea just which years those were for.

I've heard the same thing. Only some dealerships were cool enough to give you a mail-in voucher to receive your "free gift" when you purchased the car new. I also got mine on eBay, but I am still searching for the Mazda Bose Sampler CD as well. There was a picnic set with the CD included on eBay a week or two ago and asked if they would sell just the CD to me but they declined my request.

For now, we can enjoy the silly lyrics of one of the most famous songs on the CD, thanks to the internet:
Avocado by Small Potatoes - http://www.smallpotatoesmusic.com/times/avocado.html

For those who have not heard it, listen for the lyrics where they mention "a Little red Miata convertible"

https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=737046

First time I have seen the original box for one of these, super neat! We have to get everyone together and have a Miata picnic party

[lifebyevan]

March 9th, 2021

Baseline testing is underway. I have decided I am going to run the car at the drag strip, autocross, and hopefully a track day as it sits. This way, I can track the car’s progress when I add more performance-oriented modifications later on. These modifications will also be supplemented with regular visits to the dyno for tuning.

Before I go any further, I suppose now would be a good time to list all the modifications the car has. Thanks to Steve (BRGNA8) for the inspiration on the modification list format.


ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN
- DDMWorks Air Intake (modified)
- Generic Aluminum Radiator
- Jackson Racing Boost/Timing Controller
- Jackson Racing M45 Supercharger Kit
- Mazdaspeed Oil Cap
- NGK Spark Plug Wires
- Racing Beat Dual Tip Muffler
- Thompson Racing Oil Filter Relocation
- Track Dog Racing 4-Rib Supercharger Tensioner
- Walbro 255LPH Fuel Pump

SUSPENSION & HANDLING
- Racing Beat Front Sway Bar
- Racing Beat Front Sway Bar End Links

WHEELS, BRAKES & TIRES
- BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2 Tires
- Centric Blank Brake Rotors
- GLOC R6 Brake Pads
- Techna-Fit Stainless Steel Braided Lines

EXTERIOR
- Flyin’ Miata High-Flow Grille
- Moss Miata Raked Shorty Antenna
- NB2 Tail Lights
- Wicked Loud! Horns

INTERIOR
- Clearwater Speakers
- Dealer-Installed Alarm System with Keyless Entry
- Pioneer Head Unit
- Moss Miata Interior Light Kit
- NB2 Airbag
- NB2 Leather Seats (2003 Special Edition Gray)
- NB Storage Tray/SRS Delete Cubby
- Saratoga Saddle Bags
- Team Miata ‘Trunk View’ Lighting Kit
- Visor Delete Plates

MAINTENANCE & MISC.
- 5XRacing Stainless Steel Braided Clutch Line
- ATE Type 200 Brake Fluid
- Exedy Clutch Master Cylinder
- Exedy Clutch Slave Cylinder
- Fel-Pro Supercharger Outlet Manifold Gasket
- Gates Alternator Belt
- Gates Cruise Control Vacuum Line
- Gates PVC Breather Hose
- Gates Silicone Hose Clamps
- Gates Supercharger Belt
- Gates Supercharger Bypass Vacuum Line
- NGK V-Power ZFR6F-11 Spark Plugs
- O'Reilly DOT 3 Clutch Hydraulic Fluid
- OEM Mazda Driver’s Side Rear Brake Caliper
- OEM Mazda Hood Prop Holder
- OEM Mazda Mass Air Flow Sensor
- OEM Mazda Oil Filler Cap Gasket
- OEM Mazda Oil Filter
- OEM Mazda Throttle Position Sensor
- OEM Mazda Upper Radiator Rubber Insulators
- Reconditioned OEM Nardi Wood Grain Shift Knob
- Redline 75W-90 Differential Fluid
- Redline ML-90 + Lightweight Shockproof Transmission Fluid
- Russell Brake Caliper Speed Bleeders
- Russell Clutch Slave Cylinder Speed Bleeder
- Shell Rotella T5 10W-30 Engine Oil
- Sylvania 9003 H4 Halogen Headlight Bulbs
- Treasure Coast Miata Shifter Rebuild Kit

[HarryB]

Love this format; gives a very clear idea on what has been done. And that's a very nice quality list ;)

[lifebyevan]

March 10th, 2021

I went to my local drag strip and ran my car for the first time. There was a lot of learning involved as it was my first time as a driver on the drag strip. Going into it, my research showed that a stock NB1 can do approximately a 16.0 second quarter-mile, at best a 15.9. My goal was to run a mid to high 14 second quarter-mile. The car makes 150whp and 130tq according to the dyno sheet from Jackson Racing when they installed the supercharger in 2003. The M45 supercharger should be generating about 4-5psi with the stock pulley. The weather was pretty ideal for Florida that night with it being a bit colder (~60°F) and clear skies.

