Hey guys, i'm a little new to the forums, but I am about to purchase a Bell Engineering Series 1 Turbo kit for my 1997 Mazda Miata. I am anticipating running no more than 10 psi in my car, IMHO 220 horsepower is as far as I want to push it. The kit comes standard with the T2554R. Is this adequate for those power levels? Lastly, does it respond like a supercharger. I want fast spool up with plenty of low/mid-range pull.

 

On a 1.8 it should respond extremely fast with a decent flowing exhaust.

I'm sure some other people will chime in that actually know what they are talking about.

 

That turbo will be perfect. The T2554r is optimal for power in the low to midrange. The 2560 is more midrange topend compared to the 2554. Should spool off idle practically.

 

The 2554 is going to be the best in terms of response, but you don't know yet that 220 whp will be enough for you. Find someone local that has a car with a 2554 or 2560 and find out just how much power you want and/or how much you really value response over power potential.

As mentioned, a bigger exhaust is very important with either turbo.

 

If I had a dime for every time I've heard this one. "Yeah I only want 6 psi, yeah I only want 200 hp." I said the same thing.. and now its "I only want 300".

 

The turbo bug bites hard.


And keeps on biting.
C

 

Yeah, I thought 220whp would be fun... now I find myself oogling S5 manifolds, Tial wastegates, and GT3071Rs

For those goals, you're gonna be running 13-14psi on that turbo, but you can hit 220whp easy. I have a shitty tune and a wonky boost curve and I did 219 at 15psi.

 

I'm still happy with 250rwhp maybe its because i only get to enjoy it a few months out of the year

at 220rwhp, you're at the borderline of considering the 2560 upgrade.

 

a 3" DP and exhaust will help spool tremendously, so go ahead and upgrade to the 2560 if you can afford to have a 3" turbo back behind it...you should have spool just as fast and much more potential up top...
happy boosting newb

 

No, its because you only enjoy your motor a few times before you blow it the **** up

 

my engine still runs. my last engine was living on borrowed time, the pistons melted cruising back to work from lunch, it lasted 2 full years of boost.

 

Hmmmm..... you don't say?

CODY, please complete your profile and tell us where you live. Also, your ability to make "decent" power at that level is going to depend a lot on your tune. Bandaids, AFPR/fuelpump/injectors/Bipes simply isn't practical anymore when you can get a full Megasquirt for less.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you look in to purchasing/installing/running an ECU prior to going turbo. Installing a turbo system and an ECU at the same time and trying to straigh-away tune the thing is possible (but any little hicccup means that much more to troubleshoot). Whaddya think about that idea?

 

That is what I am going to do, same wants as Cody but on a '99 NB. One step at a time.
1. Get Megasquirt running, parallel with stock ECU, no other mods. Play around with it, get to know Megatune, etc.
2. Put in larger injectors, get it running.
3. Add turbo (BEGI-S, GT2560) get it running and tuned.
4. Add intercooler, retune
5. Maybe add WI.

3 and 4 might be combined.

Add/change one thing at a time and troubleshooting is much easier. I am an R&D Engineer and know all about the benefits of this approach, learning the hard way

BTW - I have been lurking here for awhile, love this BBS. I also go to miata.net but the info on here is much more detailed. Great stuff. Everything a newb needs to know is right here if you read through all of the posts and links. No need to post (yet) with questions, just read read read!

 

 

this assumes people know how to read.

 

Ok,

I always try to be understanding that not everyone lives in the People's Republik of California when I read something like this. However, circumventing California smog notwithstanding, we still need that magic blue CARB sticker. AFAIK, only the bandaid fueling systems come with one.

For my '91, can you even pass smog with a full replacement ECU like Megasquirt?

 

Sure. I plan to. Just need to find a shop that will play ball with the visual test. I fully intend to pass the sniffer test in CA (Santa Clara County) with a metal-core 3" Magnaflow and the MSPNP.