Build Breakdown: Cash Allen's Ecoboost Swapped Miata / Built For HPDE & Autocross!

Posted by Leo Minard on 16th Jun 2025

Time slashing machine built in just 4 months!

Cash grew up in a racing household, with his dad being a long time drag racer he knew he wanted to do something in motorsports. Purchasing the Miata roughly 2 years ago up until now has seen a few phases. In roughly 4 months he turned this thing from a street car to a time slashing ripper! We at JEM-Sport believe Cash is really paving the way for the Ecoboost swapped miata world. Let's break down his setup below!

Drivetrain:
2013 Ford Escape 2.0
JEM-Sport wiring harness and ECU
Custom poly motor mounts
Custom trans mount
ZF 5 speed transmission w/ JEM-Sport adapter plate, Flywheel & clutch kit
8.8 rear diff w/ Monster Miata mounts and axles
Driveshaft pro driveshaft
EB mustang intake manifold
Duratec ford ranger oil pan w/ custom baffling
AEM Fuel pump w/ Radium regulator plumbed with Vibrant Performance products

So we had to ask Cash, Why Ecoboost over the stock engine?

As you may or may not know the stock miata engines are fairly easy to turbo and make around 220hp pretty easily. Whether they have been proven as "reliable" or not is hit or miss in our opinion. So what was Cash's response?

"To make any reliable power on an OEM engine you're looking at alot of NON OEM engineering. You're replacing basically everything but the long block. The Ecoboost is good for 350-375 with just a turbo and some fueling mods."

It seems Cash wants to leave it up to the engineers as much as he can and we cant really disagree with that. OEM's have millions of dollars into R&D so trying to keep as much of that unopened goodness in as you can typically leads to more days on track!

Speaking of track, lets check this thing out on track!

Enjoy some pictures of this sweet miata,

So what makes this thing corner so good? What keeps Cash comfortable inside while hes railing corners? How does he monitor the data to know the cars safe? And.... most importantly what keeps this thing cool lap after lap?

Suspension:
MeisterR coilovers
Racing beat sway bars
Super miata hubs
Poly bushings everywhere

Aero:
9Lives racing wing
1 good ole wooden front splitter

All of this is put to the ground through some Advanti Storm wheels wrapped in Vitour tires. Honestly pretty simple? But if you know anything about miata's and racing then you've probably heard of the series "Spec Miata" which proves these cars don't need much to be great. So now that we know what makes Cash's miata corner so good, let's dive into the cooling system and the interior of this thing.

Cooling:
Speedway motors big-block ford double pass radiator
Depo Racing FoST intercooler
Setrab oil cooler
Racelouvers RX hood extractors
Ducting/ Everything is ducted

Interior:
Ultra shield seats
Hard Dog roll bar
OMP seat belt harness
Momo steering wheel
AIM MXG Strada digital display
Flocked dash

All in all this things fairly "simple" and we love to see it. When it comes to getting on track, simplicity is always the way. You want to maximize reliability and serviceability at every corner, Looks like Cash has done just that. The car doesn't just stop here as Cash is constantly evolving the miata into something better, knocking down his lap times 1 event at a time. In its current form the miata has gone 2:07 at VIR (Virginia international raceway) and Cash's current goal is to get that down to a 2:02!

The future for Cash and his miata are bright.

If you wanna check out more of Cash's miata head over to his instagram ( @miata.st )

See you on the next one!