The first run I had was pretty good overall. It was particularly exciting because I got to race my friend in his relatively stock NB2 that was on a Haltech standalone ECU. It made for a pretty good race since he had launch control and flat foot shifting enabled with his ECU, whereas I was on a stock ECU but with the supercharger. My tires spun off the line a bit more than I would have liked but the car hooked up nicely once I was in second gear. My friend in the NB2 was pretty much right there with me until the very end but he could not manage to make up the ground he lost at the beginning of the race. I was able to manage a 60' time of 2.276 and a quarter-mile time of 15.536 at 90.12mph.



The next two runs I did not do as well because the car fell on its face off the line which I knew was bound to happen. This is mainly because with the throttle body being relocated before the supercharger, the car experiences what is known as “lean tip-in”. The best way to describe what lean tip-in feels like is that there is a hesitation or delay from the time you hit the gas to when the car actually registers it and starts to move. This is due to the increased intake air volume between the engine and the throttle body, the car initially does not have enough fuel and goes lean temporarily. The Jackson Racing boost/timing controller is able to compensate for this since I am on stock ECU still, but at times (mainly when launching the car) it just is not quick enough. I was not helping the situation between those two runs because I was not launching at a high enough RPM and was not even getting the tires to spin a little bit. On my worst run, my 60’ time was 2.604, which shows I'm struggling off the line. My quarter-mile time for that same run was 16.002 at 88.71mph (yikes).

To give myself the best chance for my last run of the night, I decided I was going to forget about reaction time and take my time getting a good launch. I was launching the car slightly higher at around 3500-4000RPM. Slipping the clutch is too foreign to me at the moment so I’m just sending it like I’m about to give a local riced out Honda Civic the beans at a red light on my way to the thrift store. On the launch, I spun the tires just enough and the car gripped up amazingly halfway through first gear. It felt like I hit one of those boost pads in Mario Kart, it was awesome. There was no lean tip-in off the line and nothing but clean shifting all the way until the end. I dropped my 60’ time down to 2.229 and ran a quarter-mile time of 15.229 at 90.91mph.

I scanned and compiled all my time slips from that night so you can see my progression with the car. I am car # 81 on all the time slips.



I really feel like the 15.229 was a close to ideal run with my current setup. I went back to the drag strip another night shortly after this and I had a hard time trying to break my previous personal best. I even tried lowering my tire pressure quite a bit and it did not yield any better results. There is for sure some improvement that can be made on my end as a driver but for now, I am happy with my personal best of a 15.229 quarter-mile time. My main takeaway from this is that a standalone ECU would greatly help my times as it would give me the ability to make adjustments for the lean tip-in as well as add features like launch control and flat foot shifting to help with consistency. I am also contemplating doing a dual throttle mod around the same time, which involves adding a second throttle body so that there is one before the intake manifold and one before the supercharger. This apparently would help combat the lean tip-in issue but also help any idle-related issues, which I have my fair share of (more on that later).

[Greasemonkey2000]

I think your best times are very close(14.8) to what they should be if around 150whp according to this 1/4 mile calculator (I've always used this one) and from similarly powered NBs.

As far as the idle droop/stalling issue, I think I finally have Misfire's fixed...but it's rather involved and not for the faint of heart...you have to set the idle at around 1100-1200 RPMs. Four years of dealing with this and within 15 minutes it seems it has been fixed. I knew this was one possible fix...just never tried it.

[dnaha]

How do you like the Clearwater speakers? Worth the money? Looking to upgrade the speaker system in my Miata since I've been feeling like its lacking lately (more than usual)