Scottsx

Hi everybody
My name's Scott. I haven't got a Miata yet but I'm looking at getting one as a run around. I currently have a Nissan 200sx s14a (i'm in the UK) with extensive mod's but i want something a little better on fuel but still RWD.
I've got quite a few questions about turbo-ing a Miata but i'll post them in the technical section.

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

Before you do so, read all the stickys in the DIY section. Unless you want to make your de-noobing not pleasant. Welcome to the forum

Scottsx

That's what i'm doing at the moment. My main questions will be about oil and coolant feed take-off's and the oil drain from the turbo, but hopefully the sticky's and search will tell me what i need to know.
I can get a T25 here in the UK for next to nothing as they are all discarded from the C18DET engines in the old Nissan S13's to be replaced for T28's or bigger. It'd be stupid not to turbo one!

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

The sticky, will answer all those questions. Drain is all the same, drill and tap the pan. Feed varies depending on the year of the car. Coolant its mostly the same except for the 90-93 block. The turbo choice depends on your goal. Whats yours??

Scottsx

I'm hoping for about 200 at the fly, possibly 230/240 if i get bored
I don't want to get into forged rebuild territory though and from what I can see it's perfectly possible on standard internals.
I've got my high power car with the Nissan, I just want something small and fun

T25 should be good for what i want but i'm still open minded. What manifold options are there for the T2 housings? I've seen the cast manifolds on ebay in the USA but only with a T3 flange

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

Another rule, here we talk whp crank hp is for pussies or ******* in your case. With that said you shouldnt have a problem the block is usually good for 250 and the turbo will more than likely be a T25.

I see your from the UK what football team are you fan of??

Scottsx

Not everyone in the UK loves football, my teeth are straight too

Only messing.

I follow the F1 and the Touring Cars. Football does my head in though, just seems like a loada pansies complaining all the time that get paid way too much.

It is strange though how much it differs over in the USA though. When looking at different forums for the Nissan it seems the WHP figures may be a bit ambitious or we just have ponies on steroids here so less HP = same power???
People get over 400WHP from a Garrett GT2871r which, considering over here they seem to run outa puff just shy of 400 HP at the fly, is pretty good going! I'd love to know if it's down to differences in measurements or you lot seem to have found some lost ponies somewhere.

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

Oh well I think your gay now, who the **** doesnt like football (the real one not the one the overweight ones over here invented) and Im glad you have all your teeth, are they straight though?? pardon my sarcasm.


Well Im gonna let you in a secret, people talk a lot of ****, simple. For example we have a guy trying to sell the car claiming 400 on a bullshit set up, but we still waiting for him to back that up. Thus bringing to why we talk about whp, because the majority of the people that talk about the power a particular car make have dyno charts to back it up.

Scottsx

I was expecting banter like that. I can take it. I'm a big boy

That's the thing though. I know some people are full of **** but I've seen graphs from quite a few different people backing these claims up. Unless there is a collective conspiracy to photoshop dyno graphs!
Maybe our HP measurements vary slightly like gallons???

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

There are also corrections made to the plots. Which still bring the fact that people talk a lot of ****. Remember in the US bigger is better.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Welcome!

I love football...so you're already on my bad side...but I'm not a Premier League fan either, just watch our US teams, and some Mexican games with my father in law.


The T25 should meet your goals, but may fall just short of 250hp when you start turning it up (wheel horsepower at least).

I'm about to swap to a T25 setup on my 1.6L, and still don't plan on seeing over 230whp....but we'll see....I'm going to really push it and do water injection, and more power is the point of the upgrade.

For the time being 200whp is hella fun in a Miata. You'll certainly enjoy.


What are you looking at for engine management?

Scottsx

Don't get me started on the premier league. You see these moto x freestyle dudes falling off from an 80ft jump and getting up and get going again. One footballer gets sneezed on and he's rolling on the floor!

I can get hold of a T25 here for about $50 so that'll be my choice, wouldn't want to get any higher power than that otherwise you'll lose driveability. Thats why i stuck with 400HP on the Nissan. Cause it's instant spool and good power. Start pushing that power out of a 1.6 and say goodbye to the fist 5000 revs! With the weight of the miata i'm sure breaking 200 HP will be fun enough, especially with anti roll bars (or sway bars as you call em)

To be honest for management i'll probably go with the bodge way with a AFPR first and then get hold of a piggyback like the power fc. Can these be used with the Miata?

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I've never seen anyone use the Apexi...most of use here use either the MegaSquirt (earlier cars) or Adaptronic (later cars).

MegaSquirtPNP by DIYAutoTune.com

MS used to be a DIY option, but they have a PnP model now, and one of the admins (Braineack) here can build you one for a good deal cheaper. The custom built model runs just a little more than bandaids (afpr, bipes timing control etc).

MS is a complete engine management option that can be run parallel or standalone. I absolutely adore mine.


Some parts of your ECU harness may be different, but there is enough support here you could make it work.

Scottsx

I mentioned the apexi power fc as that's what alot of people over here use on jap turbo cars.
I'm just having a look at the megasquirt now. You build it yourself? I'd love that. How much do they work out costing in the end?

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I think if you build it completely yourself you pay DIY Autotune $178 out the door for the kit, plus your wire and soldering iron. You will also need some connecter (DB37?) to build your own harness to mate up to the car's wiring harness.

I definitely didn't build my own. I seriously thought about it, but free time was a major factor for me. I respect the guys that do...and I'm sure they know more about their car than I ever will for having done so...as well as being able to diagnose problems easier.

The one I ordered custom built for me was around $420 shipped, with a few options I asked for. Still cheaper than the PnP, but I had to wait a few weeks extra. Scott (Braineack) is really good at what he does, and a great guy to deal with. He stays communicative during the build process so you know what's going on and when you can plan on installing.

Scottsx

I'm pretty handy with an iron so i can't justify the $242 extra to have it built for me. This is an option I'm seriously going to consider. Might look into it for the Nissan too as i'm on a custom mapped standard ECU with that. How's the boost control feature? anything in there to combat boost spiking?

Just to say I'm happy with the responses I've had.

Feel quite welcome