Hello everyone! My name's George. I'm a 25-year-old Eastern Shore native that currently resides in the DFW area of Texas due to job relocation. I just recently decided to get a second car, as my first is currently a track rat.


She's a 1989 BMW e30 with an M50 swap. I have my own plans for her, so I figured the smart thing to do was to buy a more reliable car to daily. Enter my 1990 Mazda Miata!



She's bone stock besides the wheels (I think?), the front bumper, and the 1.8L engine out of a '95 Miata.







Even has the casette head unit from the factory!


Plans wise for the Miata, I'd like to keep it as comfortable a daily as possible. Updating the sound system, refreshing the paint, adding in a roll bar for safety. Power-wise I'd like to reliably put her in the 250-300 with a decent turbo setup. Ideally, I'm considering buying a 1.8 from a Mazdaspeed, building it up outside of the car while I run a smaller turbo (maybe making 180 with the 1.8 in it now), then dropping it in once it's ready and running a larger turbo. I have a lot to learn since this would be my first FI vehicle, so meeting people with a common interest is a priority for me.

Let me know what you guys think, and thank you for looking!

 

Welcome to the forum. Mazdaspeed turbos suck somewhat. Better options abound.

 

NB wheels.

You do have better options.
Seems like the work is half way done for you, 1.8 swapped.
Read around on these forums for a while, realize that sub 250hp in a ~2200lb is more than plenty for daily duties. Roll bar for safety? I hope you aren't planning on rolling the vehicle over while commuting, trying to avoid that would be the safest thing.

 

Of course, but I've heard horror stories about the style bar bending and forcing the headrests forward. I'd rather plan for something bad to happen than assume it can't.

Also they look cooler.

The guy I bought it from is the second owner of it and did the swap a while back. Engine has only 10k on it since this car was babied. From what I've heard, however, an engine with VVT is more ideal. I'm hoping dropping in a newer engine won't be that much of a hassle. If it isn't even required I may consider not doing it at all. The name of the game is reliable power, so if that means forged internals I feel like it would be smarter (albeit more expensive) to do the swap again.

 

There's no reason to run a small turbo first (or to run only 180). Get either a GT2560r, or an EFR6268, and run 230 whp. The drop in the built motor, and run 300.

Oh, and Mazdaspeed motors are no different than other 1.8's. If you're really looking for the best, than get a 01+ non-Mazdaspeed, so you have VVT. Basically 01+ with a 99-00 intake manifold is the best, 99-00 or 04-05 Mazdaspeed with the 99-00 intake manifold is second best, and then a 94-97 1.8 is the third best.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the tip. I guess buying a small turbo is kind of silly when I could just run a decent turbo with a very conservative tune.

 

I'm also trying to decide my ECU. I've heard good things about the MS2 ECU, but I've also heard positive things about the Hydra ECU. I know Flyin' Miata endorses the Hydra for VVT engines, but I haven't heard whether or not the MS2 can handle the VVT.

 

ms3 can handle vvt, and cost half of what the hydra, and you'd be able to get tons of support vs almost nothing with the hydra

welcome
your name had me thinking this would be a terrible thread filled with flat brim stancebro debauchery, but I was pleasantly surprised. very clean car, and already 1.8 swapped which is excellent. your plans are good too but don't pay premium for msm parts when much better can be obtained

 

First time I've seen someone question a member for wanting to take out the mouse trap and install a roll bar. Yes, install a roll bar. Not going to track it? Awesome. Still a good idea. Keep that plan.

As others have said, research some builds before you spend on a built motor and such. You'll probably find that 230-240 whp (safe on a stock 1.8) is very potent in a Miata and will likely satisfy you. 300 whp in a Miata is honestly somewhat silly (enjoyable, but silly).

Best bet for controlling VVT is MS3 if you're going to tune yourself, or whatever your tuner recommends if you're going to have someone else tune it.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome. The name is mainly an attempt at having something stick. I use it as a gamertag on Xbox, so it definitely comes off as bro-y

The built motor was mainly for reliability. I want to make sure that, if I were to reach my goal, it won't blow the engine.

I would probably go get it professionally tuned as I don't know anything about tuning a car, so finding a shop wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

Welcome to the site G_Wheezy, thanks for joining up!

 

Hey welcome! How soon are you looking to turbo? I have a nice turbo setup for sale if you're interested.

 

Thanks guys! Well seeing as she's completely stock and I've not made any steps at all towards FI, I would say I'm nowhere near getting ready to turboing her. I probably won't get into it until maybe sometime next year. PM me what you got and we can talk, though.

 

You have so many options available to you. The first choice that needs to be made for 100% is:

Are you going to tune it yourself (or do you want to learn to tune yourself)

or

Are you going to pay to have someone tune it.

I'd highly recommend going with #1. Mostly because megasquirt is the bomb and you have tons of community support.

I know you said you'd likely want to use a shop, and that's totally respectable. Just understand that dyno time is horribly expensive.

You're in a position where you could buy a Megasquirt, install it, and learn to tune it on your car. It wouldn't cost you a ton, and yes there'd be a steep initial learning curve, but you can totally do it. Then you'll be ready by the time you collect your turbo goodies.

Just a thought!

 

Definitely something to consider. From what I've seen I can also have the megasquirt installed and running while the car is still NA and get a good base tune.

I guess my worry is that I do something that is irreparable and will cost me more to fix than it would to get someone else to do it. I'm not above asking for help and I do love learning to do things on my own. I'm sure that there are probably some really nice base tunes on here as well.

That'll probably be my first real mod then: getting an aftermarket ECU. Included will be the wideband with all the necessary sensors and maybe a few gauges (specifically AFR) just to get me started. I plan on doing some heavy research just on the megasquirt alone.

 

Another idea I was throwing around (that I don't think I'd ever end up doing) is a turbo with individual throttle bodies. The idea being that the ITB helps with the turbo lag so they kind of play off each other.

 

You won't have lag with the proper turbo.

 

For your goals skip itbs. ITBS would be awesome but the type of tuning of runner length and the added difficulty is beyond necessary. Rods only engine build will suffice. Toss a ATI or super miata crank damper or a boundary engineering oil pump in for reliability. Toss turbo and ecu on and just worry about cooling and suspension if it seems necessary for your uses

 

Please explain this to me, because I have no idea what you're talking about

 

^This.