Daily driving the miata
 

Just curious as of how many people rack up some mileage on their DIY turbo cars. We are talking about getting rid of the scion and getting her a truck. So that would leave us with just a truck and the miata.

I do about 80ish miles a day, highway, so I think it would be fine. This would all be with a 6 puck and low boost. I think the only thing would be to replace my beat up soft top with a cheapo hard top, permitting if I could fine one.


Current odo 107k.

Buy a truck now while gas prices are climbing to $3/gallon again. Its a good idea.

There is no reason a DIY turbo miata (done right) shouldn't be perfectly reliable in a DD situation. I've got probably 12k on my turbo setup I think and have never had an issue related directly to the turbo stuff in DD situations (except my old BEGI downpipe that kept coming apart).

Edit: Actually I built a new Mani/DP maybe 3k ago so I guess I lied a little bit although its even more reliable now versus the BEGi stuff.

I DD mine currently. Its fine as long as your SO has something bigger to carry groceries :). As long as you maintain your shit and regularly give your engine bay a once over, you'll be perfectly fine. I try to check mine out every time I fill up as well as checking coolant and oil levels.
Don't bother with that low boost business either, I fully plan on DDing mine @20psi this summer if that gives you any indication of how confident I am in the reliability of a boosted miata ;).

That's what she wants so whatever. I would be getting out of my car loan so meh...she can afford the gas so she'll manage.

I dd'd my miata for 3 years unboosted and 2 years boosted. Just install ur shit properly and don't run a fuxked up tune. Also run a cat so ur exhaust is quieter and so u don't get lung cancer. U can also fit quite a lot of groceries in the trunk and also on the parcel shelf behind the seats.

My 94 is a daily driver, turbo'd two years and 35K miles now. About 15 track days too. Only trouble I've had is turbo and downpipe bolts loosening after track days and the MAP sensor in the MSPNP ecu dying due to water in the line. Car currently has 130K total miles on it. I am using more oil now but I don't know if that's the turbo's fault or just my poor maintenance and track thrashing on a 16 year old motor.

+1 - I've carried some pretty shocking amounts of stuff in and on my car. They aren't nearly as impractical as they would seem.

I'll resurrect this thread in a few months when you start bitching about it again.

Because of a truck? I won't be the one bitching.

+1

The only time my miata has ever given me trouble is when I did something dumb/half assed.

i wonder if the DSM-IV has a section on message board advice masochists.



daily drive the miata. just keep it maintained and it'll be fine.

Just checked my copy....Nope.

I DDed my DIY turbo car for about two years, put 30k on it in that time period. Lots of highway trips between home and school. Only times it ever let me down was when I broke it - blown transmission, blown diff, blown engine. Make sure you don't have anything marginal, like 200whp through a 1.6 diff or 250whp through a 5-speed, or any form of eBay manifold, and you should be fine.

LOL

Isn't there a debate going on about adding internet addictions? I'm sure trolls and masochists would soon follow as additions to that section.

Driven my car from Chicago to Minnesota and Chicago to New York with no issues at all. I drive it probably 200+ miles a week with no issues. But I also don't drive like a complete idiot.

I could easily daily drive my car now if I didn't track it, or the old BEGi kit. If you never want to work on it again you need a 6-speed and you need to wrap all electronics in heat-abatement stuff.

Well, the car is only on 8 psi with me babying the stock 5 speed. A 6 will come one day but not until this one goes. Most everything is quality or close enough. It has a chinacharger but the thing has held up for the last year so I doubt it will have a problem holding up for another especially since it has the diy oil restrictor in it.

The only thing it really needs is an alignment and an inspection.

I decided to drive it on my route today and so far so good. Kind of loud overall but I think she'll hold up fine. I mean I've had the car for almost 2 years and have only put a little over 10k on it...lol.

So basically you asked if we thought the car would be reliable, you then told us that you have a chinese turbo and a glass 5-speed...do we really need to answer this? The turbo will go before the trans.

I was DD my car for a long time. actually since i bought it minus last winter, and the one before.

I loved doing it, never had to give anyone a ride somewhere lol

Correct me if I'm wrong, but seems like most people here have had good experiences with chinese snails.

8-10psi and driven with some empathy the 5 spd should be fine. I've been running 12-14 psi + tracking mine and thankfully it's held together. They don't ALL break around 200-240hp, it's just that they can and have.

Not sure if this applies to your car, but if you are considering DDing the miata, be sure you have AC (and maybe PS if you like to parallel park).

Sure the 5-speed may work, and the china-turbo may work...but I expect more reliability than the questionable 5-speed and the chinaturbo provide.

Hustler,

That's just because you're a snob now that you've spent the big money on your track car build. This guy's talking about an 8psi set up on a daily driver, not a hard core rape and spit track car.

I DD an absolute piece of shit cobbled together 200whp setup.

I even used to do it sans interior and in a race bucket and harness...doable, but not fun. I also drive at least 150miles daily.

There's no reason you can't as long as you make sure your tune is good at least monthly.

If emmissions regs were not toaly bullshit it would be. 2-3L I-4 turbodiesel in a Ranger/Colorado/Tacoma size truck FTW. It would get 30ish MPG if done right. But we dont get any small TD trucks.:vash:

There again though, my 4 cylinder 5 speed POS S10 (POS10......sweet, it now has a name!) gets 25 MPG city/highway mileage on winter gas and going into the mountains weekly where it basically get floored in 4th for an hour or so. I can get 28-29 combined if I baby it. Slow as it is, I love my truck. I cant beleive that nothing has broken on it yet.

My '91 has been my DD for 11 years, 6 of them boosted @ 11psi.
I change the oil every 3->4k (Magnatec) and am a car hypocondriac ("did you hear that? What was that noise?") so prob do more preventative maintenance/upgrades than most.

Well I drove the car today and it did alright. I'm still having problems with the iat reading either 60 or 215 even after a new sensor. The car runs just fine. I'm even going to do some w/i on that 8 psi whenever the money comes around. I baby the shit out of my car so I'm not really worried about the 5 speed busting or the china charger blowing out. One day I'll have a top of the line setup...but not today.

Oh and even better news, my mom wants to sell her truck and we really want to buy it from her. It is a 1 owner 07 Honda Ridgeline loaded to the max. She bought it for 14 and wants 14.5 for it. We just need to get rid of the Scion and see if we can get a bank loan for it.

My car's been s/c from 135-145k miles (10K total), at 14psi. I beat the holy piss out of it at ~20 autox per year (about 40 autox while s/c'd). It never complains and keeps going.

I've decided to start and make it more reliable...I definitely want to dd it.