As of November 2024, CleaR Motorsport has now ceased trading. Some significant life changes and loss of workshop space have unfortunately led me to make this tricky decision.

Many thanks again to all who have trusted me to assist with your car or project, I have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with such a wide range of fellow petrol-heads, and I hope you have too!

I do, however, feel that the knowledge I have built up around mapping / tuning of the ND platform is too good to waste. I will release a full VersaTuner Miata / MX-5 ND 'how to' guide in early 2025, along with some off-the-shelf tunes / maps. This will all be at no cost, a gift to the wonderful community that has given me so much over the years. Please check back later for further details.

Remapping or tuning of cars is one of those things which is often misunderstood. Done correctly, the car will produce more power and torque through the entire rev range, and it is perfectly safe. It can even improve fuel economy - when you're not taking advantage of the improved performance, of course!

Having spent over 300 hours, completed more than 125 map revisions and carried out over 350 full throttle runs from low rpm all the way to the limiter (!) while developing VersaTuner's off-the-shelf (OTS) tunes for the 1.5L ND, I decided that using this knowledge to offer services to other owners would be a great thing to do. I work with ND1 and ND2 platforms of both engine sizes.

The grey area of tuning often comes with inflated numbers and manipulated graphs, but I will always be honest with you about what can be expected from any work. I would rather not have a customer at all than a less-than-delighted one, and only ever include features or adjustments in customer's tunes which I have tested and developed on my own car first.

(My car on the dyno... again... at Clarkson's Autos in Westhoughton.)

With the SkyActiv-G engine found in the MX-5 Mk4 / ND, which is naturally aspirated (no turbo or supercharger), the main power gain comes from changing the position at which the spark plugs fire relative to where the engine is during the combustion stroke. Just a handful of degrees adjustment can produce some remarkable results! We are able to do this due to the higher quality fuel we have access to.

Mazda needed to make the car compatible with all manner of fuel grades and qualities, so there is some performance left 'on the table'. By adjusting ignition timing advance to make the fuel burn at a more optimal position in the combustion stroke, it produces a higher force on the piston, giving more engine torque (this is what actually drives the engine round and thus the car forward, horse power is calculated from torque and engine speed). There are also a bunch of torque limiters throughout the map which need to be removed to allow the engine to take advantage of its new calibration.

The OTS tune I provided to VersaTuner is a 'no frills' version to give the user a taster of what is possible from the software, and although it does offer maximum power and torque, a custom tune gives access to hundreds of other calibration tables.

As well as increased power at full throttle, should you choose to have me carry out a custom remap on your car you will have access to the following adjustments:

- Improved throttle response in neutral, useful for rev-matching on down shifts which protects our gearboxes.
- More sporty rev limiter behaviour; more abrupt than the standard 'engine is slowly dying' sensation.
- Reduced exhaust noise on cold start.
- Smoother and less jerky throttle response, especially in low gears at low speed.
- Improved in-gear throttle response under acceleration, which can be calibrated on a per-gear basis (eg. I can program in less foot movement required to carry out a 6th gear motorway overtake - but all other gears remain the same as normal).
- Updates to the map / tune which take into account future upgrades such as induction kits, free-flowing exhausts, de-catted manifolds / headers, etc.
- General smoothing of all tables to remove 'peaks and troughs', making the car smoother and quicker through the revs.
- Adjustments for gear ratio or differential ratio changes, to ensure the speedo and dashboard gear readings are correct, plus allowing continued seamless use of cruise control.
- Reduction in power in reverse gear (I have quite a long reverse down a bumpy and winding track to my house, and find this really useful!).
- Tuning for ethanol-based fuels, such as e85, or other blends between pure ethanol and regular petrol / gasoline. The ECU has the capacity to allow a little bit of 'flex' fuelling, but the specifics are a touch too complex and long-winded for this list, so please contact me to discuss if you would like to explore this option.
- Further raising of rev limiters and adjustment of intake and exhaust cam timing in case of hardware changes (cams / lifters / valve springs).
- Raising of EGT fuel enrichment correction if using an exhaust system with one or both catalytic converters removed.
- Pops / bangs / crackles / burbles / etc. hugely impact the smoothness of the map / tune, and are not something I accommodate.
- Any feedback you make will be taken into account throughout and the tune / map can be tailored to your requirements, preferences and driving style.

"What sort power increase will my car achieve?". That is quite a tricky question to answer since the ECUs on these cars are extremely clever - they learn in real time and adjust various parameters on the fly, even taking into consideration how you drive and which fuel you use. Each variant of the car even responds differently, as in some cases (specifically the 2.0L ND1) the standard calibration is very conservative, but as a rough guide you will see the following gains to peak performance. All of these figures are when using 99 RON fuel (European grade; equivalent to 94 RON in the USA, for example), such as Tesco Momentum or Shell V-Power. Ethanol-based fuels can see a further increase, and even if you don't have such a high grade of fuel avauilable where you are, I can still make significant smoothness improvements which will make the car quicker on the road:

- ND1 and ND2 1.5L: 10-12bhp and 8-10lbs/ft torque (see dyno graphs below - note that this is just a peak figure and the 'area under the curve' is vastly different as you can see!). Rev limit will be opened up to 7700 in all gears (standard is 7500 in 1st and 2nd, 7200 in 3rd and above).

- ND1 2.0L: Approximately 12-15bhp and 6-8lbs/ft torque. Rev limit opened up to 7300 in all gears (standard is 6900 in 1st and 2nd, 6600 in 3rd and above). Mazda left a lot on the table with this car, especially towards the rev limiter, so we can take advantage of this and make your car feel totally different when pressing on.

- ND2 2.0L: Approximately 6-8bhp and 4-5lbs/ft torque. Rev limit opened up to 7600 in all gears (standard is 7500 in 1st and 2nd, 7200 in 3rd and above). This model was extremely well optimised from the factory so there isn't a huge gain in power here, but driveability, smoothness and willingness to rev can be improved in the same way as the other variants.

Owners of all versions of the car usually report back to me that the car 'feels' faster than the numbers would dictate. This is testament to the flexibility and torque profile of the SkyActiv engine, but also hopefully helps illustrate how the smoothness and power delivery of my maps / tunes improve enjoyment in the real world, as well as on the dyno.

Can you carry out this service for me?

Sadly I no longer offer a tuning service, be that in person or remotely, however I feel that the knowledge I have built up around mapping / tuning of the ND platform is too good to waste. I will release a full VersaTuner Miata / MX-5 ND 'how to' guide in early 2025, along with some off-the-shelf tunes / maps. This will all be at no cost, a gift to the wonderful community that has given me so much over the years. Please check back later for further details. Thank you.

Above: 'Development work' at Anglesey Circuit, June 2023.