Long-term power options for Miata

ecam8000 · Postby **ecam8000** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

Agreed, at the bare minimum, race the turkey and see if the NA or NB Miata is the car for you. Also, no one is going to protest your car at the local level, go to Nationals and win, then they will. Enter STS or STR and if you like it, I will help you get the car where you want it.

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

erod550 wrote:Were you really buying the car to win at autocross though? Why not just run it as is and while you won't be competitive with the top guys, you will still have fun, and the car will still be a blast to drive.

I follow your logic, and agree with you. There's a good chance that's exactly what I'll do. However, part of the appeal of a Miata is the fact that it's a cheap way to have fun, and at least be competitive in the realm of the SCCA (not expecting to win anything, but I do enjoy competition- who doesn't?).

The thought that is running through my head is that for the cash I'm dropping/going to have to drop into this bugger, I could just buy a newer model that's bone stock/nothing I need to fix lol. Or, if I just want to have fun, while I've driven NA, NB & NC Miata's, they're fun, but at the same time, they don't match the fun factor of my old MR2 Turbo.... I was trying to keep the entry price low, but as I'm finding more and more things wrong with the car (i.e. money that needs to be spent), I'm approaching the price I would have paid for another MR2, at which point, while I enjoy Miata's, if price is equal (it's getting pretty close lol), I would rather drive the mid-engined, turbocharged car (read: snap-oversteer, plenty of torque & lots of fun).

See where I'm going with this?

I'm probably just venting my thoughts here, and will probably just keep the car (it will be cheaper to fix than an SW20 MR2 turbo when it breaks lol), but before spending anymore cash, I am weighing my options.

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

ecam8000 wrote:Agreed, at the bare minimum, race the turkey and see if the NA or NB Miata is the car for you. Also, no one is going to protest your car at the local level, go to Nationals and win, then they will. Enter STS or STR and if you like it, I will help you get the car where you want it.

You guys are awesome! Thanks for the offer, I'll be taking you up on it. I honestly wouldn't sell the bugger without at least tracking it a few times to see how much I liked it, but am just keeping the thought in the back of my head (i.e. another MR2 turbo haha, I really did enjoy that car).

On another note, while I whine about spending cash on a 21 year old car, I found a guy with a full power steering setup (rack, pump, reservoir & all the hard lines) for $250, so I bought it haha. Honestly, I figured even if I decided to sell the car later, having P/S in it can do nothing but help, and will make the bugger a bit easier to park haha!

erod550 · Postby **erod550** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

Even a bone stock NB for a bit more money is still probably going to have over 100k and have stuff that needs replaced. That's why even though I've spent over 5k on my car after replacing a bunch of parts, I still am glad I have it and didn't buy another car for 5k, because that car would have its own problems. I now know this car inside and out and know what's wrong with it and what has been replaced recently.

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

erod550 wrote:Even a bone stock NB for a bit more money is still probably going to have over 100k and have stuff that needs replaced. That's why even though I've spent over 5k on my car after replacing a bunch of parts, I still am glad I have it and didn't buy another car for 5k, because that car would have its own problems. I now know this car inside and out and know what's wrong with it and what has been replaced recently.

Touche sir.

erod550 · Postby **erod550** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

I thought the same thing right after I bought my car and started figuring out all the stuff that needed fixing. I was like man wtf did I get myself into. But now a little over a year and 19k very reliable miles later I'm glad I bought it, although I did buy mine for a different purpose than you bought yours.

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

Well, after looking into it, I think I'm going to keep the car and I'm going to put P/S back in it. Beyond that, I'm going to leave the A/C out of the car, and I'm going to keep the 4.10 torsen LSD (there are a few visual clues I can look for besides the previously posted "test" to confirm it's a torsen LSD). It will put me in STR for autoX/won't keep up with the NC's & S2000's lol, but it will be a good learning experience, a lot of fun, and since I'm likely to boost it eventually, no use pulling the larger/more robust 7" LSD diff out haha!

I've decided I'm not going to spend cash on an old VLSD just to run STS, when I can just apply that cash towards eventually building a 1.8L or boosting the car.

I would rather have a faster/more fun car than build a car to meet a class spec.

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

erod550 wrote:I thought the same thing right after I bought my car and started figuring out all the stuff that needed fixing. I was like man wtf did I get myself into. But now a little over a year and 19k miles later I'm glad I bought it, although I did buy mine for a different purpose than you bought yours.

19k miles?!? Good lord man, that's a lot of driving in one year for a guy that has 2 cars haha!

I think I was typing as you posted.... I'm glad you know the feeling, but you're right, I'm getting pretty familiar with all the car's "little issues", and already dropped a decent amount of cash to get her running healthy, so might as well keep it and have fun. I am going to put P/S back in the car though :lol:

I bought this thing to have fun on a track/autoX, so dammit, I suppose that's just what I'll have to do. Get this bugger out there, and start finding the car's limits (it's been so long since I've driven anything even remotely competitively, I have a feeling I'm going to be the limiting factor, not the car haha).

Just curious, when you bought yours, what was your original purpose?

