"Honey Badger" Miata: Turbo Track Build (new brakes installed)

[sleeperSL2]

glad to see you enjoying the Miata finally!

Is is 611, the road you speak of?

[CleanNeon98]

River rd runs from New Hope all the way to Easton.

[SvicksTc]

Car looks good Alex, still having the issues?

[CleanNeon98]

Nope, everything has been resolved!!!

Gotta get the alignment tweaked and then do new brakes (rotors, lines, fluids). Not much else I need now.

[DPancoast]

Finally using it how it should be. Good to hear

[CleanNeon98]

R/T was able to fit me in on Friday for a 3pm. If anyone is gonna be in the area and free around then, I'd love to catch up with old faces. Shoot me a PM!

[CleanNeon98]

Looking at some seat options, I'm torn between these, the Sparco Speed 5 and Buddy Club





Going to a single seat setup, and looking for other areas to save weight. Removing wiper arms, motor, and reservoir, misc heatshields. Plan on removing front bumper soon and trying some ducting (one for intake, one for brakes?). After the seat is in, I'm gonna do a steering wheel and probbably remove the passanger's side airbag. I'd also love to completely remove the A/C system, all the components under the hood, and maybe gut the tubes from the dash as well depending on how hard it is. If I garage keep the car, I COULD remove the softtop completely and take off more weight. Really need to research where to take the weight out of, gutting the interior may be a possibility for down the road, the car is now depreciated to the point where I really don't want to sell it so may as well take the bull by the horns and go all the way.

Also about to pull the trigger on rotors lines and fluids, I need to see if I need pads as well.

Lastly, who makes high quality long lugs (I mean long) like these

[Asif22]

Very nice man. I wouldn't gut it completely though. Leave the soft top. Get a hard top maybe? But this car sees streets most of the time so I wouldn't want to make it a complete tin can when driving. I would def do the bucket seat, maybe get rid of the A/C and stuff but keep the radio. We should go on a back road run. I want to get an intake and tune, alignment, and eventually do 245 or 255 all around with a husky front sway bar

[MX5]

Originally Posted by CleanNeon98

Really need to research where to take the weight out of, gutting the interior may be a possibility for down the road

Talk to fitftw, his NA is ridiculous.

[fitftw]

I wouldn't go with the Buddy Club seat, but that's just my personal opinion/preference. If you don't want an FIA seat, Axis Power Racing sells a seat that weighs like 7 lbs but it costs a grand.

Don't know much about long lugs, except perhaps Project Kics R40?


Don't gut the soft top unless it will only be outside when it's sunny. Otherwise, get a hardtop. Or maybe a fastback with lexan window? That costs over $2,000 though so probably not. My NA weighs 2,040 with a full tank, hardtop, and rollbar. Cutting the dash up is a good idea. At least 10 lbs can be freed up that way if you don't need the air duct tubes and cut the dash in half so that only 5 bolts are holding it on (2 on both sides and the one in the middle of the dash under the windshield.) That's my next mod anyway, a 90-93 dash.

Good resource: http://www.lightweightmiata.com/beast/
Check out the "Adding Lightness" sections on the left and Happy Gutting.

[disturbedfan121]

solution for a heavier car? Moar Boost lol

If you enjoy driving the car all the time then don't gut it. I had full interior on my car and was fine. If its not gonna get a full cage or be a race car then keep the interior, cause the ~100lbs and thats a big MAYBE 100lbs you might drop off isn't worth the time an energy and then making your 2004 car look like crap. Just make more power.

[fitftw]

Gutted cars don't look bad once they're painted, and you can shave waaaayyyy more than 100lbs. I'm up to 260 already with a legit rollbar and roof. More power isn't always affordable. A Miata with i/h/e and nothing gutted is so slow it's not even funny. That's why I went down this road. If I could have afforded a Begi S6 or FM2 then maybe I wouldn't have felt the need to do it, but what's done is done and now nothing can touch me on a twisty road. Adding lightness is free, and the best mod you could ever do to your car. And then when you do add power, it's just that much faster. I won't settle for a sub-$3,000 turbokit. I have made too many mistakes buying something cheap because I couldn't afford the best, and I ended up losing money in the end. Save for what you want, no matter how long it takes. You'll be happier that way.

[MX5]

Don't be stupid. You don't have to buy a "kit" to make legitimate, reliable power. Piecing together is always more cost effective, and you can still get quality parts.

[disturbedfan121]

in an NA car yes, He has an MSM which is already Turbo'd. intake, dp, 3" exhaust, boost controller, and something to tune the car with and he'll make more than enough power to compensate for the 260lbs.

i do like the idea of the racing seat. and the sprint 5 is a good choice. I had a regular sprint in mine (which i think you sat in once) and it held you no matter what.

my turbo kit wasn't 3k and i made reliable ~250whp on a 1.6, GT2560, begi manifold, absurdflow 3" bellmouth DP, hfc, 3" exhaust. ebay IC, Ebay IC piping, MSPNP.(afm deleted) and a good tune. now you can get the artech stuff and thats a good quality as well and a bit cheaper than absurdflow and begi.

[fitftw]

are there any benefits of going with an FM intercooler setup for $800 vs. a cheap ebay kit besides aesthetics and less failure points in the piping?

I just know that I want an S6 manifold.

Look at the sex

[SvicksTc]

I used an ebay FMIC on my Turbo TC for a year and it held boost just fine, the piping, however, was not ebay..

Cleanneon, i say add more power before gutting that beautiful car to pieces, you have great base to grow off of

Fitftw, if i had an older miata like you, id gut it away too, but a 2004 MSM, hell nah haha

[CleanNeon98]

The idea behind gutting wasn't just for acceleration, it was to improve the handling and braking as well, something a turbo kit will never do. Everyone seems to have the same opinion, not to hack up the car.

[DPancoast]

You don't have to "hack" it up. Just takes more time to make it look nice and not tacky.

[disturbedfan121]

Originally Posted by fitftw

are there any benefits of going with an FM intercooler setup for $800 vs. a cheap ebay kit besides aesthetics and less failure points in the piping?

I just know that I want an S6 manifold.

Look at the sex

yea the s6 manifold is nice. not needed for a street car with a stock motor, but still nice none the less lol,

honestly to me, an IC is an IC, there is a difference bewteen bar and plate and tube and fin, but between the brands? honestly don't think there's a difference and I've never been show 100% conclusive evidence that can justify $800 vs. $100. and piping is piping is piping. if brand is "a" aluminum and so is brand "b", both are "x" thick then they are the exact same thing. again i can't justify more money for no reason.

[SvicksTc]

I have seen some people report pressure drops in their IC, not holding boost, etc from ebay IC, however, like i said i ran one for a year with no issues.