Stock internals for 2001-2003 Miata
 

Question about the stock internals in the BP-Z3 (1.8L for years 2001-2003) :

I have been told that ( when referring to boost-ability) the BP-Z3 engine has inferior internals in comparison to the BP-4W and older engines and boosting it >8-10psi could potentially be disastrous.

1) is this true?
2) those of you who have a BP-Z3 (or know about the engine), how much boost are you safely running on stock internals?


thanks

Same rods, 10:1 pistons. Can't run quite as much boost as the BP4W, peak torque and power will suffer slightly as a result (although the VVT means your torque band will still be better than any BP4W). Still the best motor to start with, as you can make ~200whp without too much trouble, and if you want to go higher, you can buy/build a forged bottom end and make good peak power while using the VVT to keep mid-range torque up.

Thank you! I am new to the turbo process so I apologize if this was a "newb" question. I have to start somewhere!


Maybe if I just save the money and buy flame decals instead... Hmmm.