Moggy's NC - 'Ella 3'

[Moggy]

Where did you get your shift boots from? I like!

They're from a company called JPM Coachworks in the US, and are made to order. Mine are black alcantara with blue stitching, the fit and quality was very good and the installation simple. I'd probably go leather if I did it again though. Price was about A$200 all up for the two boots and postage.
http://www.jpmcoachworks.com/jpm/shop-by-vehicle/mazda-miata-2006.html

As I said earlier though, I am thinking of getting a few more leather parts made, that's my next direction for the car (along with window tinting, I get the sun straight into my eyes through the drivers window on my way home from work every arvo, starting to bug me).

Any thoughts about new headers and/or the ECU reflash?

I'm tempted to get new headers and replace the whole exhaust - but I really want to avoid drone and would like to get a noticeable increase out of it, and that requires more research I haven't done yet. Something to look into next year!

WOW! Super impressed by the HU. Looks like a custom face plate? What kind of money was involved?

Cheers! The face plate is a copy, but is of good quality and I'm very happy with it. Apparently you can get genuine Mazda double din face plates though, cost is around $100. Total cost for the stereo was $4700, so not cheap, and the head unit was $1600 of that. Nav head units are thin on the ground though, and this is the best one around right now. I got it done at Complete Car Sound in Enoggera in Brissy, they've done my previous two cars as well, and the best thing about getting them to do it is their tuning of the crossover points and general sound setup is always exceptional. Apparently it took a lot more effort than they were expecting, since the stock Bose wiring is some bizarre three wire 2 ohm system, and they had to do a significant amount of rewiring. They ended up going about $500 over on labour costs, so lost a bit on that as they stuck to the quoted price. It's all money well spent imo, it has really improved the experience of being in the car for me.

[ksharp]

I like the wheels, really sets off the stormy blue

I also like the headunit, what do you mean by face plate is a copy? I might go down this path as well given stock head unit is somewhat of a let down given age of the NC1s now

Other than that, welcome! You've got very good tastes

[cwto24]

I like the wheels, really sets off the stormy blue

I also like the headunit, what do you mean by face plate is a copy? I might go down this path as well given stock head unit is somewhat of a let down given age of the NC1s now

Other than that, welcome! You've got very good tastes

I got my faceplate from i think Mantra or something. Fits well. I never got to get my HU to work. Ended up pulling out my stereo and staying stock.

[hejira]

Ella 2 was awesome, scary fast. I test drove it with you when you came around to check out my NB8B I had for sale, about 2 years ago.

I ended up selling that NB8B to my parents who still have it

Tempted to do a bosectomy to the NC I own now. I've read somewhere you lose all the bass in the sound in an NC with a non bose speaker set up, but only when the car is moving, is that true at all?

[Moggy]

Ella 2 was awesome, scary fast. I test drove it with you when you came around to check out my NB8B I had for sale, about 2 years ago.

I ended up selling that NB8B to my parents who still have it

Tempted to do a bosectomy to the NC I own now. I've read somewhere you lose all the bass in the sound in an NC with a non bose speaker set up, but only when the car is moving, is that true at all?

I remember that! Your NB was beautiful, extremely well looked after.

I think what you've heard about the bass may have to do with replacing the speakers only. The bose setup has lower impedance compared to normal car audio, and so if you put in a normal speaker with no resistors in line to change the impedance you end up only getting half the power from the amp. This is solved by changing your amp as well. Although, you could be talking about something else that I have no idea about!

i do know that I removed the entirety of the bose system, and have had no issues, it sounds superb!

[Moggy]

Unfortunately Ella 3 will be up for sale shortly, due to the all too common reason that we have a baby, and I lost the argument over whether we sell my car or my wife's JCW Mini. So now I'm in the market for an Audi A4 2.0T quattro. I am planning over the next couple of years though to buy either an NA or Porsche 986 Boxster in average condition and rebuild the engine, vehicle and respray, that should keep me happily busy for a while.