mann's turbo 2006 NC mx-5... Updated 8/19, new 1/4 mile time and water injection

[mann]

EDIT: Cliffs notes mod list

Handling:
JIC Coilovers 7/5 kg springs
Eibach Sways
IL Motorsport:
strut tower brace
front brace
x-brace
rear brace
ppf brace
AWR poly motor mounts
Mazdaspeed adjustable sway bar end links
Carbotech XP8 all around w/centric rotors/ATE superblue fluid
Goodridge stainless steel brake lines
OZ Ultraleggera 17x8's or FD rx7 16x8's depending on event.
Bridgestone RE-01R 245/40/17's / Falken fk452's on 16s (drift)

Performance:
BEGi S3 Turbo - GT2860RS, 550's, FMIC, 3" MAF - 283WHP@10psi 11/09
Moto-East custom 3" turbo back, resonated, with cat, dual outlets & magnaflow muffler.
Fidanza flywheel
ACT clutch
AEM water injection
Mishimoto carbon fiber catch can

Electronics:
Delta Force Interface tuned by Moto-East
Auterra DashDyno SPD for datalogging
AEM Wideband
Autometer Boost

Other:
Rear decklid spoiler
AWR single hoop 4pt roll bar w/petty bar.
Infinity Reference speakers, crossovers, tweeters.
Nardi Deep Corn 330mm wheel w/daikei hub

Future Mods:

Seats + Harness
Forged bottom end (winter '09/'10?)

[mann]

Hi guys...so this is how it started...

Fully built motor, 60-1 T4, VPC very very quick car. Too quick, blew the trans and had enough of DSMs.

So the next few years involved an 88 ranger, spec v, then a mazda b3000.



It was a great truck. 5speed, 3.0. Threw some pulleys on it and a locker, 33's, and it was a great all around truck, but I started to miss a small agile fast car. Enter the z....



Unfortunately this was when I learned about carfax and title fraud. The car had apperently been stolen sometime in the past and while legal, had a sketchy history. I chose to part it out and made more than 2k over what I paid. What was left:


So after parting out the Z I embarked on my next project...the mr2.


Picked it up for next to nothing, 268,000 miles, one lady owner up until a few months prior, the guy who bought it tracked it and gave it a bad case of rod knock subsequently. Not bad for 268k...My intentions were to swap and the rest of it was in decent condition.
Within 1 week of buying it this was the result:

Here was the donor:

of course I had to add this (excuse the crappy welding...my first manifold):

which turned into this:





VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNI-9oJC_UA

That was the end result and while it was fast, agile, and fun working on, I just did not have the time for such an involved project any more. So I decided to simplify things and pick up a del sol with 150k on it, for next to nothing, that burned oil. Unfortunately my friend at the time rear ended his 97 civic and for a decent price I relieved him of his drivetrain that was still intact.
at the beginning

the d15 oilburner

the donor

d15out

it only took us 3 days part time to swap....wow hondas are easy

what my garage became after the swap...I think cleaning it was worse than the actual swap itself.


I ended up selling the del sol right before buying the miata, but before then the past came back to haunt me....I stumbled upon a fwd laser on autotrader for next to nothing...built motor, 16g, no issues (yeah right, huge oil leak) and I couldn't pass up as I was really missing DSMs at that point.
So I caved in....



Turned out the oil leak was just a loose oil pressure sender. The car was fast...way too fast for the worn out bushings and suspension. I quickly remembered how much maintanence DSMs are when they are fast and I unloaded it pretty quickly for a decent profit (which I earned as I had fixed a bunch of issues thanks my trove of DSM fixing experience...)

So then I had stumbled upon a rare find in south jersey, a near mint 88 supercharged MR2. This car was amazing for the money.






Awesome car. However at this point I had bought the mx-5, and only have a 1 car garage. As the mk1's are rust prone, and I was not getting rid of the miata, I had no choice but to sell it after only a few months. I drove it up to upstate NY for a 5 hour drive after selling on ebay to a buyer who had the space. Amazing what an awesome car they were able to build in the 80's. Lots of go, super quick, and looked damn good for the time.

So I guess this is where I get to the miata...



I picked it up in April of 2006. I was on a search for a RWD, affordable, 2 seats, must handle, and topless is better. Gas at the time had gone up to a crushing 1.85/gallon and I no longer needed the truck so I felt this was a great time to get a small car...(never would have thought gas would go to $4 then....)

stock engine bay

what the stock wheels looked like (not my car)



The mx-5 wheels were in hot demand by the mazda 3 guys as they fit and looked great on the mz3, I sold them very quickly and picked up some oz's with an 1" more width and 40mm more tire. Note the suv-like ride height of the stock suspension.


To spice things up a tad this came in the mail along with a new credit card bill:


And this is the resulting height afterwards, notice that with 40mm of additional tire, and 7mm more offset, the tires STILL fit in the wheel arches. It was like they flared the fenders for you to begin with. Some guys are fitting 285's with some aggressive rolling. I only had them rolled about 2mm to clear the tires:


And the intake installed:


Now this was about 1 month before the deal's gap trip I was about to take and while adjusting the ride height one of the adjusters froze up and crossthreaded the shock body. I had sent the unit back to JIC for their warranty, and what was a 2 week turn around ended up taking 3 months. So I went down shenandoah, the blue ridge, and then deal's on the stock marshmallow suspension.












At least I made the killboy front page by nearly lifting both inside wheels! Did I mention this is on all season tires? There was an s2000 rally there at the time and I had no issues keeping up with them what so ever.



Here is a video: (not me driving, really officer )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9vK8UZFs54

An awesome trip, however I did get popped for 16 over, which cost me a lawyer since in NC that = lose your license, and that WOULD transfer to PA with an equal loss of license.

