Newbie with a '99 in Knoxville, TN
 

Hey guys. My name's Dan, in Knoxville, TN, and I recently picked up a red '99 NB with 98k miles on it, in pretty nice condition. For years I've talked about building a turbo Miata, and so I'm finally doing it :) I'm currently in the research phase, with the idea of moving forward in the next 4-6 months.

I've been driving newer cars for a few years (my previous car was a 2011 Mini Cooper S convertible, which I loved), but I got tired of the car payments, and missed modding, so I'm back in an older car, and loving it.

10 years ago, in college, I had a series of Supras, culminating in a '90 Supra turbo which I worked up to 400 rwhp. My goals are a lot more modest nowadays -- honestly, other than the car payment, I was totally content with the performance of the Mini, so I'm really just looking to get back in that range, with a priority on keeping driveability and reliability. It shouldn't take much -- the Mini is rated at around 180hp at the crank (and a good bit heavier, at 2850 lbs). So I think bringing the Miata up to around 160 rwhp will make me happy, though of course 180-200 would be nice :)

I do a little autocrossing, but it's not my priority (else I'd be doing suspension and tires first) -- I mostly just want a car that's fun to zip around town in.

I'm trying to make decisions as far as which kit suits me best, what to do about engine management, etc. I'm leaning towards the FM Voodoo II kit. In general I prefer the idea of a standalone ECM rather than tricking the ECU with band-aids, but my last experience with a standalone wasn't great. Towards the end of my time with that '90 Turbo, I installed a Link standalone in it, but was never able to get it to run smoothly. I was also involved in the original MS1 group by, but never actually built it, and ended up selling it to a friend.

So for the Miata, the computer nerd in me likes the idea of going the MegaSquirt route, maybe something like Reverant's MS3 Basic, but this car will be my only car and daily driver, so I really want something that will just work, without turning into a months-long fine-tuning project, trying to iron out kinks etc. Since my power goals are fairly modest, I'm thinking it might be wise to just stick to the FM kit with their Voodoo Box.

Anyway, I welcome any feedback you guys have, but mostly I just wanted to introduce myself. Glad to be here.

Dan


Edit: I fixed the upside-down picture, but for some reason the thumbnail still shows upside down. Ah well, the full size pic is fine :)

Car looks clean. Drop those boat anchor wheels and it'll drive much better.

Might I recommend buying a beater to drive while you turbo that thing? adding turbo to your DD without a plan B is very much not recommended.

Hehe, that's a good idea. I've got the factory wheels too, which I'll be using for autocrossing. The aftermarket wheels will just be for around town. At some point I might buy a set of lighter wheels and get rid of these, but for now, I want to avoid putting more money in that department.

The Mini Cooper is actually a lease (ugh never doing that again), so even though I found this great Miata and snapped it up, I'm stuck with the Mini for another year and a half :) So while it sucks to keep making those big payments, it DOES give me something to drive while I get the Miata sorted out before I have to hand the Mini back and get down to one car.

Brilliant.

You might look into FFD wheels when you're ready. Good price, and they're a great looking wheel. I love mine.

Good luck!

Nice. I found pics of your car towards the end of that long rebuild thread, and those wheels do look really good. I'll keep that in mind when the time comes. Thanks.

Welcome to the site TheCowGod, thanks for joining up!

hey! yep, miata's are affected drastically by unsprung weight