Dange · Postby **Dange** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

ive driven sw20 mister twos, and yes they are alot of fun and yes every time i see a clean one, i think i should have bought one instead of my miata.
that is untill i drive my miata.
the snappy responsive fun that you get with a miata is something that you wont find this side of a lotus elise.
sure the torque is missing right now, but rsb. roll bar, possibly with the bossfrog door bars, a fm butterfly brace. and a set of cheap wide sticky wheels and tires.. youll have all the fun you can handle...
if you want to bump the power RIGHT now. you can usually surf miataturbo.net and wait for someone to sell their turbo kit. the greddy 1.6l turbo is about 1300 bucks new. and if you get it used its a hell of a steal. youll get to about 120-130 rwhp, compared to your lucky to get 80 now. (i had intake/exhaust/headers/ ps/acdelete and barely hit 99whp in southern az)

my current miata. im not even remotely competitive. im stuck in bsp against evos, m series bmw's, sti's, etcetc.

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

Dange wrote:ive driven sw20 mister twos, and yes they are alot of fun and yes every time i see a clean one, i think i should have bought one instead of my miata.
that is untill i drive my miata.
the snappy responsive fun that you get with a miata is something that you wont find this side of a lotus elise.
sure the torque is missing right now, but rsb. roll bar, possibly with the bossfrog door bars, a fm butterfly brace. and a set of cheap wide sticky wheels and tires.. youll have all the fun you can handle...
if you want to bump the power RIGHT now. you can usually surf miataturbo.net and wait for someone to sell their turbo kit. the greddy 1.6l turbo is about 1300 bucks new. and if you get it used its a hell of a steal. youll get to about 120-130 rwhp, compared to your lucky to get 80 now. (i had intake/exhaust/headers/ ps/acdelete and barely hit 99whp in southern az)

my current miata. im not even remotely competitive. im stuck in bsp against evos, m series bmw's, sti's, etcetc.

LOL, I guess I'm going to have to really push this thing to see how it stacks up to my old MR2

I can probably hold off on the power for a while, but will keep my eyes open for an used deals I run across.

I've driven a few NB MSM's back in the day (used to work at a Mazda dealership years ago), and I won't lie, I've always loved those cars! While it wasn't necessarily a popular opinion, I always preferred the NB MSM's over the newer NC's. I'm a big fan

Yeah, I know what you're up against in BSP.... tough field to say the least, but at least you're having run right?

erod550 · Postby **erod550** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:14

roninsoldier83 wrote:19k miles?!? Good lord man, that's a lot of driving in one year for a guy that has 2 cars haha!

I think I was typing as you posted.... I'm glad you know the feeling, but you're right, I'm getting pretty familiar with all the car's "little issues", and already dropped a decent amount of cash to get her running healthy, so might as well keep it and have fun. I am going to put P/S back in the car though

I bought this thing to have fun on a track/autoX, so dammit, I suppose that's just what I'll have to do. Get this bugger out there, and start finding the car's limits (it's been so long since I've driven anything even remotely competitively, I have a feeling I'm going to be the limiting factor, not the car haha).

Just curious, when you bought yours, what was your original purpose?

A year and 3 months, but yea I drive a lot. A 112-mile a day commute will really run up the miles.

My original purpose for buying my Miata was a cheap, reliable beater that's also fun to drive, since I was going to be driving it so much. I needed something to keep the miles off my MS3 after I put 10k miles on it in the first 4 months I had it. I didn't want it to be like my SRT-4 which had 86k miles in 5 years (7k in the first year before I got the job in Denver, 79k miles in 4 years after that). I could have gotten a Civic with 150k miles for a little more that would have been reliable also, but would be boring as hell to drive and I would hate it.

DJ · Postby DJ » Sat May 07, 2011 9:14

sr20 from 240

iani1.1 · Postby **iani1.1** » Sat May 07, 2011 9:14

13b t2 or 20b no boost

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Sun May 08, 2011 9:14

DJ wrote:sr20 from 240

iani1.1 wrote:13b t2 or 20b no boost

LOL, honestly, for the amount of cash I would have to spend to fabricate everything for both of those motors, I would rather have a V8 haha! Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the SR20DET motor, but I'm likely not going to waste my time on getting a turbo-4 to work when it would cost less to just turbo the 4-cylinder that's already in there.

Honestly, it's only been a few weeks, and I've almost already pulled the trigger a couple of times on picking up a used turbo kit for the stock 1.6L.... they're just so dirt cheap for these cars!! Seriously, turbo kits in good shape going used for $1500 is pretty common from what I've seen on miataturbo.net. The eBay kits are even cheaper new, but if I'm going to spend the money, I'm going to get exactly what I want, not some dated T3/T4 and poorly made Chinese piping.

At this point, I think I'm just going to turbo the 1.6L, pick up an extra shortblock to build up and call it a day. While a lighter aluminum block like the SR20 would be nice, it appears as though the cast iron 1.6/1.8 motors take to boost pretty well, and I'm not greedy, I think ~200+whp in this car would be a riot to drive.

erod550 · Postby **erod550** » Sun May 08, 2011 9:14

http://www.miataturbo.net/showthread.php?t=56813

$675 for a used turbo setup without EMS.

Long-term power options for Miata

Long Term power options for my Miata:

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