n00b from TN
 

Well, I am a noob to turbo Miatas. I have built a couple of Miatas but never boosted one. My last few cars have been Porsches, Corvettes, BMWs and but I wanted to see how fast a car can be on a budget, relatively speaking. I want to kill ZO6s for 1/3 the price. I also own a Speed3 and love it!

Here's my start. I got a good deal on low mileage 05' Mazdaspeed with quite a few FM upgrades but lacking an ECU, injectors and a proper turbo. I picked up a set of 6UL, 15 x 9 and a set of AFCOs from Keith. While I am working on handling I am starting to acquire the stuff for more boost. My plan is Absurdflow mani with a 3071r, externally gated. It might be a little overkill but at some point I plan on building a motor and don't want to buy things twice, so overkill for now. Thoughts?

Here's my biggest stumbling point

1. Engine management and tuning- I know very little about it and it scares the hell out of me. All of my cars have used stock ECU with flash or chips and I think it is safe to say my plans require something a little more drastic.
From what I read all of them have strengths and weaknesses and I am all weakness.

2. Sway bars have me a little stumped. I am not really sure which way to go here. I think some of the bars out there are overkill, but I seem to be overkilling everything else, so.....

Anway, the car is in pieces all ready and I am starting my build. Should be fun! I'll post some pix at some point

Sounds like you've got a good start, but I do want to say something about this -- wait to decide on sway bar combinations until after you've upped the power close to where you want it. I know a lot of the guys here are running a stock front bar and no rear bar...

Welcome, and where in TN are you?

some guys swear by the rear bar.

I'm running a little bigger front and no rear sway bar.

Most guys here run the megasquirt ECU, its a 'low cost' option without 'low cost' limitations.

I'm running the hydra, and definitely found most features are great and a few issues are like herpes.

No rear bar FTW. I have a RB front bar. Megasquirt is a low cost solution, and it is very effective, not to mention the plethora of information available here for tuning it. I am from the Tri-Cities area, so you had better rep TN well.

I think the "wait and see strategy" is the prefect idea on the sway bars. I'm going to reassemble it this week and try an autocross and maybe an HPDE while I am waiting on boost parts. Keith put me on some hefty springs so it might be a totally new experience driving this thing. Might be squirrelly as hell or drive like a dream.

I am in M'Boro. I'll try to represent TN to the best of my abilities, which probably wont be up to the abilities of my car. Might have to get Brian to test it for me.

Megasquirt has the nod so far, but others have some merit. I like MS because so many people are running it, which means a lot of resources to tap into. Hydra seems good, but ridiculously expensive. Adaptive seems to have some idle and voltage bugs. AEM has some missfire issues. Of course, this comes only from what I read here. The big picture might be a different story.

By the way, we have emissions. Any chance I can get this thing through emissions when I am done? Would a parallel arrangement allow the DOT to have their way with my car? I'd bet I can tune to pass the sniffer, but the dastardly computer check keeps me wondering.

Anyway, nice to be back in a Miata, and nice to be boosted.

It was rude of me not to mention this in my previous post.

Brain, we have actually met on a couple of occasions. I ran an STS2 car locally a few years ago. I only attended a few events but had fun. I have looked your cars over pretty well and followed the Nationals every year. I was very impressed with your National Championship. Your wife did an impressive job as well. A belated congratulations.

Hope we have a chance to meet again soon

sounds like a solid plan.
diy pnp sounds like a great solution for you if you can get it to work (some of us, like myself, are electronically challenged)
adaptronic is great but takes time to set up and not sure if its available for your car yet.
hydra is uber expensive but otherwise nice

nice choice with the 30r, its nice to see people getting bigger turbos...

Thank for the kind words, what was your name again? I am sure we will meet again soon. I have not raced locally much this year and am not racing the Miata on a national level but my wife still is. I have upgaded to a co-drive in the 2009 SSM National Champion's car:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/...4c7427fd_o.jpg

Congrats on the Miata, they are hard to beat for grins per dollar.

Need to check your corner weighting - I think you're a little light on the front right... ;)

Your plan sounds great!

As far as ECU's hydra would be more of a plug n' play deal and might put you more at ease since it's your first standalone. Although MS is a damn good option and really really easy to pick up on, I can personally vouch for that.


Any plans on autox'ing it on a regular basis? If so want a co-driver!? :giggle:
Im actually suppose to drive my friend's SSM miata this fall with the Tenn. Region, I might catch ya out there. Brian's wife has also taken many of drivers ego's down a notch or 10 :bowrofl: (including mine)

Good to see more turbo cars in TN :).

I saw a hydra on sale on m.net, go check, im to lazy.

Any plans on coming up to East Tenn. while on leave Mr. Burke? I'd like to check out your car one day.

I am heading that way in mid july, but i am flying, i do want to come up there and see how i do against all the SM people one day. So depending on your events, i could be co-driving the z. I think my brother can out drive me now, even though I taught him. I probably wont bring it until i get a decent trans, my 5spd is whiney. Once i get my injectors in, it should break in fairly short order, so i will be rockin a 6 speed and 3.63 rear.

That's badass.

Brian, I like the new ride. I see the attraction but I get confused when I open those hoods. My name is Steve Frist. I teach at Siegel HS in M'boro.

filer129, I will get the car out to some local events when it cools down a little. The greatest downside to autocross is the 6 hours in a hot, asphalt parking lot with 10 minutes worth of action. Seems a lot like sex for married couples. I enjoy it but cant stand fryin in hell. Your welcome to come drive when I get there.

I think I'll go with MS PNP. There are enough MAPS out there to get me started.

I do plan on some HPDEs and some time attack stuff as well. That is my primary goal.

good to hear from another local and sounds like an awesome project. can't wait till see it develope.

my bro-n-law actually teaches at Siegel also and I live about 1.5 from there, small world.

pix
 

This is quick snap I took after installing my AFCOS and 6ULs. I'll take some better pictures later. Still experimenting with ride height