After much decision for more power/efficiency/smoother power delivery/drivability, I've decided the following.
A nice long chat with Evan K has led me to choose MS (Megasquirt) in the spring. IIRC, Evan is the first and so far only MSM on MS (I will be the second if my info is correct). He told me about the system, and why it would be a good choice, offering Hydra features for half of Hydra price (even with wiring and a wideband included). Here is some info for now, I will be using this as my log of sorts to monitor and update you guys on my progress. The car will then be tuned by Paul, same guy who did Evan's tune, and also does MS tunes for Miatas from all over. Conviniently, Evan and Paul are both over in NJ so this should be feasable.
Current power mods:
FM intake full
FM DP
Pricelist:
MS system = ~550
Wideband = ~300
Boomslang = ~100
Injectors = ~100
Custom 2.5 catback = ~200
For those who don't know, a boomslang is an ECU wire harness extension, this will make splicing in the Megasquirt easier and make "going back to stock" a plug and play procedure. What are my plans and goals with MS?
Redline upgrade, from the measely 6500 to 7500
PSi upgrade from 9 to 12-13
Horsepower upgrade from 180-190 to 220-230 at the wheels
Smoother power delivery
Better MPG
The setup will practically pay for itself as well, since I'm sure MPG will go up once the stock garbage tune is tossed out of the window.
A bit about the stock tune on these cars. Even with no mods, it's garbage, for those who have been in my car you know how much worse it is with mods. Basically the ECU hesitates to give fuel coming into boost, and then dumps fuel in finally at 5000rpm. While it's cool to blow plumes of smoke at 5k almost every time the ECU makes up it's mind on what to do, it also causes a momentary lean condition which is bad for the car over time. Furthermore, with mods, the turbo spools faster than stock confusing the ECU even more. The result is painful, unlike any other turbo car I've driven, this feels like it is completely untuned, there are no big problems running the car this way, just annoyances. There have been times where I've gone to pass someone, step on the gas, and the car moves nowhere, then launches forward a few second later like someone just rear-ended it. I installed an o2 modifier made for this car to help with this condition but it doesn't work at WOT and the car stays in closed loop longer than it should, often times even at partial throttle.
Here is a dyno graph to illustrate:
http://flyinmiata.com/tech/dyno_runs...ke_2_no_AF.pdf
Notice the ECU trying to figure out what to do between 3500 and 5000, and at 5000 the turbo is already tapering down. In other words, this is a very inefficient tune to say the least.
So here goes, wish me luck, and I will keep this updated along the way. Suggestions always helpful. First things first to prepare for the MS unit, I will be getting a custom 2.5" catback made and then ordering a wideband. Should anything get in the way of me completing this project, these 2 things will be useful regardless so they will be done first.