90 miata. is turbo worth it?
 

I've had my 90 miata 1.6 for about 2 years now and I love it. This summer I feel the need to give it a little kick. I was interested in getting a Begi turbo probably the shanghai starter or the S1.The only thing im worried about is that the car is old and it has 170 000 kms on it. I just wanted to know if this is a good way to go to get more hp or if I should do an engine swap first before I do anything else?

Turbo it.

Your answer depends on whether or not you want to stay with a 1.6. I vote 1.8 swap.

What Dustin said. Good friend's running 13 pounds on his 155k mile stock block with no major problems.

Turbos are stupid

^this

You should supercharge it. You'll make less power -> Less stress on the motor.

thanks for the advice. I talked to 2 mechs, one that only does miatas and he suggested a supercharger, but then again he told me to get the greddy..not really sure which way to go.

...I was being facetious.

If you are concerned: Do a compression test, if the numbers are nice and even across the board, the rings are in good shape. If you are concerned about the bearings and whatnot, get an oil analysis done.

If everything checks out, smack on that s/s1 you are looking at and enjoy it. Be prepared to change out the clutch, but as far as the engine goes, as long as it is healthy there is no reason not to turbocharge it.

Keep in mind though, at that kind of mileage, there may be other things that could use some attention, like the cooling system.

Hehehe.

Supercharger = more heat, more stress, and less power.

Seriously, you could do the Greddy kit, though in all honesty, most of the stuff it comes with is garbage.

If you're really looking for low budget boost, and yet don't want a pile o' crap: http://www.bellengineering.net/produ...roducts_id=396


170,000 Km is nothing. My '90 has close to 340,000 Km and still going strong.

That's ridiculous Joe. There is SO MUCH LESS underhood heat because you don't have a "big glowing thing" strapped to the block. Plus high IATs don't mean anything when you have an e-cool to drop the temps down to the low 200s Fahrenheit . You can make 200whp at 15psi on a 1.8l with near stock EGTs. It's awesome.

[/socal pat]

Plus the lag of the turbo means that it will be slower on an autox (especially with all the weight). Unless you get a Hyper reroute, then it will about the same overall as stock.

Was there just a shift in the Matrix?

The whole forum is around just to shine people on about how great turbos are. It's a bunch of faked stuff. Everyone runs a M45 based blower setup.

greddy dont make there kits anymore. its discontinued as of 11/1/09.

You made me lol jeff. EGT instead of wideband FTW.

Do a compression check on your motor, if the numbers come back good then your good to go on one of the kits you mentioned.

Fair warning, you'll want more power once you get your feet wet!


The S/C responses made me lol as well

My 90 had 180K when I put my fm kit on. So far so good.

+1 on the compression checks. If your motor is healthy, do it.

Dooo it..
Good compression, good oil pressure. Good for turbo.

Once you do it you will kick yourself in the ass for waiting so long ;)

I installed an electric turbocharger. I make super power now.