There's been much discussion in Miata communities in recent years surrounding the Jackson Racing Cold Air Induction system. We've heard outrageous claims of power and were certainly looking forward to getting our hands on this system for testing.

Initial impressions were certainly positive. As with any other part we've seen from Jackson Racing (whether for the Miata or not), the kit was quite comprehensive. All the mounting hardware (nuts, bolts, zip ties, etc) come packaged neatly in plastic bags. A parts list details every last piece of the kit, so an inventory can be taken before assembly. Five pages of instructions accompany the kit and explain every last step of the installation process, from disconnecting the battery to starting the engine after assembly.

Jackson recommends early in the instructions that the addition of new NGK spark plugs (#971-05 5) is something worth considering before installing the intake. We installed these plugs in Part One of Project Miata several thousand miles ago, so we skipped it here. The instructions also advise that if you want to advance your ignition timing beyond the stock 10-degree base timing (14 degrees is widely regarded as a better setting), now is the time to do it. The Jackson Racing intake blocks your view of the crank pulley, making future timing adjustments far more difficult. We also skipped this step since we had already tested other intakes at the stock setting of 10 degrees BTDC.

The step-by-step instructions are full of useful diagrams and lengthy explanations that walk the installer through a few of the more complicated steps of the installation. Step 21 calls for cutting the stock idle bypass hose-something we did reluctantly since we knew we'd be removing the intake shortly after the test. It shouldn't be a problem though, if you're a normal person who isn't trying to fit four different intakes to your Miata,

We got a bit concerned, however, when we got to step 25, which told us to cut the wiring harness to the airflow meter to add an extension so it could be relocated. What!? We wanted to cut the wiring harness on Project Miata about as bad as we wanted to drive nails into our new tires or drill holes in our new shocks. However, once we got over the initial shock, the procedure looked simple enough. The instructions recommend cutting the harness 5 inches from the air flow meter plug. Follow them.

We wanted to give ourselves a bit more room for error when stripping the wires and decided to cut the harness a little farther from the connector. About 7 inches from the airflow meter plug, the five wires in the factory harness turn into six. To our amazement, Mazda actually spliced wires together inside the harness. Cutting farther from the connector can result in cutting all six wires instead of only five, as are needed to mate with the Jackson extension harness.

Luckily, we cut just close enough to the factory splice to see, but not cut, all six wires. Follow the instructions and you shouldn't have any problems. However, we, re left wondering why, with a kit this complete, Jackson didn't spring for the extra expense of factory connectors to eliminate wire splicing completely. Despite the rather obtuse means of extending the harness, we've had no problems to date. Kudos to Jackson for including...

(RB Note: The article stops at this point. Apparently the remaining text for this section was not included in this issue.)