Hey guys, I picked up a 1991 miata recently and the turbo bug has bitten. It has been an absolute blast to drive. I am torn though between doing either a begi shanghai set-up or piecing together my own "shanghai" setup.

Below I put together a list of parts and what I guessed at for the purchase price, would I be better off and have more future "upgrade-ability" over the begi shanghai with piecing my own together?

thoughts? Do-able?

obviously I would get a megasquirt if I get the shanghai kit as well. I would like to keep my budget at under 2500.



mani (begi) 300
dp (custom) 130
mspnp 580
wideband (innovate) 165
injectors rx7 150
charger t-25 (china) 140
ss supply line 40
ss drain ine 40
tubes /piping 120
air filter 30
turbo hose 10
hose clamps 60
intercooler/piping 150 wastegate 65
bov 30

 

it depends on how lazy, or not, you are and the time frame and patience you have to source good deals to save some money. My DIY kit ended up costing about $1400 before MS. Thats with intercooler, RC440, GT2560, FM/DP and took about 3 months to source all the parts.

Another option is the buy a used sr20 turbo off Zilivia and ship that to BEGI to replace their BB turbo and they'll take a big chunk off the sticker price.

 

custom DP will cost you more than $130. Just source a used BEGI or FM one.

I'd suggest a used garrett sr20 t25 (or BB t28) over a china charger. They're cheap, rebuildable, and less of a mystery box as far as reliability goes.

you have tubes and piping and inercooler piping twice. The ~$200 ebay kits with couplers and clamps is enough to complete the intercooler set up (minus the iacv throttle body inlet piece.

the wastage is internal to the turbo. Unless you mean buying a new wastegate actuator?

Don't forget the clutch!

Word of advice from someone who just completed what you did. Order the megasquirt early and get that running on your stock car ASAP. Then add things like VTPS and injectors BEFORE any turbo pieces

 

VTPS: Is this for more precise tuning? Stock wont cut it? I've searched the forums and it seems that there is no aftermarket solution other than modding your own off of a BMW or Wells.

 

The 1.6 tps is either on or off. Putting a VTPS on the thing makes it easier to tune. If you want you can go without it and just work off manifold pressure, but mostly the advice is to get a VTPS.

There is a guy on here (railz) who sells the BMW VTPS with pigtail. That's what I went with. You just have to cut off the stock connector that comes from the harness and wire in the pigtail. The tps itself bolts right on to the 1.6 throttle body.

If you have a 1.8 you already have a VTPS.

 

Ok, well I will find a mega-squirt and install that / play with it before the turbo setup gets installed. I am eyeballing the fm 1.6 manifold and downpipe for 750.

 

Everyone says to put in some injectors at this time in order to get used to fuel management. Time to go to the junk yard buddy.

 

Having had my shanghai for about a year, all the hot parts are still on the car, pressure pipes didn't stay long as i went for FMIC pretty quickly.
Shanghai-s air filter gets really restrictive above 180 rwhp.

 

Having run Ms1, Ms2 & Ms3X I would get Brain to build an Ms3 + Ms3X and learn to tune using that. The processor speed is very forgiving and the additional features can be very nice to have for later expansion without any board modding.

Also from what I understand the yellow RX-8 injectors are a direct fit and flow somewhere north of 400cc/min and can be found on EBay for cheap. But you can learn to tune using the stock injectors as well - cheap upgrade would be the 94-97 or 2001-2005 injectors at 265cc/min, up from the 1.6's 230cc/min.
Even the 99-01 injectors flow more than the stock 1.6's at 240cc/min and have a multiple-hole spray pattern for better atomization

 

Fantastic, I had just wondered if there were any people that had gone the shanghai kit route and were satisfied a year later. Thanks Sentic!

 

Sentic, did you do a megasquirt ecu or use the fmu that the shanghai kit comes with? I essentially want to start small and upgrade as time goes on and my pocketbook allows. Ie: add an intercooler later, add a better turbo later, etc etc.

 

If you call BEGI they will let you add/subtract parts from their kits to customize it as you need. It's always an option to source some parts yourself and then remove a few bits from the Shanghi kit to save some money. That way you can leave off the charge piping and do your own intercooler setup and leave off the FPR since you're planning for a megasquirt anyway.

You can also add some parts if you want. Their stainless lines have been great to me, I feel like that is well worth the upgrade over the rubber lines the kit comes with.

 

I have a set of RX7 550cc red tops for $80 shipped. Plug and play. Needs one o-ring.

 

My Shanghai is on a 2000 nb, and is using EMB and rx-8 425cc injectors.
Fairly untuned it's at 204 whp right now.
Ordered base shanghai with inconel studs, stainless drain and stainless sep.gasses downpipe.

So, I'm satisfied with my shanghai, as far as you can still call it a shanghai.
I did run the initial 6 psi unintercooled for a month or so, fun, but not really fast.

(the dyno is in the dyno section here, crank hp though, but imho a terrific torque curve with the 2854, very drivable)

Lexintexan - I already had the EMB, but my plan was exactly like yours, a slow upgrade path. But well, slow turned into now real quickly

 

Thanks Sentic, I am currently aiming for around 200 rwhp from my 1.6L. I think I will get the megasquirt, injectors, and VTPS now. After playing with that for a bit I will get the begi shanghai kit, and an ebay chinese intercooler.

See any flaws in my plan?

(obviously I will put a new clutch in when it goes out)

 

Sounds good to me.

Dann

 

Skip getting injectors for now. They are not needed to run NA. Also you will need a wideband. So do MS, Wideband, VTPS, and learn to tune the car. Then get injectors. Then after that go for the turbo setup.

 

If he tunes the big injectors he will learn more faster and not have to do it twice.


I just read what i wrote.

Much of a muchness isn't it.

Dann

 

The most faster-est way to learn is to add injectors after you get stock injectors tuned well with MS and before turbo.

I did:

1. MS+wideband
2. vtps
3. cop
4. injectors
5. Boooooost
6. EBC
7. Profit

 

Add in a wideband, and make sure you get an oil cooler when you get boosted.
With those additions it seems like a good plan.