Who Makes the Monster Miata?
Monster Motorsports (MM), a San Diego-based company owned by La Forza Motors (the Ford-powered Italian SUV specialty vehicle company), popularized the term Monster Miata by putting Ford 5-liter-V8's into Mazda Miatas. Their precious Monsters have made their way into lots of car magazines such as Road and Track, Car and Driver, and Miata Magazines. You can find Monster Motorsports' contact information under the vendor's listing page of "Miata.net." or . There are NO other companies that specialize and commercially produce Monster Miatas.
Monster Miata
MM makes three models of Monster Miatas. The basic Monster package includes the Ford 302 cubic inch (5-liter) V8, Ford Worldclass T5 transmission with Thunderbird rear end, upgraded cooling system, Flowmaster dual exhaust, firmer suspension and a 4-point roll cage. The Mega Monster is the basic package with a supercharger and body kits. The third one, and less well known of the Monster family, uses a supercharged 1.8-liter Miata engine. My discussion here will only focus on V8-powered Monsters. I don't think it is appropriate to call a supercharged 4-cylinder Miata a Monster. It's an over-statement of the car's raw prowess.
Engine
The engine is typically salvaged from post-1991 Mustangs for decreased overhead and the potency of that year's engine. Ford used forged instead of cast-iron pistons only in those few years before they downgraded the engine displacement to 4.6 liters. Engines from those model years are particularly strong because they can readily handle significant horsepower upgrades without worrying about the pistons bending. The transplanted engine puts out 225 horsepowers in the Monster and it is completely stock compared to its placement in a Mustang.
Transmission
The Ford T5 transmission used is also stock to post-1988 Mustang GT's. Although there are a few different version of T5's, but most of them are capable of handling at least 350-400 horses. To compliement the increased torque and horsepower, the rear end also had to be replaced. Original Monsters came with RX-7 rear ends, but they are currently using Thunderbird 7.8-inch rear ends because its higher torque tolerance.
Cooling system
A compact but efficient 3-row, 18-fin per inch radiator replaces the stock radiator. As is the case with Mustang GT's, the thermastat is set at a little over 190 degrees. Two additional full-time fans are affixed to the front of the radiator to pull more air into the radiator. With the air condition option installed, MM places an additional A/C radiator between the two fans and the 18-fin/inch radiator. These cooling components hook up directly to the stock Ford A/C compressor and clutch assembly. Unforetunately this additional A/C radiator compromises the cooling capability of the engine, especially when driven during stop-and-go traffic.
Exhaust System
The exhaust system includes JBL Shorty headers hooked up to a set of Flowmaster dual chamber dual exhausts and a pair of dreadful, horse-power robbing, California-spec catalytic converters. The unequal-length shorties are necessary to clear the space underneath the engine and the low ground-clearance of the Miata. Flowmaster are well-known in the Mustang world for their authoritative exhaust roar and less restrictive output. To accommodate the dual exhaust pipes, an opening had to be cut on the left hand side of the rear bumper to give the Monster's butt a balanced look. MM does a rather good job of cutting the bumper. Without careful scrutiny, an onlooker can't really tell that the second exhaust port is not stock.
Suspension Upgrade
MM modified the suspension by replacing the springs, anti-sway bars and wheels. The springs are 1/2 inch shorter and firmer. Unfortunately, they didn't also replace the shocks to balance out the ride correctly. The result is a Monster with a slight tendancy to bob too much, both front and back. You can really see the car squad hard during hard launches. MM uses 15x6.5 wheels at all four corners: 205/50/15 front, and 225/50/15 rear. Also, the brakes are stock but crossed drilled to reduce fading during hard runs.
Mega Monster
The most obvious difference between the Mega Monster and a regular Monster are costmetic. Even from a distance you will immediately notice the bulging, masculine fenders on all four corners. A closer look will reveal two sets of cooling fins on the engine hood, a unique set of center-mounted exhaust pipes, a rear deck spoiler, and larger front air dams that contain two huge, round fog lights. Under the skin, the V8 is complimented further with a compact Bell Whipple Supercharger running at 6.5 psi. Larger 24-pound fuel injectors replace the original 19-pound units to give the engine much-needed boost in fuel pressure. Behind the large opening of the special light-weight 5-spoke wheel openings, beefier and cross-drilled brakes from RX7 help to stop the beast even more effectively. Lateral acceleration is helped by increasing the size of the wheels to 225/50/16 front, and 245/50/16 rear.
With all these additional modifications, the output of the engine increases to 400 HP and 375 lb/feet of torque, resulting in brain numbing performances: 0-60 time of 4 seconds flat, and quartermile of 12.2 seconds.
Available Options
There aren't that many features available. The only significant options on both Monsters are air-conditioning while the body kit (bulging fenders and fins) is optional on the normally-aspirated Monster. Otherwise, there are the basic cosmetic modifications like special leather interior, upgraded shiftnobs and white-gauges. Additionally, with the wide array of aftermarket performance components available in the Mustang world, anything modification you wish to do on the engine or transmission can be arranged easily through MM, your local Ford mechanics, or yourself.
How Much do the modifications cost?
The basic Monster package costs a little over $18,000--you have to provide your own donnor car. The Monster Miata comes with a brand new Miata and all the bells and whistles for a cool 40 grand when it first came out. I believe the Mega Monster package is currently priced at about $48,000. Individual options, I think, are highly negotiable. Some people still find the price tag for either package too steep despite great performance-to-cost ratios relative to other exotics like Porsche Torbo, Diablos, or your daily variety Ferraris. For those much more price-conscious people, used Monsters are great values.
How does the car run? (engine-tranny-exhaust package)
As an overall design, the Monster Miata is basically a Miata shell with Mustang innerds. Since the engine, tranny and exhaust are all from the Ford parts bin, the smoothness of the overall package really depends on how well the parts are tuned and packaged. For those already into Ford performance products, we know that there is a vast array of components that can significantly enhance the drivability and smoothness of this engine-tranny package. The regular service for the Monster, therefore, is almost identical your basic Mustang tune up. The only real difference is where and how the engine and tranny are mounted to the body. This means CHEAP, CHEAP service costs. Despite this wonderful benefit, this kinship to the original Mustangs is not without its penalties--with the big V8 already running (gasp: dare I say?) inefficiently, the engine transplant combined with the small circumfrance of the tires on the little Miata mean that you will only get about 12-15 miles to the gallon! Oh well, you gain some and then lose some.
How does the car handle? (i.e. does it still drive like a normal Miata)
Yes, all the rumors you have heard about the Monster?s unconventional (compared to the original Miata) is true--the Monster is truly a beast of a completely different class. First and foremost, the over-abundance of power to the rear wheels means that you will easily spin the rear wheels out of control both in straight lines and turns. Given the proper shifting techniques you spin the wheels in first, second and even third gear. This also means an excessive amount of oversteer. To make matters worse, the Monster lacks power steering because of the tight packaging under the hood, which makes it difficult to fit a power steering pump and related assembly. This means catching the tail while fishtailing is one straneous affair. And being able to catch the tail with just the right amount of counter steer is incredibly important because the short overall length of the body typically kicks out so quickly that the car gives little warning when its about it wag its tail. You will have to spend some quality time behind the wheels if you want to tame this beast. On the street, an inexperienced driver would be very intimidated both by the power and its excessive tendency to fish tail.
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