500hp

[Ippa]

Even a 300hp mx5 has very little power through the midrange.

You obviously havn't dríven a good 300hp MX-5!

My car breaks into wheelspin around 4K, and feels REALLY strong from idle!

Turbochargers give their best in the mid range.

Yes, I own a 230hp@wheels mx5. What I was getting at is most of my driving on the street is barely using any of that power. As was said earlier, in most cases I am no quicker on the street than a mildly tuned n/a, due to the speed limit.

And yes, my car can also spin the wheels in 5th on the freeway.

Mito
Cheapest and easiest way to do what you want(beat v8s etc) is to sell yours and buy one which already has the kit.

[93_Clubman]

And yes, my car can also spin the wheels in 5th

[mito]

yeah i could just buy a car that has it all but then what do i do with my na now ?
such low offers to buy it and trade in is just ridiculous !

btw how much hp can a 1.8 diff hold ?

[mito]

hahahaha sweeeet =D

[deviant]

Will push 10k aside I dont really want to spend no more than 20k and if its worth staying with a turboed up mx5 or selling my car and putting 20k to buy another car? I want something fast and given the mx5 is a convertible is a plus and a negative. Story of my life mx5's just look too good low low and if possible to be a street car beating ur everyday v8's and skylines on straight and maybe even around the block would be the car I want but if I'm pursuing something not worthwhile please do tell.

Cheers to all the miatanics!

I kinda get the impression that the MX5 might not be the car for you. They are not really street cruisers and are made to be dríven. If you just want something to give the odd squirt away from the lights and you never go on track or care about how a car handles in the twisties then you are probably better off buying a lazy barge Commodore or something.

[Mr nanotech]

I was thinking about this tonight at work and this is my honest opinion.

You have $10-20k to play with modding the car, you want at least 500hp as your goal and your mx5 is worth about $7k roughly now anyway. No matter what road you go on this, you will never see your hard earned back on resale if you decide you want out. you'll most likely lose out on what you paid for the car itself to begin with. Fact is that so many things have to change to account for that power. Diff, gearbox, brakes, clutch, exhaust, then all the custom work fitting whatever road you decide to go with, heaps will need to be custom made as well. And that's before you throw in your power plant!
Then even if you did get all that sorted, you run into the biggest issue in my opinion. Can an mx5 even handle that number? I'm dead sure the crazy amount of torque will rip the thing to pieces so you'll have to have the thing braced up like crazy and for safety, I don't know about you but i'd be taking every precaution possible to prevent me from dying in an overpowered gokart like that so I'd be blowing cash on roll cage and adequate seats etc.

So what I was getting to is that I'm not trying to say it's an unrealistic goal, we can all dream. But your budget is.
Now my opinion is that if you still want that number, ditch the mx5. Get what you can on resale and put your $20k you'd spend on it with your pay out for the car and buy a JZA80TT Supra. You'll have something that looks great, has heaps of power, handles well and in my opinion, a better car.
The road to 1000hp on a JZ has been traveled THOUSANDS of times. That's DOUBLE the figure you want and on a car that can actually handle it.

I'm saying this because if I was in your position and had the funds, I'd do this. But to be honest, power isn't what I want. I'm at the stage now where I want to work on handling first and foremost. It was only on a certain twisty country road I realised just how mental the mx5's handling really is and it felt like a whole new car. Everyone has different wants and needs and there are different cars for different things. So I think you should think about what I said.

[mito]

Yeah but that's just the point its been done a thousand times,I wanna be somewhat original and have something different or more scarce than a usual modded up supra or skyline. I like the sleeper look,I'd love to surprise guys with a car half the size at a red light and makem say sh*t my sister drives that haha

Supra and other bigger and beefier cars may be the easier way but I like my little go kart

Maybe 500hp is abit extreme but once everything goes to plan and I still have my mind on doing all this work to my mx5 the show will go on! Hopefully its soon :/

Thanks for all the advice and all,first time I've been so active on a forum and its good (Y)

Cheers

[deviant]

The problem with wanting something unique is that it is going to cost you some very serious money. Anything that has to be made one off is going to cost 10 times that which is manufactured in large batches.

If you are still dead set on 500BHP then the easiest way for you to do it is do a V8 conversion. I know 2 people that have gone this route and the entire project including the car has cost less than $20K. All the kit to fit and run a V8 is available in a box from the US and you can source an engine and driveline in about 5 minutes here...Rod on this forum got a brand spanking new LS2 from a Holden dealership for less than it would cost you to chase 200BHP from a 1.8. The LS2 is 400BHP in stock form, a lumpy cam and an exhaust system would probably see you near your target.

Something else for you to consider with this project is reliability. Have you factored in the maintenance on a 500BHP 4 cylinder engine? If you use it anything like regularly and especially if you use it to its full potential you need to factor in having the thing rebuilt once a year as well as the constant servicing. The engine will have to be built to the finest tolerances and with these sorts of 'experimental' engines there is every chance it will make like a hand grenade the first time it is run up on the dyno.

