Small MX-5 mods

DRZ · 8 Nov 2011 at 12:37

loltim said:
but drz only bought an mx5 because his s2000 budget wasn't big enough, so i'm guessing he had an OK s2000 insurance quote.

will your mx5 plus s/c plus tuning plus other mods still come under 7k?

edit: actually it will easily won't it, the mx5 was only 2k or something?

My S2000 budget wasn't big enough to buy one that wasn't shagged and I wasn't prepared to up it because they aren't worth the extra money in my view. £7k won't buy you an S2000 that doesn't require big money spending on it immediately unless you get lucky (or don't care). Insurance costs are small for me on the S2000

The MX-5 cost me £2700, I've spent about £750 on cosmetic stuff, £1000 on performance bits and about £100 on random service items.

I reckon I might spend another £2k on it all in but the car will be 100% to my liking

DRZ · 11 Nov 2011 at 19:37

Look what showed up today (amongst other things):

Got two more on the way, one for oil temp and one for water temp as well as a single-din dash insert with 3 52mm holes to mount them all in. I'm going to get one for boost as well but I'm not sure where that will go.

3-4 week wait on the standalone ECU I want, so that will give me time to amass a few more bits and bobs before that arrives.

L0rdMike · 11 Nov 2011 at 19:42

Digital and analog per grey box?

corrupt pic?

DRZ · 11 Nov 2011 at 19:44

Just did a forced refresh and it is fine here?

DRZ · 15 Nov 2011 at 19:42

All of the important bits seem to be taking ages to get here. Still, the postie is showing up almost every day of the week now with parts

Today's delivery:

This will form the connection between the inlet manifold of the engine and the outlet manifold of the charger. I expect this will get pretty damn hot so I will be fitting either an air-to-air front-mount intercooler or an air-to-water chargecooler.

I quite fancy the chargecooler as I don't really fancy having miles of pipework between the SC and the engine in which to lose some boost pressure and a bit of throttle response. We'll see.

Conanius · 15 Nov 2011 at 22:25

DRZ said:
£7k won't buy you an S2000 that doesn't require big money spending on it immediately unless you get lucky (or don't care). Insurance costs are small for me on the S2000

Do you have any idea how satisfying it is to see someone who said no to buying one posting that sort of thing?

I remember the stick I got when selling mine 'OMG ITS WORTH LIKE 4K! I SAW THESE 8 ADVERTS THAT SHOW THAT' ... little do they know.

Anyway, the MX5 will be a totally different animal. Looking forward to seeing this build log !

Django x2 · 16 Nov 2011 at 01:30

Nice mods

Not a giant fan of the used leather though.

Berger · 16 Nov 2011 at 07:00

OMGWTF.

Good call on going boosted!

Irish_Tom · 16 Nov 2011 at 08:17

Looking forward to seeing this one progress.

Don't think I'll do this to mine though.

Howard · 16 Nov 2011 at 08:25

Makes mine look a bit primitive!!

Are you going for high boost (and therefore power) or just a reliable install with a moderate amount of extra power?

DRZ · 16 Nov 2011 at 11:09

Howard said:
Makes mine look a bit primitive!!

Are you going for high boost (and therefore power) or just a reliable install with a moderate amount of extra power?

My plan at the moment is to get the Megasquirt in with some 430cc RX8 injectors. With just the crossover pipe my intake temps will be fairly prohibitive and I will be capped at 190-200bhp. With some form of cooling I should get the intake temps down but it is a tradeoff between cooling and the amount of pressure lost.

The target is to be north of 200bhp but I won't be going to extremes to get there.

Freefaller · 16 Nov 2011 at 11:36

Bah.... I miss mine so much

DRZ · 16 Nov 2011 at 11:40

Freefaller said:
Bah.... I miss mine so much

Cut back on the onions and stripey tops and buy one!

Firestar_3x · 16 Nov 2011 at 11:56

If you want more power i'd start looking into water injection.

Participant · 16 Nov 2011 at 12:09

The old seats with the piping looked much better.

DRZ · 16 Nov 2011 at 12:23

Robbie G said:
The old seats with the piping looked much better.

Three things:

1. Looks are subjective, I didn't like them (and the pictures don't really do the new seats justice at all)
2. The mk2.5 seats are massively more supportive and comfortable.
3. That was ages ago and this thread has moved on...

Dup · 16 Nov 2011 at 12:28

Jealous! I must do this myself next year. I want about 200-250bhp but I don't want to spend silly money so I reckon I'll be more towards the 200bhp mark. Will be keeping an eye on this thread to see how it goes.

Firestar_3x · 16 Nov 2011 at 12:30

If you want that sort of power its much more cost effective to bolt a turbo on imho, it's the way i would do things if i ever FI'd another MX5.

Howard · 16 Nov 2011 at 12:31

Part of me wants more power, but part of me thinks it's nice and balanced as it is and I'd have to spend hundreds to gain 20bhp

DRZ · 16 Nov 2011 at 12:36

Firestar_3x said:
If you want that sort of power its much more cost effective to bolt a turbo on imho, it's the way i would do things if i ever FI'd another MX5.

Yeah, definitely.

IMO SCing is more in keeping with the car's philosophy. 250+bhp SCd cars are mental but very linear just like a big nasp engine would be. The turbo cars are a fair chunk more "interesting" to drive. Each to their own!