I finally got the coilovers fixed in the winter, and actually did one of the aberdeen philly scca winter events which I think was the last time they let us there. Oddly enough this car is amazing in the snow for what it is.
Yes the top is down.




By spring I picked up some falkens in a 235, which at 235/40/17, is a perfect diameter and width for this car.

Eibach (same as mazdaspeed) sway bars went in as well.

The rest of 2007 was spent slaving away at work and any free time was on my Triumph 675. In 2008 that changed, I highsided at deal's gap and landed in the opposite lane of traffic, amazingly there was nobody coming the other way and the bike remained rideable but I couldn't walk straight for the next 2 months so I decided to lay off bikes for a while. The first autox was the two day at holbert:



Great time, Ciotti got some awesome pics that day especially when the clouds rolled in on sunday. Notice the tire angle on the passenger front





Video from event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZH6xD-uta0

[mann]

Having sold the bike it was time for some more goodies to go in:





The header is good for about 15hp, the muffler weighs 20 lbs less and at least 5hp, the sniper adds another 10 or so. It allows me to plug into my ECU, and alter the fuel/timing maps, as well as eliminate the throttle closing automatically under boost, without needing any piggyback. Just flash it and it still retains all the driveability of the stock ECU.

Header installed


I chose to stick with a stock midpipe, as the dyno actually shows a loss of 2hp with an aftermarket one. The combination however, is loud, and attracts way too much attention on the street so I use the stocker with just a little loss of grunt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg5wY544-FY

[redg2]

Nice collection of cars you've had, how many do you still own now? Just the Fiero and Miata?

[JDMTyler3326]

Nice cars man, I love the Z... How many cars u have now?

[87fierogt]

fiero? you mean mr2? the notch back fiero can be confused for one lol. how ever when they compared the fourmula fiero to the s/c mr2 the n/a fiero beat em just by a hair ;) btw i love the mr2's and your miata

[redg2]

Originally Posted by 87fierogt

fiero? you mean mr2? the notch back fiero can be confused for one lol. how ever when they compared the fourmula fiero to the s/c mr2 the n/a fiero beat em just by a hair ;) btw i love the mr2's and your miata

HAH yea the MR2 i just scroled though there quickly and yea from the back they do look very similar.

[mann]

yeah...its an mr2. I was 50/50 between a fiero and an mr2, but finding a 87+gt fiero with the hatch vs notch was near impossible for less than 3k so I went the mr2 route. That and the mr2's spontaneousley combusted less frequently

[motorvated]

Hmm an NC? What are the plans for that? May I suggest a garage vary front lip

[CleanNeon98]

You and the GV lip haha.

Let me know if you want some snaps of your car.

[motorvated]

makes the nc look dope

[mann]

new pics added above...

[motorvated]

nice man! Keep it up

[mann]

in october I did the Hershey auto-x, 1st day in a lake of a parking lot, second day was much nicer.

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36xBd-awNbI





Co driver:


It was also time to install the AEM wideband so I could tinker a bit more with the tune



And while I am much more function over looks, I couldn't resist as this makes the car look so much better...
Trunk lip spoiler


In preparation for next year I picked up a roll bar to be legal

This is the stock one:




The new roll bar, thicker DOM tubing, crossbar, taller:





rear view hardly compromised






And the car as it sits now:

FD-RX7 wheels with 225 tires.

stubby honda antenna:





My favorite angle of the car:

[mann]

3/1/09 - More track ready

Now the goal for the 09 season is to do some HDPE and hill climbs, so a brake upgrade is necessary. While the stock brakes on the NC are phenomenal for the street and autox, for track time they don't do for very long.

So enter....



Centric brake rotors


carbotech xp-8's all around






Goodridge SS lines


ATE Superblue fluid






See those screws on the fronts holding the rotors on? Yeah...screws 1 snap on screw driver 0. Had to drill the bastard out even an impact screw driver couldn't budge it.


Fronts done:


Rears done:


The Motive power bleeder is awesome...it took notime at all do bleed everything. I ended up first flushing with generic synthetic dot4 to purge the air and clean out the lines (old fluid was 3 years old ) Then I reflushed with the superblue a day later to make sure all the air had a chance to float to the top of the caliper.


After bedding in the pads you can see all the crosshatch is now gone from the rotor.


So the verdict: unbelievable. The brake pedal is now an instant stop pedal. It is very controllable and super easy to modulate but it is so much more sensitive and requires little pressure to lock up all 4, and this is in 30 degree weather. About 50% more stopping power than stock when COLD. I can't wait to see what they do warmed up proper.

As for cons, they do squeal even though I lubed the piston and shims, but not too bad. They definitely dust, my wheels got covered just from bedding in.

Now hopefully the weather will hold out for next weekend and I can do the autox.

Driving the car is a blast though, I forgot how quick it was having driven nothing but my civic hybrid for the last 3 months!

[CleanNeon98]

Lookin good mann.

[Cardriverx]

Looks good, but its just missing something...


idk what it is...


hm....



Oh wait I think I have it!

http://www.bellengineering.net/artic...20eb5356aa6c50

[mann]

I'd love to or perhaps the cosworth...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYrQjbZafbk#

But I would prefer turbo however not just yet, as I'd rather do some track time before upping the HP so I don't end up like this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VwvTWOLevA#

But for now believe it or not the car is pretty damn quick as it is.

[JDMTyler3326]

Dam man looking good.

[mann]

So for the 2009 season I am doing something different...

http://www.donationracing.com/

First event is autox, but I will be at some clubloose events hopefully not crashing.