Have you thought about driveability of this car? A V8 powered car will be amazing to drive, you won't need any throttle to pull away...in fact I would wager you can pull away in 3rd and just drop it in to 6th and let the car pull itself around. It will be almost stock so you will have a stock feeling clutch and gearbox and it will start on the button and run like a stock car.

A 500BHP 4 cylinder engine is going to be a different ball game...in fact it will be a horrible POS on the road. It will need massive cams, lots of fuel and a big turbo. There will be no power low down and it wont idle properly. The clutch is going to be properly heavy and you will need 3000RPM to move the thing. Once your on the move you are never going to be able to use the power on the road.

[93_Clubman]

If you're happy to compromise on '500hp', this rebuilt modified BP motor might provide a starting point:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/TX3-Turbo-motor- ... 27b61354e2

[deviant]

Hardly cheap and Mito would still need to find a turbo and exhaust as they are not being sold with it. A brand spanking new LS2 is around the price that auction is at now.

There is always an element of trust going to be thrown in to buying a modified engine like that to. There is no promise the good bits are still going to be inside it when you pick it up and there is no promise that quality parts have been used or that the workmanship is good.

I still reckon the best option for Mito is to spend some money on getting the car to really handle and learning to drive it quickly. It is far more satisfying to see someone in a Skyrine, Falcodore or even an STI struggle round a corner you just flew round with nary a lift of the throttle.

A couple of stories to prove MX5's dont need lots of power....

I was out for a run on a private road a while back when I got to a long straight boring bit. I caught up with a slower car and then an STI caught up with me. Ignoring the STI I dropped a gear and overtook the slower car, the STI saw the speed I got up to so decided he wanted to catch up. I completed the overtake and resumed my normal speed however this bloke was weaving left to right, accelerating and braking and generally making it clear he wanted to race me or something.
I am not interested in that on the road at all so ignored him until the next set of twisties where I entered them without slowing down...he followed me and very nearly made a big mess of things leaving me to gain 20 car lengths on him. All without touching the throttle or deploying full power!

Last week I entered a time attack event at Barbagallo circuit. I have over 200BHP at the wheels, huge brakes, coilovers, LSD etc but crucially I was running on street tyres. Another MX5 that ran probably has a bit over half the BHP I have and I believe fairly stock brakes but was running semi-slick tyres. His best time was 2 seconds quicker than mine...no doubt my terminal speeds on the straight were higher but I couldnt brake anywhere near as late and I could not use the power as early in the corners.

In the first case power did not play in to it, a stock standard NA6 could have left the STI through those corners. it was all about having a car that handles well and knowing how to exploit that safely.

In the second example it was a case of 'power is nothing without control'. Unless you can use the power and brakes it does nothing for you to have big BHP.

[93_Clubman]

I like the sleeper look, I'd love to surprise guys with a car half the size at a red light and makem say sh*t my sister drives that haha

Story of my life mx5's just look too good low low and if possible to be a street car beating ur everyday v8's and skylines on straight...

[Blue94t]

Deviant,
Problem is there is no way to legally run any LS engine in a MX5 in Vistoria.
Trust me I have been looking for a loop hole for 4 years now.
The only way to build a V8 MX5 that you can rego is to use the rover motor which just scrapes in for capacity.

[wiseguy]

Deviant,
Problem is there is no way to legally run any LS engine in a MX5 in Vistoria.
Trust me I have been looking for a loop hole for 4 years now.
The only way to build a V8 MX5 that you can rego is to use the rover motor which just scrapes in for capacity.

Im guessing its illegal in all other states too? since the ADR applies everywhere?

[mx52nv]

From here -> V8 MX5 thread

According to the National Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Construction and Modification (NCOP) from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, Section LA Engines, Code LA2 (Performance Engines), Pg 18/LA31:



Which would make a NA6 at 977kg Tare (stated on registration paper) x 4.0 = 3,908cc (max engine capacity).
However, if a NB8 is heavier at approximately 1000 to 1100 (best guess) x 5.0 = 5,000 to 5,500 cc (max engine capacity).

So the smallest LS1 is 5,700cc ...

But for a turbo motor for a NA6 then its 977 x 2.75 = 2,686.75 cc and the 13B Turbo is considered as 2,616cc?
So 13B Turbo is a go! Wait...did I do that right?

Les

[Mr nanotech]

Deviant,
Problem is there is no way to legally run any LS engine in a MX5 in Vistoria.
Trust me I have been looking for a loop hole for 4 years now.
The only way to build a V8 MX5 that you can rego is to use the rover motor which just scrapes in for capacity.

YES! Finally someone actually understands. I've said this before but nobody seems to understand that v8 mx5's are NOT legal in Victoria. You won't get it passed and that's why in my opinion if you wanted to be different, go with an sr20det because you can at least have that engineered and on the road in Victoria. Yet nobody wants to listen. The same way rotary conversions aren't legal here.
FFS guys, you do the research. I'm happy to listen if you can prove to me that you can legally run an lsx in your mx5 or a 13b in Victoria