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I'm trying to imagine, it probably would be so much more reliable and less points of failure to do this naturally aspirated. Shave the head down, get it flowing, and tune it with megasquirt. That's about as cheap as it's going to get. If you can afford a bit of modest headwork, and slightly higher compression pistons, you're already there.
Plus EPA just announced that they want to see more biofuels mixed into gas in the coming years. maybe high compression flex fuel is in your future?
Originally Posted by jcrane82
Some of the early cartech kits didn't have an intercooler either.
I just checked out your build thread. Holy **** *****.....350 rwhp is effing crazy nuts. Nice work!
It'll break in two months, then you'll see me cry about it and I'll leave miatas out of bitterness. Then after a while I'll just head over to the v8roadster forum.
I would actually prefer 150 rwhp naturally aspirated anyway. I really liked the power delivery of my RX-8, and I don't want throttle response to suffer due to a turbo.
I had stated that 150 rwhp FI would be more reliable because that is what I read in Corky Bell's Maximum Boost. Corky explains this in pages 5-6. Basically saying that doubling the power using boost does not equate to double the power load on the engine. http://vasillalov.com/Maximum_Boost-Corky_Bell.pdf
I need to do more research on this yet, but I would really prefer a n/a build....but have reliability concerns about raising the rev limiter on the engine with stock internals.
Really the limiting factor is in the head. If you ever remove your head to rebuild or refresh and shave it down, you can always change the valve springs out while you have your guides and seals inspected. Valvespring kits are about $350 for the fancy ones. You can get away with a lot cheaper (there's information buried here in the forum Volvo springs or whatnot)
Last edited by psyber_0ptix; 12-07-2015 at 04:12 PM.
Got my Xmas present early this year......Yonaka coilovers.
Ride height is 12.25" front and 12.5" rear (measured from center of wheel to fender):
Only driven on them for about 10 miles so far, and I am currently without anti-sway bars (endlink bolts sheared during removal, so I just removed the bars since I plan on replacing them anyway). Even without anti-sway bars, the cars seems like it has more roll stiffness than stock, and the higher spring rate has drastically improved the brake dive I experienced when stock.
I just need to determine if this ride height is a good starting point, and then I will align it myself. Currently at this right height, the rear suspension lower control arms are horizontal. I would think that if I go any lower than this, I might be compromising suspension geometry too much. What are everyone's thoughts on this? My goal is racecar, not ricecar.
My wheel/tire package will more than likely be 205/50 on 15x8 +25.
Aligned the rear end last night. No issues getting the adjusters to move for a 21 year old car, so that was nice. Front end will get aligned in the coming weeks..
Have done a good deal of updates to the car over the past few months.
Here is what I have been doing:
-new timing belt, water pump, tensioner, crank seal, cam seals, and valve cover gaskets
-coolant flush
-sold the 320mm Monte Carlo and picked up a 350mm Monte Carlo wheel with 12mm spacer
-removed soft top and frame
-Garage Star delrin door bushings
-lowered it an additional 10mm and realigned it (ride height is 4.5" front and 4.75" rear, measured to pinch weld with no passengers)
-rolled front and rear fenders to fit new wheels/tires
-15x9 Advanti Storm S1 in Titanium Chrome with 225/45R15 Hankook RS-3
Here are some recent pics:
Roll bar will be the next modification after I save up some $$$ in the coming months. I am unsure which Hard Dog bar to go with though. Right now I am leaning towards the hard core, hardtop, X-brace....since I don't see seats/harnesses in my near future.
Been busy recently. Sold the MINI and picked up a new garage mate for the Miata. Meet the new daily driver:
And here is me bringing it back to Wisconsin from Florida where I picked it up. Had to hit Deal's Gap on the trip home.
Also had the Miata at it's first autocross this past weekend. Car ran well, but was having lots of issues getting grip, specifically in the rear. The day was an exercise in oversteer and trying to control it. I am guessing most of that had to do with tires, since the Hankook RS-3 are more of a track oriented tire and need heat in order to grip.
Current alignment and suspension settings are as follows:
-ride height to pinch welds: 4.25" front, 4.5" rear
-Yonaka coilovers 6k/4k spring rates
-stock front/rear sway bars
-225/45 Hankook RS-3 on 15x9 +25 Advanti S1
-Alignment: -1.5 front camber, -1.5 rear camber
0 front toe, 4mm total toe in rear
After dropping rear tire pressure to 24 psi and front pressure to 26 psi.....then the car started behaving better, but it never felt like it has the cornering power that I think it should. The event was a national level SCCA event with over 250 entrants, so there was 20+ minutes in between runs even having a co-driver that day. The tires were not getting much temperature/pressure growth within the 60 second run.
There is another autocross event this weekend that will be much smaller, so I will see how it performs again before making alignment changes.
I also finally replaced the stock exhaust with the Yonaka cat-back. Don't have any good pictures of it though, but installation was easy and fitment with rear bumper is centered.
I now have the car ready to accept FI parts. I have sorted the handling and safety bits (still need some track brake pads though), so now comes the saving of $$$ and buying of turbo parts! Hope to have a turbo Miata by mid summer of next year.
Car looks great, autobahn is a blast. If you want your FI build to remain reliable, be sure to keep some extra headroom in the budget, cutting corners leads to an unreliable build. You'll likely want to upgrade the brakes as well, if you want to keep tracking it with the added power (especially once you get it out to Road America, which is inevitable since you live in the area). I spy a BHF sticker, one of my favorite tracks back when I was in Milwaukee, tons of fun and perfect for a miata with a little boost.
Car looks great, autobahn is a blast. If you want your FI build to remain reliable, be sure to keep some extra headroom in the budget, cutting corners leads to an unreliable build. You'll likely want to upgrade the brakes as well, if you want to keep tracking it with the added power (especially once you get it out to Road America, which is inevitable since you live in the area). I spy a BHF sticker, one of my favorite tracks back when I was in Milwaukee, tons of fun and perfect for a miata with a little boost.
BHF....YES! One of my favorite tracks since it is less of a power hungry track. Actually my first track day I ever attended was at BHF in my old RX-8. Great track for a well balanced car I think. Here are some pics of my old RX-8 on Blackhawk.
Currently having second thoughts on going turbo with the build. I feel like I will be satisfied with 150 rwhp, since that is higher power/weight ratio than my RX-8 was....and I loved that car's power to weight balance. I might even be able to do 150 whp slightly cheaper if I go naturally aspirated. 10:1 pistons, flow the head, intake/header, plus Megasquirt tune on 91+. That should be 150 whp I would think. The only issue with this plan is that I am near the limit of that motor naturally aspirated unless I want to drop major cash.
12-01-2015, 08:11 AM
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