flier129

iTrader: (7)

Was reading in the may/june issue of Project Car tuner mag about their white 91 'Project Lap'. They got the car to compete at their annual Super Lap Battle event. They found the 91 B package WITH a hardtop for 2400k at a local salvation army.

First they did a full 5zigen exhaust, and a k&n filter which got them to 103.41 whp and 92.66tq. Then they put in a Spec clutch/flywheel combo, then suspension goodies RB sways and endlinks, some braces, EBC rotors/pads, tokico springs and shocks (wha? y not flex or stance or..... something?) and SS lines. They also put a wings west kit, which looks pretty damn good imo but i cant justify the cost of that vs money spent on better turbo parts.

So the point im getting at, they ended up buying a Godspeed project turbo kit off ebay :(. The first sentence of this write-up includes the words 'our miata has brought us more headaches than any other build thus far' . Along with a walbro fuel pump and a custom FMIC tuned with an AEM F/IC on 91 octane they got 168.4whp and 158.6 ft-lbs.

From my months of reading on these forums and a few others those numbers are fairly weak. If you were to put the cost vs power gains itd probly be....... well terrible. They were trying to show viewers that you didnt need to spend the money on the prefabbed kits to get the wanted results, they admitted that the cost actually added up to be up over any name-brand kit (ouch). Could of easily got a JRSC for 2200 without manage and been at 175rwhp :(

Anyone else read about this?

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

I have said this several times before.
PCM is the worst thing to happen to the tuner industry since neon windshield wipers.

The extent of the writeups show you how to install CAI's and Catbacks (which usually come with fairly good directions). Then they fill the rest of the magazine by spending a ****-ton of money on some old beater and all it ends up looking like is some old beater somebody spent way to much money on. When they do have the opportunity to do something correct, like build a decent turbo Miata for under $10k, they go out of their way to make horrible purchasing decisions and don't even bother to justify it. It's a terrible rag.

About 6 months ago, just before the Miata thing came out, I sent them a very detailed and constructive 2-page letter about how I though they could improve the quality and legitimacy. I sent links to about a dozen internet threads I found that absolutely trash the mag and they all say the same thing... lame articles that provide absolutely no benefit to 90% of car-nuts. When the second Miata article came out, I sent another letter (referencing the first) about how this particular build emphasizes exactly what I was talking about in the first letter. I specifically said that anybody who currently owns a turbo Miata and reads this article will instantly think your mag is nothing more than a parts advertisement for whatever company you're trying to promote that week. Who the **** spends $1200 on a naturally aspirated miata exhaust? 5Zigen... I'd never even heard of them. And I can't imagine other communities will think differently when you rape over their cars either. I haven't heard back.

flier129

iTrader: (7)

well i'd have to completely agree with you samnavy haha. kinda puts me at ease to know i wasnt the only one thinking that way .

a mag with a god knows what budget is hard to compare to someone like me on a student budget. i think ima stick to mags that have write-ups about a guy doing the work in his garage, part after part with his money, then getting good enough results to get noted in such a magazine. thats my opinion anyways. i'd have to say out all the forums i read daily ive learned the most off this one :-D

Saahild

So from what I understand it, as long as you are not a total idiot and just bolt this on and hope for the best, and you use a decent engine management system with it you should be fine?

The problem I can see from what you guys have said is that they advertise as plug and play but they do require engine management of some sort as well to sort out fuel and spark.

An ebay turbo kit with a megasquirt for example would be a decent budget system?

I may have missed something though but does that sound like a reasonable conclusion?

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

It would be a great budget system... for about a month when the turbo fails and the manifold cracks.


Search ebay turbo kits, there are other threads on this.

Matt Cramer

Recently I emailed a seller of one of the more complete looking eBay turbo kits (what can I say, I was bored) and asked if they had a compressor map for the turbo. Much to my astonishment, they answered within a day, but said, "Sorry, we don't have the compressor map; you'll have to determine that for yourself." And no, they hadn't confused a compressor map with a fuel map!

Saahild

Asked them if they have had any problems with manifolds cracking or if they have any pictures of any vehicles they have fitted this to. Not yet I am afraid, and there are other parts needed to complete the kit. Not the most promising of answers there. Nice in theory but not so much in practice.

Saml01

iTrader: (9)

Your never gonna sue somebody on ebay for a turbo kit that blew up your engine. People who buy em, buy them on their head. If they screw up its not the kit makers fault, because you will never prove it was their kit that was responsible, they will have an easier time proving your ignorance.

Same way that if you buy Bells or FM's kit and blow up your engine, youre not gonna sue them either. Furthermore, youre not gonna sue Tom if his shitty PC Pro blows up your engine, he will claim it works in his shop and you fucked up installing it, and its not his problem.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Very sad, but indeed completely true
fortunately companies like fm and begi have a reputation to uphold, and strive to put out a good product, and when something goes to ****, try their best to help out or fix the problem. Ebay sellers dont give a ****, if they get enough negative feedback, they just make a new account and keep on sellin. that is the difference

Slacker2223

hey i just saw this kit on ebay-wanted to know if this was a "complete" kit or just another load of ****....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-97...spagenameZWDVW

KPLAFIN

iTrader: (1)

Did you seriously read this thread and then post that question?

NO, no you couldn't have, no one is THAT stupid, you must not have read nay of it... prepare to have your ******* enlarged.

jobambo

No.

Imagine how much money these china makers will make if they start selling none important shiny parts, such as a cheap, polished valve covers

Saahild

That was the kit I saw, It does need an oil return line but the rest of it is complete according to that ebayer. But no idea what the quality of the components are tbh.

KPLAFIN

iTrader: (1)

you didn't read the rest of the damn thread either did you? and you sure as hell didn't read Scott's (Braineak's) turbo faq.

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

Yah, totally complete except for just one thing...

Oh yah, and a downpipe, oil feed line, water lines, water and oil line fittings, NOTHING FOR FUEL, NOTHING FOR TIMING, no boost gauge, no vaccum lines for anything, no gaskets, no intake pipng or filter, no clamps for the piping, no mounting hardware for the IC... except for those things just bolt it on and drive away.

Slacker and Saahild, you have just re-emphasized the need on this website to haze NOOBs who don't do any homework on their own before asking lame-*** questions. It's pretty clear neither of you know what exactly would come in a "complete" kit in the first place or theres no way you two would have asked that question or posted that response.

For an example of a "complete" kit, just go to the BEGi or FM site and look at their parts list.

Saahild

Um guys read the whole post... I did say ACCORDING TO THE EBAYER!!!!!! And you screw at me for not reading...

All i stated was that was the ebay kit I saw that provoked me to post in the first instance. And after reading through this thread and others I was under the impression that there are some "complete" kits out there that, if used with proper engine and fueling management, would be a decent budget system. This was corrected by a member off here telling me that the quality would be tat and the manifold and or the turbo will break in a month or so. Previously to this I had emailed this ebayer of this kit and he had come back with what was required to complete this kit. I pointed this out to Slacker here in my post adding that this is what I had been told by this ebayer. Also added that the quality is suspect. Don't see anything wrong in what I posted. Please do explain what was wrong with what I said.

jobambo

Its missing the following:
Compressor outlet and inlet adapters, note how the seller forced a silicon connector into the 3 bolt flange on the turbo.
piping and intake filter
intercooler will not fit if you have AC, unless you want to move things around
oil feed lines, oil return and flange.
Injectors, fuel and ignition controller or a full set of bandaids.
the rest of the downpipe.
The intercooler system is probably not a bolt on, modification will be required.

Overall, a new begi manifold is ~$400 + ~$250 for a Good T25 + $200 for a proper intercooler and piping from ebay + an ebay $30 BOV will build you a better kit then that.

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

So the eBayer told you the only thing needed to make the kit complete is an oil feed line... hmmmm....

He didn't mention anything about IC clamps, or fuel management, or a downpipe... anything like that? Do those things come in his kit only he doesn't include pictures or any mention of them in the ad? That's very nice of the eBay seller to do that. Most eBay sellers just tell you a complete line of bullshit so you'll buy what they have. Most eBay sellers will lie straight to your face to get you to buy what they have. Very strange.

Saahild

Well they did go very quiet when I asked if they had had complaints of manifold or turbo failure so yeah. Buyer beware of cheap ebay tat. Btw just out of interest is there a comprehensive list of parts out there for a turbo kit? Did read through the FAQ and it does answer a lot of questions and I am sure a list could be pieced together from the contents of this thread but a comprehensive list of components would make a great sticky.

BTW I thought that the fuel/ignition management was just understood so wouldn't need to be mentioned, We had discussed downpipes in a previous email so was not mentioned and again I would have thought obvious enough not to need mentioning and finally to be entirely honest I have no idea what an IC clamp is but I assume it is some sort of bracket to hold the IC in place but he did not say that these were needed. Again after he was not willing to comment on the reliability of his product I swiftly moved away from the idea of an ebay turbo kit. Rather drawn towards the EDT (i think) 1.8 greddy manifold to use the greddy kit on a 1.8 with a nice megasquirt. Or if I find a comprehensive list of parts then I may even make one of my own using a premade good quality manifold and collect up the parts as a little project.

oilstain

I didn't read it, I just saw the pretty pictures. I wanted to get to you first before you got banned. Read that, from the MsPaint-work I saw on some of those pics, I am led to believe that it will tell you how a turbo works, and what part does what. Of course you could google (but then again, maybe you can't) or look on wikipedia and see what parts do what in a turbo, and what you would need.

I know, I know, you'd like someone to list exactly what parts (including part numbers) you'd need to turbo your miata. Alright, if that's what you need, here that will probably be your best bet.


(edit: funny, I got ragged on in another thread about having a Honda. I used the website that the dude referred to to find this info. Call it a hunch, but I thought, just maybe, if there are eight million retards turboing hondas, there's got to be easy to follow instructions. Well, I was right. ****, I still haven't nor will I ever read that whole post, but damn, scrolling through it I saw a metric-****-ton of information being spoon fed. It's a four cylinder, just turned the wrong way.)