Any turbo-charged Miata owners in the Bay area?
 

I recently replaced my '01 Miata LS with a '99 AE, because the only turbo kit I could find that's CARB legal was by BEGI (S3 and below).

Before I embark on a massive purchase, it'd be really helpful to actually feel what turbo does to the car, hence the thread. My car is starting off primarily as a daily driver, but I'm going to track it, starting this weekend at Thunderhill.

Am sure there are fantastic turbo-charged Miatas out here (live in San Jose), and would like to get in touch with those folks to hear what they have to say. Would be happy to spot a pitcher of beer for your trouble.

I'm in the midst of a turbo build on my 91. I'm using a Greddy kit because it is CARB legal although technically by the time I'm finished it really won't be anymore.

I also live in San Jose (South end off of Bernal where 101 and 85 meet)

If you want to tap in to the local turbo crowd I would suggest getting on www.norcalroadsters.com

PM me and I'll send you my number. I'm pretty new to the turbo game but I know others who have some experiance.

Andy

Lots of us here.
A couple of us have beer together every so often.

Great! Thanks Cxracer and JasonC.

Will PM you CXracer. JasonC, would love to join you sometime. I live around Japantown / Downtown San Jose, but can meet up anywhere.

I'm in San Jose - have a 99 w/ a FM/Begi CA Smog Legal Kit. The last year that it was made for. Just installed it recently so if you have any question I can forward to my mechanic -- he can also install for you ( he had to fabricate/modify a few things to make it work - I kept everything (AC/PS/Cruise/etc..)..

Hi Dohcturbosi. Sounds like you did exactly what I had in mind. Bell Engineering made it sound a whole lot simpler than what it sounded like for you. How's the car feel?

JasonC, don't think I'll be able to make it to the Garrett tomorrow, but if I do, hope to see you around.

<----
Mountain View (the north end of 85/101), garrett 2560 at 10 psi, begi kit (sort of). Going to v-bands this summer though.

@Jack -- The kit is no longer made so I'm not sure how you can get your hands on one. The kit that I got came from a local seller, who sold to another member, then went to me. I believe the kit was originally for car w/o AC and PS and things didn't line up or didn't fit properly. It had a couple of bad/missing parts by the time it got to me. My mechanic had to either fabricate or replace/repair some of the parts to make it good as new. From what I can see now it's as good as new or better. Made a huge difference with the way it drives now, pretty much zero turbo lag and the torque is always there. MPG did go down a bit --lead foot syndrome-- but not by much. I haven't got it dyno tuned yet, still running on all factory settings from the LINK and it's very good from what I can tell.

I was the original owner of that kit, and it definitely went on a car with PS/AC. What didn't fit? Routing the intercooler and relocated PS lines took some trial and error, but it did fit eventually.

BEGI kits of 10-12 years ago were somewhat infamous for requiring substantial work with a grinder to install properly. I went through two manifolds and three or four downpipes on that kit before I got parts that fit properly. That *should* have all been addressed, however.

I'll most likely be at the NCR meet at The Garret tomorrow.

--Ian

Ian. When i purchased the kit it was in pieces and I was told that everything is in there for the install, but things could have been misplaced in between processions. My installer had to fabricate a couple brackets for the intercooler, wastegate, power steering reservoir, cut and rewelded the downpipe to remove the small restriction at the end, replaced all the studs and reinforced it to prevent issue in the future. He really had nothing bad to say for the kit except for that it's a tight fit. Overall it is a excellent kit, no complains -- just letting Jack know that if he intend to buy a used kit that it might take some additional work to make it work.

I'm EXTREMELY happy with the way things turned out and the help received from you regarding the install was very helpful. If I had to do this all again, I would no hesitate for one minute.

Hey guys, pretty new member here but I've been browsing around for a while.

I have a 2000 NB and I'm just looking to add more power to the car since my past cars were all high HP cars (2005 LS2 GTO, GT35R RX7, Stage 3 S4, etc).

I'm leaning towards a MP62 *hides* due to the installation, cost and I'm not looking for crazy power. I daily drive my car and have the car in the 3500-4000 range, rarely redlining so I really want the midrange power/torque.

Anyone available this weekend to meetup? I live right by Santa Clara University and would like to understand a little more about the turbo setups. PS, I was looking at the BEGi S3 kit ($4000 with fueling to make it CARB LEGAL) vs the MP62 ($3000 CARB LEGAL)

SCU? You're very close to our shop. No turbo cars that run right now, but I can definitely set you straight on what you're looking for.

Yes, literally across the street from Santa Clara University.

I think I just need to decide what I want because to be honest, I think both a SC and Turbo will give me what I'm looking for, but it'll be dependant on if there is a large cost difference.

For example, in my previous post, if I just needed 200-220rwhp with high torque in the 3000-4000 powerband, both a turbo kit and MP62 can do that but the turbo kit will seem to cost $1000+ more than a MP62.

I think the downfall on a MP62 though is that it seems to be the peak of the supercharger where depending on the turbo, it may be obtainable without even pushing the turbo.

You might want to check out the NCR forum (NorCalRoadsters -- NorCal Rotary and Roadsters &bull; Index page), there are frequent meetups around the bay area. There are a few FI folks who show up to these (I'm usually at the South Bay/San Jose ones with my turbo 99).

You'll find it difficult to break 200 rwhp with anything CARB legal -- the factory injectors aren't good for much more than 190, and somewhere in the low 200s the stock MAF sensor goes overvoltage and the ECU starts cutting fuel and throwing codes.

--Ian

Can the smog tech really see the different MAF sensor or larger injectors?

From my past cars they really only check to see the common stuff. for example, I had a Stage 3 Audi S4 with whole different fuel system. RS6 turbos, etc. and when I went to smog it, he said everything looks good but my air filter doesn't have a CARB #

I'd think most techs check for if there is an upgraded air filter, checks to make sure there are cats and that is the visual inspection. If it passes the sniffer then great.

My question is now with the new smog though, isn't it going to be done by just code reading?

For 200-220 hp the GT2554 turbo is what you want.
Outstanding street driveability; makes >78% of peak torque from 3000 to 7200 RPM.
Those were the results on my stock motor 2000 and AEM ECU.
My car felt torquier everywhere than an M62 car I drove with a piggyback ECU.

A Miata is not an Audi. The factory computer can't cope with boost, so you've either got band-aid piggyback solutions for < 200 hp, or full replacement aftermarket computers (megasquirt and the like) above that. Replacement computers don't send OBD2 codes, so it won't pass. A parallel installation might work, but you'd need to simulate the MAF signal or the factory computer is going to throw codes when the airflow is too high. Nobody sells a replacement MAF, because the aftermarket computers are all MAP-based.

The new smog tests get rid of dyno tests for MY2000 and later, but AFAIK the visual test is still there.

--Ian

I'm one county over and I can confirm no rollers but intensive visual on my 2000 here in CA. From what I have seen, CARB/BAR has been getting better graphics of the emissions control systems into the computers. All the "good stuff" comes off every 2 years when I get my checkup. Its a bitch, but it is what it is.

I really hate that no one (except FFS) has given us NB owners any real options for legal boost. I still have a burning hatred for KraftWerks regarding their "CARB Pending" status on my Rotrex. They really :ky: a bunch of us on that one.