First-time miata owner!
 

Hello everyone. I just bought a 2001 miata, looking at the FM-II hydra kit to install. I'm not very mechanically inclined but looking forward to learning as much as I can. I think I generally understand the theory from reading material and watching videos, but I have practically zero experience with actually getting my hands dirty and working on things.

Any suggestions on where to begin?

Yes. Right here.

https://www.miataturbo.net/useful-sa...ig-post-10821/

Also, if you are going to buy a full kit, skip the electronics and buy a DIYmegasquirt from Reverant or one of the reputable people here. Install that before you do the turbo install and learn how to tune.

It was only "butt dyno" but I feel like I gained a measurable increase in performance just from ECU and tuning. Once you are comfortable with setting up the electronics, go ahead and buy or "gather" the turbo kit.

Also, location?

Welcome, Iancredible!

^^These guys have got you pointed in the right direction. Post pics of your car and tell us of your plans. Track days in your future?

Post pics. Also good practice if you have no mechanical skill, is find a couple old pieces of cast iron and aluminum stock and practice drilling them, tapping them, and applying torque to them. I wish someone had me do this before I ever touched a car.

Wow, thanks for all the helpful responses and the warm welcome guys!

Hey thanks for that link. I read through that and it was pretty informative. Also, I noticed that link might be a little out-dated. I used this link here and it had a few more updates that were missing in the one on the "useful saved posts" forum.

https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo...big-post-4288/

Location is Madison, WI--anybody else around here that can mentor me and ease my transition into the miata tuning world?

I've been googling and reading up on this forum as well as other forums about the comparison between MS and the hydra. I noticed there's a lot of love here for the MS, with the benefits mainly being that they're cheaper but involves more fiddling, which people like because people like to dig in and get real technical with their setup and feel like experts. I'm wondering if someone can provide an argument for the Hydra Nemesis. Let's pretend I'm Mr. Moneybags:jerkit:--what are the best reasons for getting the Nemesis?

Pics coming soon. No track days for now--the plan for this car is to be a reliable, comfortable daily driver with a little bit of fun. So I'm looking to do a fairly conservative tune on quality components. I'm thinking something like 8-10 psi and at least 225 hp to the wheels. And the best gas mileage possible when I'm not flooring it.

Thanks for that advice. I'll try to get my hands on some. I'm also considering just having a professional do this install--I don't want to eff this up since I'm a :noob:

Oh yeah?

With a DIYPnP you shouldn't have to "fiddle" with anything.
You will also get a basemap that you can tune from.

A main advantage with going MS is that you can generally find all the information you need about anything MS on this site. If you make a build thread, people will help with questions you have along the way.
The Hydra, not so much.

Red Mist Automotive in Gilberts IL is literally less than five minutes from my house and about two hours from Madison. The owner Mike does Subarus all around the country and is building a mega squirt for a Honda project this spring. I am sure Mike will be happy to take your money and install and tune any turbo kit and EMS your heart desires.

Megasquirt has an autotune feature for the fueling table and Hydra doesn't.

Hydra does have that.



That said, if OP is worried about fiddling and wants a Hydra, he's gonna have a bad time.

In my opinion the LEAST fiddling is a PNP megasquirt from brain or Rev.