It's not necessarily that I'm trying to make big power, I just want it to be reliable.


miata2fast, sorry I ignored your budget question. Currently speaking with my buddy who would build it to get a rough idea of machining/balancing/assembly costs.

Maybe stating my end goal is better:
~155whp
Stable on 91 octane (no det, etc)
Reliable for at least 100 HPDE/TT hours before a significant loss in performance.

So the best mix of parts to get there, without going overboard.

Sorry, i was a bit cryptic there.

The most reliable (in my opinion of course) will be the build that has that most amount of OEM parts.

I'd run a stock VVT motor with maybe a BE oil pump, whatever pimpy damper everyone has a hard on for these days, mild port work in the head, nice manifolds, and a good tune. Shave the head if you want to get crazy, but don't know if i'd bother if you're limited by 91 octane.

No rods? I thought I've read they don't like repeated trips north of 7k?

If you need it for peace of mind, go for it. I'm dumb and i'd try it until it didn't work.

155whp is doable with a sealed VVT motor, EUDM intake, generic crossover w/cone filter tube intake, full exhaust and aftermarket ECU.

Without the EUDM intake and with 0 time spent on spark tuning I was at 143WHP with that setup.


e: Just remembered you can only get 91 octane. Not sure if that combo will get you all the way there on crap gas.

I may just go E85. There are a few stations around that have it, and since the car will become track-only next year that is probably the easiest way to get some more power out of a basically stock VVT engine.