I am coming from an STI that I have been autox/time trialing the past few years. I've been wanting to get into W2W racing so I wanted to get something more affordable to do so with. I originally was going to do a spec miata but I wanted something that would still be fun if i wanted to take it out on the street. I purchased a gt2554 1.6L miata with sport brakes, konis, koyo rad, coolant reroute, lsd, etc. I have been trying to do as much reading as I can to get this car prepped enough to be able to do full sessions but there are some things that I didn't really find any information on.

Are there not any oiling issues on track? No oil pan mods or baffling needed? I haven't really seen anyone talk about these things.

On my old car I just ran a peterson catch can with a checkvalve in the drain going back to motor. I haven't really been able to find any AOS setups on the site. Basically looking for track setups showing drain locations and crankcase line routings.

How good are these 1.6L's on track at 200+whp? It has 83k on it. I haven't done a compression test or anything but I'm basically wondering if i should pull it apart and freshen up some things before next season... or just check compression and beat the crap out of it. My target power is ~240whp.

 

Nope.

Try the search bar. There are about 100,000,000 threads about it.

Compression test and beat on it. These are solid motors. If you ever pull it apart, put in forged rods at least.

And you will most likely need a new turbo to get near 240whp.

 

Ducting

 

+1. Also extraction. There are 100,000,000 threads on both of these as well.

+1 on getting to 240 rwhp with a 2554. Maybe you can do it, but you will be pushing that turbo pretty hard and generating a lot of heat. For starters, while you are getting the car sorted, keep the power down to <200 rwhp and just drive it.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I am planning on 2 louvers on the hood, oil cooler, brake ducts, apr wing, custom front splitter. The car has the butterfly brace on it and it looks like it would pretty dang easy to do some flat bottoming on it.

The previous owner has a dyno of 239whp on the 2554 but looking around here that seems high. I'm looking at the sheet snow.. it was on a dynojet and the run description says gt2554, std 1.0, smoothing 5, 70F, 12psi.. so who knows. From what i've seen around here that seems high. It's on 10psi now and the small time i've driven it (it's been sitting with a flat) it didn't feel like it had more than 200 at all. I could just be used to torque though. I don't really want to put much money into the motor beacuse I would feel that is just money that could go to an ls swap. I'd so do it already if I could get all the parts besides the engine/tranny for like 4k, but it looks way more expensive than that.

 

I have been running a 6psi with baby turbo (approx 160 HP - see my sig) and having a blast on the track. Embarrassing Subarus, porsches etc.

I too suggest just drive it as is, pound on it and enjoy for awhile. 200 is more than enough in these little cars to waste bigger / more powerfull cars. Just check Emilios exploits for proof!

You are on the right track with the hood louvres, brake ducts (don't forget new fluid and race pads) and I strongly suggest a coolant reroute.

I dont "think" the oil cooler is necessary, can't hurt though.

edit: oops missed the re-route already done.

 

 

You could rebuild the head three angle the seats and back cut and face cut the valves with a real light lapping in of the valves.

Replace thermostat, waterpump , timing belt, tensioner and idler pulley for insurance. Check the radiator

 

I thought of going that route myself rather than turbocharging, but the more I looked into it the more expensive the final figure became. It's a whole other world away from just buying a bigger turbo and building the engine to handle the additional power.
I'm sure it's a whole other world of fun too though.

 

I was all keen on a v8 swap too. BUT I have driven my mates one now and I have to say I am really pleased I didn't.

For the cost, the lack of traction (not just fun but serious lack of traction when trying to go for it...), the horrendous brake problems, diff problems and tyre wear etc

It just doesn't do it for me at all anymore. At $10-$12K I will have 240hp with my new engine on a t28 at 10 psi and the lap times will be very close to what his car can achieve (so far) at $50k+ (NZ$).

He has a lot of setup work to complete and figure things out but even so, I am still pleased with the semi standard (turbo) engine, standard parts and advice readily available etc.

 

It has a fresh timing belt and water pump along with a coolant reroute already. The plan is nasa st3. With aero the power to weight is like ~9.6:1 with 275mm hoosiers. That is where the ~240whp goal is coming from. I put the car on scales the other week and it was 2300 even. It's a 93 limited edition with power windows and all that stuff so I'd assume i should be able to get a decent amount of weight out of it. We'll see. The car currently has link ems which i'm looking to replace with aem or hydra. I kinda like the hydra because it has support for the gm flex fuel sensor which could come in handy if i'm not making the power I need.

 

The reasons you need to rebuild your head are.

1 At this mileage the valves and seats are not sealing optimally.
2.At this mileage the rings should be good enough to handle the compression .
3. You need all the head sealing good to hold the extreme pressures that happen while turbocharging to get you the 240 hp you are looking for. Lap valves very lightly.

Many people smarter then me about computers don't like the hydra. They seem to like the link better. Everyone including me likes the MS PNP.

 

You don't need E85 for 240whp. You just need a bigger turbo. GT2560 will do it.