Miata Turbo Forum - Boost cars, acquire cats. - Why do people plan HP goals and build around them?

- General Miata Chat (https://www.miataturbo.net/general-miata-chat-9/)

- - Why do people plan HP goals and build around them? (https://www.miataturbo.net/general-miata-chat-9/why-do-people-plan-hp-goals-build-around-them-56784/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by samnavy (Post 710648)

I sincerely hope I'll never again have to "try a setup". I spent more time working on my car than driving it because I tried to go cheap on many things, never defined my goal, and constantly broke things as one part after another failed... including the motor.

My next car will be done with a VERY CLEAR GOAL in mind. I'll have the money up front to buy the parts I need to get there. I will buy quality parts designed to work together that complement eachother. I will reach my goal within my budget and on time.

I get sick when I add up all the time and money I spent on my '93... a great and indespensible learning expeience yes, but my car sat on jacks in the garage for many months while I tried stuff. I figure I spent around $7k on just turbo'ing... and in the end, had about 210-220whp on a $50 turbo.

This time I will spend the $7k up front, install once, and drive many thousands of happy miles and never have to raise the hood.

Man. And given what you're doing for a living. Been there, done that. It's a frickin' miracle that I'm still married.

I didn't waste nearly as much as Sam, but kinda went through something similar with my 1st setup: started off without a plan/goal, just started putting stuff together. In the end I "made it work" and it was a decent setup, many here would love it, but I hated it. Started over and knew EXACTLY what I wanted and put it all together for way less money too, because I got what I wanted/needed and didn't have to try multiple versions of anything.

OP trust me, you need a plan/goal. And don't even THINK you know what you want until you've driven or ridden in a car similar to what you're aiming for. Very often what looks good on paper/pictures isn't the case in reality.

I haven't even driven a Miata yet!

I have 2 friends who own miatas one has suspension mods on it. I am going to drive those cars (Hopefully very soon). I dont know anyone around here with a turboed miata though.

Clearly other people have made costly mistakes with their builds and have learned from them. IMHO the point of these forums is to learn from other peoples mistakes and expedite the learning curve, in this instance, with miatas.

Like I said I will keep browsing, try to drive a few cars, most importantly... SAVE MONEY!!! and get back to you guys when I have more info. : D

I just applied for a job at a local machine shop. The machinist is a very, very cool guy. He said they need another person too! I would love to have this job for a little bit while I'm in school!