Hello from Metro Detroit
 

Hello, my name is Kyle Young. I currently own a 2003 Nissan 350z Touring. Although I have had fun with this car and it is my baby. I have been leaning toward a Miata for some time now. Knowing I could most likely be able to sell my car for the same price a Miata and turbo build would cost, is super tempting. I have always wanted to do a turbo build but truthfully everything on the Z costs too much. I am hoping to buy a NA Miata soon and join the community. I do not want to ask many questions as there is so much information already out there that I should fish through. But I am curious what turbo kits, or selfput together bundles you guys recommend. I want to learn the car and get it up to date before doing anything crazy, but I am trying to establish a rough estimate of what this project might cost, just to justify my craziness. Thank you guys for letting me be apart of an awesome forum, looking forward to owning a Miata! I'll attach a picture of my Z just for the hell of it.

buy an early model year miata 4k max with hard top, no rust, good body, mostly stock, including the plane ticket to fly where such cars exist.

1.8 vvt flat top swap buy an early model year miata, 2K max.

TSE turbo kit 5K? with EFR 6258 turbo.

Coolant reroute, crossflow radiator, gauges, sensors, electronic boost control solenoid 1500

Megasquirt 3x basic? Not sure of the exact megasquirt you'd need, but they run between 400 and 1400 depending on your effort, or someone elses. 1.4k max

Good 205/50/15 tires on 6UL 15x8 rims 1200

949 Racing Big Grip Kit iirc 3k

Hard dog or blackbird fabworx rollbar 350-700 depending on options

All New fluids for your new old car 300 for amsoil good stuff

4 wheel Big brake kit with dual master cylinder 2k minimum

Bushing kit (hi_im_sean sells the best one) 600 iirc

Plus other maintenance stuff...

22,500 or there abouts

Not really what you were asking, but that's sort of the general rundown of quality mods that people do over time to their miata.


Or buy a trashy as fuck 1990 miata for 1000, buy a cheap but decent quality turbo kit from MK Turbo for 1500, still get a megasquirt 800 bux, some cheap somewhat decent injectors 200 used...

2500 plus tuning if you don't learn yourself for a 200whp shitty looking, zero maintenance done, fun miata.

Let me know if you're having trouble deciding. One ride should be enough to persuade you.

Welcome from Michigan. You should take Erat up on his offer, experiencing a turbo Miata is necessary to set your goals. I put a lot of time and effort in building a turbo setup just to pull it all off and collect parts for an LS swap. But understanding if you'll be happy with 230 whp, 300 whp, or 400 whp will certain make your path to power much smoother and direct. I couldn't tell you how much time and money I've wasted going one direction, then changing my mind.

To give my quick opinions of what direction I'd take for the three power levels mentioned above:

230whp: MkTurbo kit, Trackspeed Engineering turbo kit, FMII No electronics kit and then pair any of these with MS3

300 whp option 1: Trackspeed Engineering kit, built motor, MS3

300 whp option 2: If you are going to be heavily tracking this and have the funds, LFX or LSx swap. Or if you just want to be a badass, and want it to sound like a beast.

400 whp: LSx swap

Thanks for the advice and input! Until I finish College, I want to keep a reasonable but fun daily. I am sure once I get going, I will start spending way more than planned. But as of now my goal is to get a decent miata and get no more than 200 hp out of her initially. I have not yet driven a turbo Miata. So idk what these various power levels feel like in that car. My biggest thing for now is just having a fun daily. Also, I have some experience working with cars, but I would not say an extensive amount. This is another thing that draws me to the Miata as I feel its a much better platform to gain experience on (My car is absolutely awful to work on). So what would you recommend for an under 200hp turbo build. All I am looking for is smiles per gallon. :) Also Erat, I may need to take you up on that offer. Hope that gives a decent explanation of what I am after. For now, simply a fun daily.