"Turn down boost" for clutch and cooling
 

Hi all,

I'n new to the forum and looking for some advice to guide me in purchasing my first miata.

I have two options available to me. A 94 with a hard top, a body kit that was not installed well, but it only has 130k miles on it. The other is a 2000 soft top that has clearly been well taken care of and only has 88k miles on it.

The price difference between the two is about 2 grand, I'd like to add power to the car and the turbo seems to be the most expandable option.

Given the price difference I could afford to buy an FMII kit for the older car but not the newer one, however I could not afford the ancillary parts such as radiator and clutch.

My question is, is there a way to reduce the boost on the FMII system to the point where I will get a power increase but not so much that it will make the clutch slip or require a new radiator?

Before someone calls me a a noob and gives me a sarcastic answer, please understand, I know I can find this info searching but I've spent the last couple hours reading and intend to do more (I even ordered maximum boost because of the recommendation on the sticky) but the only reason I'm asking is I need to purchase a car soon (like tomorrow) and I'm trying to figure out what I can do with my budget and don't feel I'll be able to make that determination quick enough just through searching. If I can't add significant power without exceeding it, I'll get the nicer car, but I'd rather drive a beater that has some balls if that's possible.

It may also be worth mentioning, this would be a work in progress and the clutch and rad would certainly be added later, I just can't buy them now.

Ace.

Just do the supporting mods first and add the turbo later.

Or run it on just wastegate and hope everything else holds up for now.

You mean to tell me you only have 2 options for a used Miata?

Get the NB, drive it, realize the power it has is totally fun, forget turbo dreams, profit.

Get the NB

Get the nicer car. I'd rather have a stock car that runs than a blown up beater.

The hardtop would be nice though...

If you can't afford a clutch and a radiator, then you can't afford to turbo a car.

Uh, you can't buy an FM2 kit for $2k.

^^ This

I'd get the nicer 1 of the two, a reliable untouched daily is something some dream about like myself.

Best decision is to buy a Corolla and not modify anything until you can afford to piss away 2k and not think about it.

This.
This.
And this.


The false dilemma you posit tells me a lot about your thought processes.

A stock clutch won't hold additional power.

Turbocharging a Miata will cost you about $5k.

Buy the best condition car within your price range.

Get the NB and start saving and collecting turbo bits.

You'll appreciate it a lot more when you've got everything you need and then turbo the better car.

Higher miles cars would generally need to be rebuilt as well if it's going to be turbod.

So in essence you'll end up saving by getting the more expensive car.

If you're in a position where you "need to purchase" a car tomorrow, the car you buy shouldn't be an old roadster on which you'll install a turbo at the cheapest price possible.

Turboed Miatas take lots of time and/or money before they run as reliably as stock.

Buy something economical and reliable for your "need" car (a clean, well-maintained stock Miata can do that pretty well), and save up until you can afford a car that's going to be spending a good bit of time giving you headaches until you get it sorted.

In case sixshooter didn't make it clear, turbocharging a Miata will cost about $5,000 on top of the purchase price of a healthy car, and that doesn't necessarily include all the things you'll want, like a better suspension.

The good news is that a well-sorted, non-turboed Miata is a totally fun car. You'll have more fun in a car with all the supporting mods - tires, suspension, brakes, wheels, etc. - than a turboed one on tired, stock parts. Chances are that a 90k miles car you buy will be on blown shocks (they're good to about 40-50k miles and non-enthusiasts rarely replace them then), so you have to budget on replacing them anyway. It's a perfect opportunity to get something groovy. Then, when you've addressed all the things a turbo car will need anyway, and you're in a position where you can handle your car not starting reliably every time, you can dip your toe in the water with a Megasquirt. In addition to giving you a chance to learn to tune so you don't blow up the engine once you turbo, you'll pick up about 10-15whp on an otherwise-stock motor.

The 94 is much easier to fix in so many aspects if problems come up, however you wouldd loose obd2 many easy electronics that would already be adaptable in the 2000.

I would install the megasquirt with a turbo kit, skip the piggyback crap. That solves all the issues of the non obd2 and since im assuming the 94 is cheaper and already HAS a body kit ready to install you come out much better in the long run.

However if you are going to keep it stock for a very long time and use it as a daily driver you will enjoy the 2000 much more. Its all about what your going to do, how quickly you do it, or how long your willing to wait.

Not at all true with Miatas. There are plenty of 300k+ turbo Miatas.

There are also plenty of turbocharged miatas running on stock cooling and clutch at modest power levels. That being said, buy the nicer car now and pick up parts as you can to do the turbo down the road.

Edit: Also I highly recommend against a turbo miata as your only car.

The radiator is less of a concern. The stock one is probably OK for moderate street use in a non-AC car, but any turbo worth doing will melt the stock clutch. Hell, an M45 supercharger overwhelms the stock clutch.

I second everything said about the idea of spending one's last dollar to inadequately turbocharge one's daily driver.

--Ian

I'm REALLLLLLY curious just how much will overwhelm a stock clutch actually

just for fun. been doing research on that lately actually.

anyone got some solid threads/links to share about that?

I am guessing past 180-190wtq or so?

my '00 completely would spin the stocker (that was in perfect shape and not done) on a 2860rs at anything over 7psi. but I didn't dyno it at that level to know what the actual output was

FM markets their Voodoo kit without mentioning it needing an upgraded clutch, and estimates it'll make 170 whp. The Voodoo II, which comes with an intercooler and brings power to 180, is meant to use an upgraded clutch. From that, I infer that they estimate the horsepower limit of the stocker to be around 175 (+/- 5) whp.

Even with stock power, I don't feel like my 80k mile clutch grabs very hard. I'd want to upgrade it and the motor mounts in one fell swoop before bolting on a snail.

that sounds about right, and I know for sure I'll be getting an FM1 clutch on this car in the future, I think I'm just lazy and feel really bad about yanking out a perfect condition clutch before its toast.

That's what happened on the '00: I yanked it cause it would spin it violently in the upper gears at 7+psi, and I replace it with an Exedy thinking its toast, and the clutch looked brand new when I took it out. lol