by Zack K
The day I bought my Mazda Miata, it only took one on-ramp to know I would like to do an engine swap. It’s size and low ride-height make it feel faster than it is, but thanks to an upbringing of muscle cars, an STI and gloriously high-caliber press cars, 130-ish horsepower does not cut it. Engine swaps are fairly common in Miata, with many people opting for V-8 LS power or the occasional SR20 plant. But I had always thought a bike motor was a cool idea. Bikes are small, Miatas are small, the high-revs and banshee exhaust note seemed to suit the small roadster much better than a loud V-8. This idea was given new life at the 24 Hours of Lemons at Buttonwillow, where we saw a Geo Metro buzzing around the track powered by a CBR1000 motor. It’s small and crazy and I loved it.
Since I lack the tools, space, time, know-how and funds to undertake this project, it was doomed to lay dormant in my mind for years. Odds are I would sell the Miata and trade up before I would try to learn engineering in the TST garage. Thankfully, someone else decided to give it a shot. The guys at MotoIQ have a new project: Miatabusa. One guess to figure out what that means. Oh what a name. They’re putting the engine from the king of the straight-line racers – the Suzuki Hayabusa- into their NB Miata and they’ve documented every step in funny, intelligent detail. If I took this on, it would have a cooling system made out of bendy straws. Not these guys. Solid works computer design, CNC machine, measuring, all the proper tools and skill to do it right. In fact, the idea is for this build to be an R&D project to build a kit, so the mildly talented big-dreamers like me can do the swap. At the end, they’re aiming for a 2000lb, 171hp Miata that retains the stock transmission and daily functionality with a proven, race-ready power train. And eventually they want to turbo it. I like these guys.
They’re 12 steps in so far, with a lot more to go. Jump to their site to go through the posts, covering everything from sub-frame issues, transmission shafts to custom gauges and exhaust. It’s actually inspired me to consider hanging onto my NB for the long-term. I can’t wait til it’s done.
Source: MotoIQ
