Countdown to 2025 - #8 - One year of Fahr Vergnugen / driving and modding the MX-5 / Miata (and my Top 3 in Cars)

Countdown + Car + MX-5

8 days... and today, Christmas Eve is upon us, and that means talking about presents. The New Year is almost upon us, and that means top-whatever lists. Let's talk about cars then...

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 5. Installing the Atoto and Accessories

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

I opted to take out the Bose head unit from my MX-5 (Miata) and replace it with an Atoto. These are my trials and tribulations getting the Atoto unit to work... (There weren't many, to be fair, except for that rotten security bolt.)

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 3. Wiring Diagrams

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

When possible I try to understand what I'm doing, and why. That doesn't always work out 😏 but at least I try 😁

This is my first radio install in... well... thirty years? So I grabbed all the diagrams I could find, and tried to understand when I needed SWCs and LOCs, and when not.

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 2. Remove Old Head Unit

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

There are many instructional (?) videos on the Internet that show you how to remove and install a new head unit in an MX-5 NC (aka Miata MK3.5 etc.). 

Some of those videos are pretty good, many others are terrible and awful 😏 so I decided to write this post as a kind of 'addendum', and answer the questions the videos did not. Obviously this is limited to my own setup!

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 1. Parts Required

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

The MX-5 is a great car, but the radio Mazda put in isn't very impressive. So I decided to replace mine.

Here are some notes for those trying to do the same thing... I will add some images that identify some of the things that weren't entirely clear in the videos. Let's start with getting the right parts.