Hello all, grey haired noob here.
09-28-2017, 11:30 AM
#1
Newb
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Nolensville, TN
Posts: 10
Total Cats: 3
Hello all, grey haired noob here.
Well I am not new to forced induction or Miata's but I am new to forced induction Miata's. I also went about 10 years without a Miata in the garage until last weekend.
Previously I owned a 1997 and a 1995 MX-5. Both were raced competitively with the SCCA. I competed in Solo 1 and Solo 2 events, National Tour events, Pro Solo events, and some HPDE days at various tracks around the Southeast. I did some Improved Touring road racing back in the 90's but never in a Miata. I have been through several GTi's, CRX's, a new Mini, Corvette, Mustang, an RX7, a Porsche 914 and more boring street cars than I can count.
Currently in the garage is a 2011 Mazdaspeed 3, a 2012 Mazda 5 parts/people hauler, 1964 Jeep J-200, 1998 Honda VFR800, 1971 Honda CL350, 1972 Honda CB450, 1973 Honda CB350, 2001 Honda CN250, and now the 1996 Miata I just picked up. My main interests shifted from auto racing to vintage motorcycle racing.
So about that new Miata. I almost bought it a year or two ago but was building a new house and could not store it during the transition of multiple moves and garage shuffles. I have known the original owner and builder of the car for approaching 20 years now and have driven the car numerous times at various iterations. It popped back up for sale a week or so ago and I had to get it this time around.
It is a 1996 with 90k miles on it.
Currently installed is a Jackson Racing M45 based supercharger system with approx 5~6 psi.
Major points of the install include:
RS Aizawa headlight intake lid
DDM Works intake
TrackDog SC Belt Tensioner system
Racing Beat resonated mid pipe
Racing Beat catback exhaust
Suspension is:
Koni yellow adjustable shocks
Flyin Miata springs with Flyin Miata rear upper mounts.
Flyin Miata front and rear sway bars with front stabilizer
V8 Roadsters frame rail braces
15x8 6ul wheels with 205-50 Yokohama S Drive
Braided brake lines
StopTech slotted rotors and pads
A few other things including a Hard Dog roll bar round out the many additions.
The main issues to address mostly surround ECU and proper tuning. It still has the original Sebring/MSD box on it to alter timing under boost. It was not ideal when new in the 90's and certainly is far from ideal now. Currently under boost and over 5k rpm it will not pull smoothly, it cuts and sputters.
I have an Greddy E-Manage Ultimate (uninstalled) with the car to hopefully remedy that situation. I know the EMU is also not ideal for forced induction miata's and there certainly are better options available but I have it and can't justify and MS3 or other true stand alone with my goals for the car. I want to get the car running smooth on 6~10 psi as a nice street driver I can enjoy with the wife on the weekends or short trips to the mountains. Anything between 160 and 200 hp is more than sufficient for my needs with this car.
I also have a LC-2 on the way to help in the effort to get the EMU tuned and the car working better.
You will soon see a noob post or two about the EMU install after I have a chance to dig through my EMU search results on the forum.
Personally/Professionally I am an Engineer in the Automotive business working for a Tier 1 supplier. I used to work with powertrain components but now deal with injection molded interior components. I live in the Middle Tennessee area just outside Nashville, TN and spend almost as much time fishing from my kayak as I do in/on my cars and bikes. Far to often all that personal time gets interrupted with work travel though.
Cheers!
Previously I owned a 1997 and a 1995 MX-5. Both were raced competitively with the SCCA. I competed in Solo 1 and Solo 2 events, National Tour events, Pro Solo events, and some HPDE days at various tracks around the Southeast. I did some Improved Touring road racing back in the 90's but never in a Miata. I have been through several GTi's, CRX's, a new Mini, Corvette, Mustang, an RX7, a Porsche 914 and more boring street cars than I can count.
Currently in the garage is a 2011 Mazdaspeed 3, a 2012 Mazda 5 parts/people hauler, 1964 Jeep J-200, 1998 Honda VFR800, 1971 Honda CL350, 1972 Honda CB450, 1973 Honda CB350, 2001 Honda CN250, and now the 1996 Miata I just picked up. My main interests shifted from auto racing to vintage motorcycle racing.
So about that new Miata. I almost bought it a year or two ago but was building a new house and could not store it during the transition of multiple moves and garage shuffles. I have known the original owner and builder of the car for approaching 20 years now and have driven the car numerous times at various iterations. It popped back up for sale a week or so ago and I had to get it this time around.
It is a 1996 with 90k miles on it.
Currently installed is a Jackson Racing M45 based supercharger system with approx 5~6 psi.
Major points of the install include:
RS Aizawa headlight intake lid
DDM Works intake
TrackDog SC Belt Tensioner system
Racing Beat resonated mid pipe
Racing Beat catback exhaust
Suspension is:
Koni yellow adjustable shocks
Flyin Miata springs with Flyin Miata rear upper mounts.
Flyin Miata front and rear sway bars with front stabilizer
V8 Roadsters frame rail braces
15x8 6ul wheels with 205-50 Yokohama S Drive
Braided brake lines
StopTech slotted rotors and pads
A few other things including a Hard Dog roll bar round out the many additions.
The main issues to address mostly surround ECU and proper tuning. It still has the original Sebring/MSD box on it to alter timing under boost. It was not ideal when new in the 90's and certainly is far from ideal now. Currently under boost and over 5k rpm it will not pull smoothly, it cuts and sputters.
I have an Greddy E-Manage Ultimate (uninstalled) with the car to hopefully remedy that situation. I know the EMU is also not ideal for forced induction miata's and there certainly are better options available but I have it and can't justify and MS3 or other true stand alone with my goals for the car. I want to get the car running smooth on 6~10 psi as a nice street driver I can enjoy with the wife on the weekends or short trips to the mountains. Anything between 160 and 200 hp is more than sufficient for my needs with this car.
I also have a LC-2 on the way to help in the effort to get the EMU tuned and the car working better.
You will soon see a noob post or two about the EMU install after I have a chance to dig through my EMU search results on the forum.
Personally/Professionally I am an Engineer in the Automotive business working for a Tier 1 supplier. I used to work with powertrain components but now deal with injection molded interior components. I live in the Middle Tennessee area just outside Nashville, TN and spend almost as much time fishing from my kayak as I do in/on my cars and bikes. Far to often all that personal time gets interrupted with work travel though.
Cheers!
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10-24-2017, 06:31 PM
#3
Moderator
iTrader: (12)
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 20,664
Total Cats: 3,013
Welcome to the forum. There's quite a few grey guys and engineers in this group.
We just had a little get together at Miatas At The Gap up your way.
I know nothing about the EMU but I know the m45 won't make 160whp without a lot of other extensive component upgrades. Get the MK Turbo kit for cheap and enjoy reliable 220whp with little effort and sell the m45 as an alternative.
Glad to have you on board.
We just had a little get together at Miatas At The Gap up your way.
I know nothing about the EMU but I know the m45 won't make 160whp without a lot of other extensive component upgrades. Get the MK Turbo kit for cheap and enjoy reliable 220whp with little effort and sell the m45 as an alternative.
Glad to have you on board.
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