Flyin' Miata : Recommended reading

If you're looking for some other good Miata books, here's what we suggest. We've paired with Amazon to bring you low prices and free shipping in the US with a minimum order of $25 of these titles. Simply click on the links below and it'll take you to their website. If you're outside the US, check your local flavor of Amazon to get local pricing.

Mazda MX-5 Miata 1.6: Enthusiast Workshop Manual
	One of the classic Miata books. Rod Granger took a Miata apart and reassembled it, documenting the whole thing. Think of it as a factory manual with different pictures. It can be a bit tough to follow the structure at first, but it's a good reference. It's not as detailed as "Performance Projects" by Keith Tanner, but it covers a wider range. Everybody should have both.

Mazda MX-5 Miata 1.8: Enthuasiast Workshop Manual
	Just like the 1.6 Enthusiast's Manual, but for the 1994-97 cars. Some of this will apply to the 1999-05 cars as well, but not everything.

The following books aren't Miata-specific, but they're good ones to have regardless.

Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving
	Skip Barber doesn't just know how to drive fast, he knows how to make you drive fast. If you're building a high-performance Miata, you need to know how to drive it quickly and safely. That's what Skip will do for you. And since you can drive an MX-5 at Skip's schools, we already know he approves of your choice of cars.

High-Performance Brake Systems: Design, Selection, and Installation
	A quality book on how brakes work and how to optimize them. Theory and testing written in an easy-to-read style. If you're trying to figure out how to make your brakes work as well as possible, or why you should install an adjustable proportioning valve, or how to bed in a new set of pads (and why!), James Walker has the answer.

Tune to Win
	If you don't have this book, you're not a gearhead. It's that simple. Carroll Smith explains everything you need to know about building a fast and reliable race car - and it's fun to read.

Engineer to Win
	You know you're going to get the fundamentals when chapter five is called "Historic Overview of Man's Production of Iron and Steel". This is a tech book, pure and simple. If you want to know how to design, build, fabricate and maintain a stressed race car, you need it.

Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook
	Otherwise known as "screw to win". Everything you wanted to know about fasteners. And possibly a bit more.

Race and Rally Car Sourcebook: The Guide to Building and Modifying a Competition Car
	A general guide to building a competition car, mostly focused around construction of a formula or hillclimb car from the ground up. Still, it covers a wide range of information. What makes this book stand out is the context - it's full of stories of various race cars and what worked. It also has histories of particular race cars, successful or not.

How to Make Your Car Handle
	It's not a new book, but it's an interesting read. It's certainly not Miata-specific and some of the information is dated - however, there's some good setup information here.

21st Century Performance
	Out of print, but worth hunting down. Written by the editor of the fantastic Autospeed website, it covers not only performance concepts but how to test and improve your car. Everything from turbo theory to aerodynamic testing.

Looking for something a little lighter to read? Meet Buddy Palumbo. Hint - these make great gifts for the car nut in your life.

The Last Open Road
	Burt "B.S." Levy's wonderful story of racing in the 50's. Join Buddy Palumbo as he becomes a foreign car mechanic more or less accidentally, falls in love and somehow ends up being on the inside of the growing sportycar racing scene.

Montezuma's Ferrari: And Other Adventures
	Buddy Palumbo returns and manages to get himself involved in the Carrera Panamerica, the 12 hours of Sebring and other shenanigans. Second in the series, and just as funny as the first.

The Fabulous Trashwagon
	If you hang around race cars long enough, you decide you can build your own that's better and faster. And that's just what Buddy Palumbo did. He also visits Bonneville and is in the stands for the 1955 Le Mans. Yes, that running of Le Mans. Third in the series.

Toly's Ghost
	The fourth of the Buddy Palumbo series. Buddy's running his own business while his friends are off with the Grand Prix circus in Europe. Not quite as good as the first three, but you'll still be sucked into the world of post-war motor racing when legends were being made in every race.