I agree it depends. Do you want a street car that overheats if you drive aggressively and is a death trap but has 350whp?

Are you willing to wait for 2 or 3 years to collect everything on special deals/used?

Sure, you can do it for under 10k.

I still think for a truly reliable, safe, dual duty car you are not spending less than 15-20k all in to build it as a standard shade tree mechanic that does not have industry connections and wants some of the “nicer” branded parts.

I was putting a list together for critique, but yall went ahead and nailed it. I feel 15k is what it would LIKELY take to build something generally agreed to be reliable.

Less than that and "reliability" is subjective to usage and owners preferences but definitely can be done.

Props for that build. Makes me cry a little thinking about bank statements.

Rocking 350whp with a style bar? With 15x6 195 all seasons, blown shocks? Sure, you CAN do that, but if you love your life, you wouldn't do that.

Okay, lets say you pay 4k for an MK turbo complete kit, 2k car, 1k wheels/tires, but that is NOT the end. You don't even have a fuel pump or regulator, no built engine, no 6 speed, no torsen, nothing...

THIS.

If your build stops at "Now I've got all the power!", then good luck with that. The car is a whole system that goes beyond the HP numbers. You've got to put that power to the ground, stop yourself when you get up to speed and protect yourself when/if things get hairy.

FWIW - If I totaled up all of the dollars I've put into my "build" over the years (not including the car itself, which was bought new in 1999) I'm sure that I have at least $20-30K all-in. But that includes multiple iterations of FI setups, several wheel/tire setups, at least 3 full rebuilds and 2 (unnecessary) DIY paint jobs. I stopped keeping records 10 years ago.

​​​​​​Every motorcycle ever made is more dangerous than a miata on the street. I also wonder how many people are killed by bashing their head on a roll bar on the street.

If you have access to a welder, chop saw, and a soldering iron you can mimic the mkturbo kit for half that. Any kit you buy you're paying for someone else's labor and r and d.

You don't need wheels and tires to make 300 whp. Any 300 whp miata is going to be traction limited on the street anyway. My 6 speed was less than $400 shipped to my door. My torsen was less than $400. A rods only engine can be done for the cost of rods and a head gasket. What do you need a regulator for?

Your version of a 300whp is not everyone's version. Saying it can't be done cheaper is plain wrong.

I don't think that anyone was saying that it CAN'T be done for less, but rather "Here's what I spent, use it for reference". Any example list can be picked apart, and just about anything can be done less expensively based on someone's preferences and priorities (To each his/her own).

True; wheels, tires, suspension, rollbars, paint, instrumentation, etc are not needed to MAKE 300HP. Those are "supporting mods" that could make 300HP easier to transmit to the ground, manage and control, monitor and survive. It's all about what a person's goals are, and what they're willing to tolerate in an end product.

(PS - I used to ride bikes. My last one was a Suzuki TL1000S. I always rode wearing a helmet, gloves, proper boots and a jacket. My only concession was wearing jeans - although earlier I did have a set of full leathers. Bikes ARE more dangerous than any Miata, I respected that and took what I thought were adequate protections.)

It was said that you can't do it for under $15k. That's false and it's the point I'm trying to make.

Point made. Duly noted.

Some of you guys are so pedantic with this shit... prices are different all around the world, availability of parts (new and used) fluctuates, values of the "dollar" changes, and so much changed in the COVID world with demand for cars and parts. Sheesh.

Focusing on the *can* instead of the *should*

Seems like we can reasonably say building a 300whp costs somewhere between 1000-40,000 depending on all of those variables that took 28 replies to look at; good talk.

It's a forum. The whole point is to discuss, share, and learn. Isn't that what's happening in this thread? No one is making you read this.

Idk man, idk

My whole point of this thread was just to post a realistic list of what my build totaled as I have not seen a lot of complete build price lists here, typically people are missing a LOT of the small parts that add up quickly, including safety gear etc. for track use if you are new to the sport (as I was).

I know I was really surprised once I added this all up and just had to keep buying shit to complete my build. It is amazing how much custom feed/drain -an lines cost, how much custom piping costs, random wiring components, pipe clamps, vbands, etc. I think people that are newer to buidling a turbo car do not realize you need to drop so much on these items.

And again, you CAN do it for cheaper, but I still believe to have it truly reliable it costs about 15-25K minimum for a car you can take to the track and feel it should be reliable.

Anyone who says they are going to spend 7K for a 300-350WHP car and bring their car to the track and not worry it will break/kill them when driving it at 90-100% for a full day is a fucking liar.

And of course, most guys have to pay for the car itself. A good base LHD Miata is 3000€+ here in Europe (NA's more like 5000€+).

I know one can do it cheaper, but 90% of the guys can't, fact. I'm out of this discussion

Awesome thread idea! Here is my price breakdown (ARTech, 2560, ID1000, MS3x, but OEM long block). You can see that if I bought a bolt, it went on the sheet. All of those prices include shipping costs where applicable. Also, this is a dual duty car but 90% of its use has been on track since I completed the build. I have had no breakdowns so far...

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cca0a52c9d.png
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15k and that's not even in the 300whp+ club... And I don't even see a built engine, torsen or 6 speed!

That sounded bad, sorry! I'm sure you have an awesome car, but it manifests itself, that 15k is the lower limit for a really good car

Several thousand of that was spent on track specific stuff that most people would not be buying (seats, harnesses, very expensive pads, brofab hubs, $1k on diy bilsteins when I should have just bought used Xidas lol, etc).

But trust me, I understand your point. I have looked in the garage countless times and thought to myself "I can't believe I have $15k in an old Miata". At the same time though, I think I would have a hard time getting something as fast, reliable, and safe on track as my car is for $15k. The only cars I really have trouble keeping up with are the newer track prepped Camaros and Corvettes, and they really only pull away from me on faster tracks that have long straights.

Also, forgot to add, but it does have a torsen (OEM) and a 6-speed (I blew up the 5-speed pretty quickly). I will make sure those are on the sheet, I can't believe I forgot to add the 6-speed!

Built engine adds up, too!

Hoot Hoot. Some awesome info in here guys. Really cool to see different peoples specific price breakdowns/build sheets.

Mods. Sticky this shit so people can stop asking how much a turbo build/track car costs.

Cool thread. If I was honest with my wife, I'm a shade past 20k for my build. However, that includes a few iterations of the car (at least 2x engines and suspension setups); bought and sold parts along the way. Regardless, I have a fully built motor capable of 300+, FM turbo kit, 6spd, MSM rear/3.6, fully rebuilt suspension on Xidas, refurbished interior that is comfy, and relatively cheap paint job that looks great at 10ft. Hard top to boot. Car makes very solid power that can hold up to 20 minutes of hot lapping.

Like this thread idea. Ill add mine, ended up spending more than I expected as usual.

Looking at just the turbo stuff, stock engine with 2554 turbo set up cost me around $5,400 total. Thats including a new diff, clutch, and required cooling mods.
Its been super reliable, think its making HP in the low 200s. Havent tracked it yet since the turbo went on.


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