jcrane82

Hello everyone. Figured I would introduce myself. My name is Jesse and I am a mechanical engineer living in the Milwaukee area. My interests include motorcycles, cars, and HiFi home audio. I am married with two kids, and am a Mazda fan boy.

I recently picked up a clean '95 Miata with factory hardtop. My plans are to summer drive it and also attend a monthly autocross and the occasional HPDE. My long term end goal is to supercharge or turbo with around 150 rwhp (only 5-6 psi boost), but this won't happen for another year or two. Snow hit the midwest this past week, so it is parked for the rest of the year. Recent modifications were a MOMO Monte Carlo wheel and a foamectomy to the driver's seat. Winter plans include removing the soft-top, adding a Hard Dog roll bar (M1 hardcore hardtop X-brace), coilovers, wheels/tires, and probably intake and exhaust. It will be somewhat of a budget build, with only about $2,000 available to spend this winter.

Here is a picture of when I picked it up:



My daily driver is a 2006 MINI JCW for those interested:



Turns out that a MINI and a Miata make a nice car combo.


I do miss my previous daily driver though:

Swanpuppy

Glad to see someone local who isn't slamming the car with fart cans. Good luck to you on the build. Do you have cats?

Also, i would kill for an rx8, always had a soft spot for those cars.

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

hi

jcrane82

Well I will be lowering and adding exhaust.....but it won't be slammed, and it better not sound like a fart can.

Since I am extremely limited in budget (married with two kids...and my wife says the Miata isn't top priority....hah), I will be extremely cost sensitive with the upgrades. Right now I am leaning towards Yonaka coilovers and a Yonaka catback exhaust.
Suspension - Mazda Miata MX-5 1989-98
Yonaka 1990-1997 Mazda Miata NA Catback Exhaust

I know these are cheap coilovers, but I really just want to lower it about 1" and have a compliant suspension for daily use. I know I am not Mario Andretti out on the track/autocross.....and I only do autocross and track days for fun. I might go with Tein Basis instead, but then I don't have damping adjustment.

Wheels/tires will probably be 205mm width on a 15x8.....not zero offset. Probably something around +30 or so.

The RX-8 has basically hit rock bottom on resale value. I sold my 2004 with 68k miles in near mint shape for $7,000 this past summer. I owned it for about 4 years and bought it with only 19k miles. The undercarriage was starting to get a little rough after 4 winters, but the body was still showroom. I was really sad to see it go. It was an awesome track car too.



I do also have two cats.

Trent

iTrader: (11)

You totally buried the lead there.

Oh, and nice Miata, RX-8, etc. Welcome to the board. Let's see how long that 150 hp goal lasts.

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

Yea, I just wanted to change the timing belt on a 1.6L then **** got a little cray

Trent

iTrader: (11)

Adolf Hitler was rejected from art school. One thing led to another, and the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the sovereign nation of Japan.

jcrane82

I keep telling myself that a power/weight ratio the same as the RX-8, and I will be happy. I personally thought the RX-8 was perfect in terms of its balance between power and chassis performance. I just want that package in a Miata, and that is about 150 rwhp. I am a complete noob when it comes to building a turbo car though, so I will definitely need the help of the forum to point me in the right direction when the forced induction time comes.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Welcome, jcrane82. Check out the Miata Gallery and post up some pics!

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

I think another factor was he had IBS, killed the doctors that couldn't do anything for him, started following a diet of beets and onions and ran out of dining rooms embarrassed because of uncontrollable flatulence. True Story.

jcrane82

So does anyone else here have a MINI as well as a Miata? In the past month I have meet three people locally who own both. Seemed like more than just a coincidence.

Swanpuppy

I seem to see quite a few subis on here, I personally drive a MS3. Well... and a second miata.

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

I'm not baller enough to have two cars. I did have a swapped GC with a VF34 back in '03, another in '05 with GD dash swap, I swapped an s50b30 motor from an e36m3 into my old e30, and I did have an internship at BMW Forschungs- und Innovationszentrum setting up and testing the suspension of the Mini GPII at Messgelände Aschheim. (This was also the time when the Vision-dynamics/i8 was in development and constantly breaking down on the track).

Subie -> BMW/Mini -> Miata

seems to fit

let's not talk about that brief stint with Honda. I didn't know what I was doing back then. #embarrassing

KMiata

Very clean car! I know this is MT.net and all, but you also might want to look into options to make your 150whp goal in N/A form. Just food for thought.

Welcome to the site, you'll learn a lot here whether you go turbo or stay N/A.

jcrane82

Thanks for the welcome. In some ways this will kind of be a N/A build and a FI build, since I won't be going FI for a year or two.....and I can't leave anything stock for that length of time. I just need to be careful that any N/A mods I do over the next couple years don't derail my end goal of a JR supercharger (for example long tube headers).

I have done some preliminary research on a 150 rwhp N/A build, and the general consensus I have found is that 150 rwhp FI power is cheaper and more reliable.....not sure if that is true or not though. My budget is really tight, so I am looking for cheap power mods.

Trent

iTrader: (11)

It's definitely cheaper. You could throw in a chinacharger, a log manifold, a rising rate FMU, and throw them in the engine bay (don't even bolt them in, just toss them in the engine bay) and accidentally make 150 hp.

KMiata

Sounds like a good plan. Not sure how the FI 150whp setup would be more reliable than NA, but yes, you can do things really cheaply if your power goal is that low. Good luck!

jcrane82

I was only basing my original statement on what I had read in Corky Bell's Maximum Boost.

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

probably don't even need an intercooler

jcrane82

Some of the early cartech kits didn't have an intercooler either.

I just checked out your build thread. Holy **** *****.....350 rwhp is effing crazy nuts. Nice work!