Media | Articles
There’s a Gated Shifter for the First-Generation Miata
From 3D-printed switch blanks to V-8-swap kits, there’s a tremendous amount of aftermarket support for the first-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata. Minottek, a small U.S. company started by Ryan Conforti, is joining the list of brands helping owners personalize their roadster with a Ferrari-inspired gated shifter.
The kit is compatible with every stick-shifted variant of the first-generation (NA) Miata. Minottek developed it as a bolt-on part that’s relatively straightforward to install. It includes a 20-millimeter stainless-steel shifter, a brass lower bushing, a dust boot, and, of course, a gorgeous gated plate made with brushed stainless steel. It retains the factory shifter geometry, while a black bezel adds a finishing touch to the design.
It sounds like a great deal of research went into developing the gated shifter. Minottek explains how it started with 3D scans of the original Miata shifter to ensure its part fits as seamlessly as possible. It 3D-printed prototypes to figure out what worked and what didn’t, spending more than 200 hours making more than 20 revisions to the design. It’s realistic enough to point out there’s still room for improvement: “We cannot guarantee a perfect plastic color match to the Miata interior,” according to a disclaimer on its website.
Pricing is set at $550 excluding tax and shipping, so it’s not cheap, but there aren’t a lot of other options if you want to put a gated shifter in a first-generation Miata. The box includes all of the hardware needed to install the kit and, crucially, instructions. Find a 10-millimeter socket, a socket wrench, and a Phillips screwdriver, and you’ll be ready to shift your Miata like you’d shift a classic Italian car in an hour or two.
Minottek is a relatively young company, and it looks like the shifter is the only part it currently sells. Its website claims that new products are coming soon, however, and reading through comments left on its Instagram page reveals some of what Conforti has in store. One of its next releases is a six-speed gated shifter designed to fit both the NB1 and NB2 generations of the Miata.
“The NB Miata gated shifter kit will be ready around April, for both the five- and six-speed,” Conforti tells Hagerty. “I [also] have an ND kit on deck that should keep me busy for a little while. From there, I may backpedal to the NC or move towards the BRZ/GR86 platform.”
Find more values
Search for prices of other cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles
That’s very cool looking. I have an NA Miata and always assumed that the shift pattern was so tight this was not possible. Most aftermarket shifters focused on being a “quick” shifter, usually with just a shorter shift lever, or even just a lower profile shift knob, to mixed success. The factory shift knob was weighted to mitigate the ratchety feel when going into second – something exaggerated with a lighter shift knob. This gated unit looks to have a longer shift lever with the shift knob sitting up higher, giving it more mechanical advantage, although I really can’t be sure just from these pictures. Nevertheless, very cool looking. I just replaced the bushing in mine and replaced all the seals, lubricant and installed a new boot. The nylon bushing eventually disintegrates. Very easy to access and disassemble so I’m sure this gated shifter is very easy to install.
The shifter was already great no need to make it more difficult. As they wear these gates become obstacles.
It looks cool. I would be curious on how it changes the feel of the shifter first.
Meh, I have been happy pushing around the stock lever for the last 26 years, I really don’t feel the need to try something new now. I will admit that it does look pretty cool.
A lot of money and effort to make shifting more difficult. Looks cool though.
Don’t mess with what works. If Mazda thought it was an improvement, they would have made it like that. They have most everything else right.
What is the point? Why try to reinvent the wheel? Shifter is perfect as it is.