i love the screaming as hes losing it

 

I dont know how he it that side of the lights though. Billy actually drove over the cable on the other side of the lights in the morning to avoid spinning into the left side light. But how chang managed to get over there I just dont know.

 

I like havent posted **** in this thread for a while because I've been busy. Season is over for this car now, something is fucked up with the clutch. It stop disengaging when you pushed the pedal in so I have to like make the clutch rod longer after every run yesterday but it was making a bad noise as you released the clutch so it freaked me out because I like having feet, I think having feet is one of the best things ever. I did manage to win and take 7th raw time though with 4 runs.


You can see that I've got like meaningful data now on the solostorm because I got a racecapture pro.

The event before that I actually beat panda for the first time ever and got my first top 10 pax finish.



But just as I seem to be figuring out how to drive the car fast I've decided not to run it next year. I've been limping along a lot of things that need to be fixed and they're really rearing their had now that the car is being driven fast. Its got cooling issues, the brakes need to be serviced constantly and are heavy, the shocks arent happy with the springs I'm running, I need to finish the bodywork, 69mph in 2nd just isnt sufficient, the engine is now using a quart of oil every 2 events, I'm terrified to check the intake valve lash, really need to get on my new front control arms to get more camber on both ends, the tune sucks, the ecu is garbage, the wiring is sketchy as **** and just a birdsnest, traction control needs to get installed, the drivers seat kirkey is getting all bent up, etc. I'm going to fix all or at least most of those things before I run the car again, and running stock class or ride hopping will hopefully let me spend more time at events just driving rather than fixing ****.

 

 

Thats not a bp....

 

If I ever get to build a SSM Miata it would be MZR powered. So you spend a couple grand more for fitment issues. You get back a lighter and bigger displacement engine. A better breathing head. The exhaust/turbo on the lighter side of the front end.

Good luck with this.

 

Fitment it actually easier that I thought. From the front of the timing cover to the water outlet on the back of the head the MZR is actually a little shorter, its also an inch narrower between the head flanges. And from crank centerline to the top of the valve cover (vvt actuator on BP motor) its 2 inches shorter. Oil pan is my stopping block right now. The ranger pickup tube is going to work, I need to see if the Ranger pan will work or if I'll need to chop some stuff up, or run dry sump. The oil filter also hits the subframe right now, but the oil filter housing bolts onto the block so I can run a TDR oil filter remote plate to give me NPT holes on the side of the block instead of the oil filter connection.

Whats cool with this swap is that its using the stock subframe, and its got a bolt on 575ftlb tranny option. And that it could be made emissions legal in cali with the NC exhaust manifold. And of course the 2.5 from the junkyard can do 350hp at a daily driver reliable level. So if I can make the swap kit the same price as building a BP motor for boost then that kind of totally turns the miata world upside down. Why build a BP and put a 6 speed behind it when you can drop in a 2.5MZR that's 70lbs lighter than stock and doesnt make turbo manifolds crack like its job, and has the option to run a stronger than a 6 speed tranny for the same money?

 

Following this closely.

If the pan ends up being as easy as using a ranger pan I might have to try and go this way.

Would it have been possible to use an NC pan?

What trans?

What engine management?

Now I know why you are going for a bigger turbo lol.

 

Oiling system: dry sump. Dont dick around with it. Its the same concept of building a BP and working around it afterwards.

Yes it adds weight but put the tank in the trunk. At 2.5L something tells me you are ballasting to make weight.

 

NC pan is too deep in the front. t5 built by astro, I'll only be getting the 480ftlbs version most likely, not sure the 575ftlb is worth the extra $500 bucks to me. I'm switching to MS3P, need to figure out a cable throttle body that fits the NC manifold. I think Jeep 4.0 is damn close.

I'm up in the air. I kind of want a dry sump, but I'm not sure how much its really worth on an auto-x car with a big turbo. It adds a lot of complexity and **** to go wrong. I can get them with the pump on either the steering rack side or the exhaust side, but I want to use the mazda 3 alternator to put the alternator by the steering rack. So that drops me to either the Pace or the SB Dev one. The SB dev is super slick since the pump mounts directly to the pan and draws right out of the pan with no hose, but its like 3600 pounds thats like 5400 bucks. The pace one is only like 1500 bucks. Of course imported from england only on the source for both of those.

 

If you put all 125lbs of ballest in the trunk are you then over 51% rear weight?

 

Not sure. At least for me it'll only be like 50 pounds of ballast right now, because my car is porky. I did some math based on the last time it was scaled and it'll be close.

 

Great work and thanks for taking the time to document all your hard work, setbacks and solutions.

Is the 2.5 MZR really that light? Did you happen to weigh the long block? If it's that light then it's easily worth the complications. And a T5 bolts up? Wow, that's really attractive. The Miata MZR should be a bit lighter still.

 

Are there oil problems with the MZR engines? I don't know those engines, but if they're ok with the power/racing you want to do, I wouldn't drop 5G's on a drysump if it's not needed. If it's needed, then sure do what you gotta do.

Awesome swap, will be watching this. Show me it's easy to do.

 

long block for long block thats the 70 pounds, but you're right thats the 2.0 with that weight difference. The 2.5 is a little heavier because the deck height is 14mm higher, the crank has more stroke and the stock rods look like they belong in a mack truck, so it will be a little heavier than the 2.0. BUT there's intake manifold weight to be saved. Havent weighed both but by hand the plastic manifold feels like its about half the weight as the aluminum BP one.

Pat I dont believe they have oiling problems with the 2.5 "heavy duty" oil pump. But I'll watch it.

 

Subbing, mzr is epic.

 

Having driven a stock NC with a 2.5 swap breathing through stock intake and exhaust and just a moto east tune, I think this is a great idea, can't imagine it with boost

 

I always wondered why there wasn't a 2.5 kit for the NA/NB miata's. I just assumed there's a reason why a legit kit doesn't exist.

 

Engine's highly underrated. Its the K series that no one has ever heard of. 2.5 will supposedly take 350ftlbs unopened and spin to 8k. To top it off a local shop up here builds them for a mini sprint class, they take the ranger 2.3 that has the worst flowing head and drop in a billet crank, dry sump, cams, stock valve springs, unported head, header, and mechanical fuel injection ITBS and make like 340hp crank on meth. And there's an additional like 60-70cfm on the intake ports between the ranger head and the 2.5. So basically it wasnt bolt in and no one ever thought it was worth the effort to do because they thought it was just a shitty tractor motor compared to like a k series.

 

Still running 3.63 miata, or changing that as well?