.48 .49 baby turbo with Voodoo magic build
 

I am looking to build a low boost turbo setup (yes it will stay low because this is a dd and money is tight) and I will be piecing the kit together myself. My question is: how well would the turbo, which looks to be the same as the 300zx ca18det (link posted below) work with the voodoo box for engine management? I do all city driving so I'm looking to get boost at as low rpm's as possible. I would be happy with only a decent bump in hp (~160rwhp) as long as I don't have to deal with much boost lag. Is this small of a turbo overkill and should I just go with the .64 .60 sr20 turbo like many people use or would this baby turbo work well for my needs? Also would I have tuning issues with this small of a turbo paired with the voodoo box? I have a 1996 1.8L Miata with a low 40,000 miles on her and would hate to destroy such a great car! Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GT25-Turbo-Charger-Turbocharger-T25-0-48-A-R-For-240SX-CA18-KA24-Civic-Miata-/331127944584?hash=item4d18c37588:g:FAoAAOSwjVVVyDi p&vxp=mtr

Turbo will spool super fast, but die off. You'll make 160whp though, that's about it. I'd say, if you want to keep your engine healthy...don't run a voodoo box.

The ca18det was never offered in the 300z. We got it in the S12. It sucked, a lot.

My first setup used a .49 a/r T25. Made ~200whp at 13psi with it. Crazy boost response. Even the 2554R that I upgraded to felt a little slow compared to that.

Is there an engine management system that I can run thay would be rather easy and not some thing I'm always going to be 'tweaking'? I feel like the megasquirt is a little too many adjustments for me. Maybe I'm wrong though... it may be easier than I think. But I would like to keeo my p/s and a/c as well and be able to start in any weather temperature. Also, would a slightly larger turbo (.60 .64 t25) like the one below have lag since it's also a chinacharger on top of it, with say a Voodoo box?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GT28-GT25-GT2871-GT2860-T25-T28-SR20-CA18DET-Upgrade-Turbo-Turbocharger-400HP-/180924910732?hash=item2a1ff70c8c%3Ag%3ApqkAAOSwY0l XSF%7EY&_trkparms=pageci%253A471010c1-ef3c-11e6-9e69-74dbd1a08b97%257Cparentrq%253A25f1c12e15a0a7884699 a670fffbe773%257Ciid%253A1&redirect=mobile

What we're you tuning with Savington? You have given me hope again, I knew that little turbo had potential!

Voodoo box is meh, it will work, but you will have some hesitations going in and out of boost, but outside of boost the car will drive like stock. You will also need a way to retard timing while in boost. Either by rotating the CAS (kills your low end out of boost) or a timjng box of some sort. That and a voodoo together cost about the same or more than a megasquirt Up side is, it is very easy to work with as long as you pay attention and have a wideband.

With a megasquirt, and a few months of tweeking and learning before you boost if you want to tunr it yourself, you will have a car that drive better than stock, better throttle responce, better fuel economy, and better transition in and out of boost.

I have worked with and driven both. The voodoo box is not worth what they are asking new compared to the cost of a megasquirt.

...they never learn.

I have a brand new genuine Garrett GT2052 here if you're interested... it can make up to about 170WHP and response is so instant that you can see 7PSI on the boost gauge by just blipping the throttle in neutral.

MS1, back when that and Rx7 EV1s were state-of-the-art. Voodoo box should only be used for the setup it was intended for. You are trying to cut corners and it won't end well for you.

I ran a voodoo box/FM crank trigger setup on my 99 last year. Setup worked fine but here I am this off season completely redoing my setup (new mani,turbo/Megasquirt).

It's really easy to get overly excited, impatient and cheap and despite hearing and seeing it from COUNTLESS people on here and m.net I still fell into the El Cheapo Turbo Build that either blows your car up or you end up replacing with proper parts (spending money twice).

Long story short... Do it right, do it once.

I'm speaking from experience at this point :laugh:

/\ This guy gets it.

Are you redoing it because there was many issues with the voodoo box or because your just looking for more power? I'm not trying to take the cheapest route possible, just trying to get ideas on what setup will suite me best. I have read through the miataturbo forums for 30+ hrs the past few weeks and I know I still have a lot more learning to do. 18 psi, I have seen you all over the forums and you seem like a very knowledgable guy, much more knowledgeable than myself on this stuff so a Megasquirt is an obvious answer for your tuning needs but what about someone that is new to this? I'm a service advisor at a body shop so I know the inside and outs of cars and have owned quite a few turbo'ed cars that I've taken to get tuned (srt4, ms3, audi tt) but I've never done the tuning myself. I don't want to go in over my head on my first try and that's why I thought the voodoo would be a good start. I've seen you say it before, why pay twice when you can do it right the first time, but why can't the voodoo box be 'right enough' for my low boost needs? I rarely see voodoo box owners complaining about anything besides the obvious ~8psi max boost and stock injectors. About how many hours would I expect to pay a tuner to tune the Megasquirt once I have it set up if I go that route? What are your guys thoughts on the Emanage Blue? That seems like a good middle ground between the two but doesn't seem to have as much support. The Voodoo box does seem WAY overpriced for what it is and then I have to tack on the Bipes acu on top of it so I really would rather not go that route. Are there Megasquirt connoouessers in the Chicagoland area that can lend me a hang if I get hung up? Thanks again for all your guys help. You guys giving your honest advice have saved many people a lot of wasted money I'm sure, including myself. I really do appreciate it.

DIYPNP is literally the same price as the voodoo box.

Who would be your #1 recommenation to purchase a mspnp from?

Two reasons
1) More Power
2) Greater control over my engine/ability to monitor

While you certainly can get away with a Voodoo Box and some bandaid for ignition (as I did), you end up spending what you could've got an MS for. Megasquirt allows you to monitor and control even the most finite details and you simply don't have anywhere close to that level of adjustment on bandaids. I feel much better knowing what my car is doing and being able to make actual adjustments.

If you're dead set on a low boost set up (like actual low, 5PSI or less) and foresee yourself never wanting more, sure you can scrape by with bandaids.

Keep an eye on classifieds as a start. If you are trying to buy new, DIYAutoTune is a safe bet.

Devil's Advocate sez:

Do you have to build a Voodoo Box? Do you need a wideband with a Voodoo Box?

You need a wideband no matter what ECU you have.

You do not have to build a VooDoo, you do need a wideband.

I will definetely be getting a wideband either way. Nothing worse than trying to guestimate a tune... A few more questions: how do you guys feel about the 2.5" cxracing downpipe with a v-band clamp (it looks good and has a good price tag)? Has anyone out there mounted the wideband sensor or other gauges in the faceplate under/above the radio to keep better visibility around the pillar gauges? Any other smart suggestions for first timers taking the plunge and praying to themselves that they wont screw this all up? :bowdown: