Miata Engine Swap
Coming from someone who has had a 1.6/1.8T/built 1.9T/and Fe3 in his miata..
Either swap in a lsx or use a 4 honda motor (k24>f20/22) and turbocharge it.
Everything else is a waste of time and money.
Either swap in a lsx or use a 4 honda motor (k24>f20/22) and turbocharge it.
Everything else is a waste of time and money.
The realist in me says stick with a FI BP motor.
The dreamer in me says stuff this in there.
http://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1562069.htm
The dreamer in me says stuff this in there.
http://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1562069.htm
k24madness, that h1 is pure crack. almost makes you want to sell everything you own and buy a locust and go bombing down the nurburgring. it also almost makes the billet sr20 blocks (http://www.bulletcylinderheads.com.au/billetblocks.php) at $7k seem reasonable
Some more pictures and info here.
https://www.miataturbo.net/showthread.php?p=577783
Still not quite done yet.
https://www.miataturbo.net/showthread.php?p=577783
Still not quite done yet.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 646
Total Cats: 62
From: The Race Track & St Pete FL
Its never done, I would love to do the 600hp H1 V8 Twin Turbo since that is the closest you can get to a F1 engine without owning one. An F1 engine is a pain in the *** to daily drive, since you have to pre warm the engine up before starting it and you can't ever stall it.
k24madness, i just realized you have tony's old car. i have got to see that. i stopped by the shop once when he was getting that thing dyno'd. if i was a little faster on the draw i woulda traded him my strada+$ for the pista, oh well.
enjoy sir
enjoy sir
Just to put it into perspective. In my past life at job "X" we swapped a 7.0 LSX with a Harrop into a Solstice. Yes it was brutal about 700 horsepower on the engine dyno but it weighed a TON. To make the car better we had to swap in a stock 7 liter and T56 but it was still Corvette heavy. CanBus mania , billet bellhousings, hand made headers and exhaust all made for fun and expensive engineering with snowflake parts. Calibration, ignition switches and dashboards required friends who worked at car companies.
If you can get a Miata in true street trim with your desired creature comforts to weigh in at 2,500 pounds I think you would be very happy and have a field day hunting down Cobra kits cars for snacks. I can't help but think that a budget build based on a 1.8 and a turbo would make for a nice driver just as much as an LS swap would make for a brutal power broker. What most of like to hide from is the dreadful scope creep that seems to be somewhere in every engine swap. Frankly, I wouldn't bother swapping any other 4 cylinder
into a Miata when the guys here have enough recipes to suit your needs.
I might do a V8, (LS), but I think I will drive a few turbo cars before I tear my car apart. I have tons of LS experience and parts from my past but I bought a Miata to capture the sports car part of it not so much as a cheap Cobra wannabe swap project.
here is something for all the haters. still working on the adapter (tranny <-> ppf), but getting close, i guess. seems there is some trial and error involved here lol.
I know of a S13 with a turbo b18 conversion. He used a s2000 gearbox with an adaptor plate. This makes me think it should be possible with a k series. Haveu been able to measure any weight reduction from the sr20 being alloy block?
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 375
Total Cats: 20
From: UK, in Cambridgeshire or wherever work takes me.
My 2 pence:
If you're doing an engine swap purely to make your car faster around a track, go with an LSx. A turbocharged F22c would produce big numbers… but a turbocharged LSx would produce even bigger numbers, so packaging trickiness aside, the LSx is the most logical choice.
On the other hand, I can understand rotary and naturally aspirated F20c swaps from a subjective standpoint. Both are characterful and 'fun' engines - far more so than the BP - and that alone is worth the cost and hassle of doing a swap to many people, including myself.
The SR20 falls into neither category above - it's not characterful enough to enhance the driving experience over the BP, and neither does it have massive horsepower potential compared to an LSx, or even compared to a BP. So it's a swap that I really, really don't understand.
If you're doing an engine swap purely to make your car faster around a track, go with an LSx. A turbocharged F22c would produce big numbers… but a turbocharged LSx would produce even bigger numbers, so packaging trickiness aside, the LSx is the most logical choice.
On the other hand, I can understand rotary and naturally aspirated F20c swaps from a subjective standpoint. Both are characterful and 'fun' engines - far more so than the BP - and that alone is worth the cost and hassle of doing a swap to many people, including myself.
The SR20 falls into neither category above - it's not characterful enough to enhance the driving experience over the BP, and neither does it have massive horsepower potential compared to an LSx, or even compared to a BP. So it's a swap that I really, really don't understand.
Last edited by owenwilliams; Jun 23, 2012 at 02:43 PM.
My 2 pence:
If you're doing an engine swap purely to make your car faster around a track, go with an LSx. A turbocharged F22c would produce big numbers… but a turbocharged LSx would produce even bigger numbers, so packaging trickiness aside, the LSx is the most logical choice.
On the other hand, I can understand rotary and naturally aspirated F20c swaps from a subjective standpoint. Both are characterful and 'fun' engines - far more so than the BP - and that alone is worth the cost and hassle of doing a swap to many people, including myself.
The SR20 falls into neither category above - it's not characterful enough to enhance the driving experience over the BP, and neither does it have massive horsepower potential compared to an LSx, or even compared to a BP. So it's a swap that I really, really don't understand.
If you're doing an engine swap purely to make your car faster around a track, go with an LSx. A turbocharged F22c would produce big numbers… but a turbocharged LSx would produce even bigger numbers, so packaging trickiness aside, the LSx is the most logical choice.
On the other hand, I can understand rotary and naturally aspirated F20c swaps from a subjective standpoint. Both are characterful and 'fun' engines - far more so than the BP - and that alone is worth the cost and hassle of doing a swap to many people, including myself.
The SR20 falls into neither category above - it's not characterful enough to enhance the driving experience over the BP, and neither does it have massive horsepower potential compared to an LSx, or even compared to a BP. So it's a swap that I really, really don't understand.
While I love the LS conversions I think the S2000 motor is a much better choice.
None of the 3 local LSx conversions have been able to beat the lap times on my car. One of the owners commented if he had to do it all again he would focus on lowering weight more than HP.
While I love the LS conversions I think the S2000 motor is a much better choice.
While I love the LS conversions I think the S2000 motor is a much better choice.
I assume a lot of that weight is in the T56 transmission though.
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 375
Total Cats: 20
From: UK, in Cambridgeshire or wherever work takes me.
As weight obsessive as I am, wouldn't an extra couple of hundred horsepower make up for that 166lbs? (On a large enough track, traction permitting)
Also, a generic weight is kind of unfair because placement matters so much. If all of that weight is in the transmission, it's low and in the center of the car so it's not that big of deal.
The SR20 falls into neither category above - it's not characterful enough to enhance the driving experience over the BP, and neither does it have massive horsepower potential compared to an LSx, or even compared to a BP. So it's a swap that I really, really don't understand.

i dont' want to say too much about the sr because, really, the only way for me to show i'm not dumb is to have a 350whp, reliable, fast miata using a completely stock motor (modulo fuel system and turbo upgrade). then again, even then i might still be considered to be dumb. but thats ok. it kind of is dumb, i should be saving for retirement.




