mx5cartalk.com

OK,

A while back I asked about whether to have nice paintwork or a turbo. One reply was to have a tyre frying dodgy paint MX5 sleeper. Gotta love that. Well I am doing both, but want informed opinions here please on those of you who have these turbokits fitted to your MX5's.

I am looking at these three kits. Wondering the pro's and cons of each, advantages and disadvantages, bang for buck, upgradeability and your general opinions on each.

If you have dyno sheets of your MX5 with these turbos, please post them and information please on if it is the standard kit or a modified kit and if modified, list the mods and why you did them.

I'm no turbo expert but I like the idea of AVO being an Aussie company with local dealers for fitting/support, and being only a phonecall away from help.

Zen,
Ive just finished installing an AVO kit in my NA only like 2 weeks ago.
I dont know much on the greddy and hks, except the AVO is twice the price of the greddy I believe? I had heard some bad stories about Greddy kits but mainly decided to go with AVO for their rep and peoples reviews of their products, and to support aussie built.

With the AVO kit it isnt a straight forward install,unless you have a variety of tools at your disposal there are many mods needed to the kit,( the one that they supplied me with anyway) including needing to replace numerous hoses and fittings which were not correctly supplied.

If you’re expecting a simple bolt on kit, this is not it, mind you none of them are, but the advertisements explain the kit to be a simple bolt on kit.

The component quality of the kit is great however..

but the main of the 20 odd problems i came across were.. (besides the cutting and rebending of pipes everywhere) (this is a '90 1.6L by the way)

I had to cut and re tig weld the cast alumnium heater hose as the turbo sits where it sits.
As well as this.. after i bought the kit they sent me a little flyer telling me all the extra things that may need to be changed. Would have been nice to know previously...
Aside from having to chase heaps of different fittings and hose replacements/clamps that werent originally supplied/ or supplied incorrectly. ...As well as this if you plan to use their set up with the airflow meter, the setup stuck up out of the engine bay by a good 30mm!

None the less.. after much cursing etc during the install after my tune Iam now much happier having to deal with what i did.

From a dismal 57.9kws at the wheels on a 'very' old engine, with good compression i ended up getting 140kws atws, 143% power increase, and from 2100Nm of torque i got 5550Nm of torque, 163% torque increase. and boy can you feel it!

If you dont like the sounds of the install it may be worth paying someone else to deal with the issues. But wanted to do it all myself ...learn more and save $$$.

After the rigmoral I'd probably do it again, the AVO guys were always helpful and easy to contact. and the first install is usually the hardest.

Luke.

Luke, thanks for the comprehensive reply!

Could you also list what supporting mods you had to change/add with this kit? ie

What ECU are you now running?
What boost are you running to achieve 143kw?
What fueling had to be changed?
Is this with a FMIC also?

What exactly do they supply with the 'kit' and whats it worth?

Thanks in advance,
Dino.

value for money, GReddy for sure..
if u shop around u can get it for under $2k.

AVO, i havent seen it cheaper than about $5k.

sure its a nicer looking kit, but if u are just going mild is it worth an extra 3k?

The Greddy and HKS kits are very basic. You'll wanting to be upgrading or adding additional parts every now and again. I'm at a stage where I cant resist adding a Intercooler and ECU and upgrading parts here and there.

The AVO kit would be a more complete kit.

I've fitted the HKS kit to a NA6 and it was easy as. You dont even need to drill the sump as they use the dip stick as the oil return line. Running about 6PSI boost and using the stock exhaust and the HKS FconMini fuel enricher thingo that came with the kit it put out 96rwkw. Driveability is very good on the FconMini.

I've read that there have been a few problems with cracking on the dump pipe and that is one of the first places I'd start my mods. It looks really restrictive. With an intercooler, proper ECU and exhaust it would be good for a bit more power.

If you just want to give your NA6 a bit of a hurry up for not much money then a HKS/Greddy kit will do just that. If you want a bit more go then you'll need to spend a bit more money on intercoolers/ECU's etc and you would probably be better off going with the AVO kit. It'd probably work out cheaper in the long term.

PASHN8 wrote:Luke, thanks for the comprehensive reply!

Could you also list what supporting mods you had to change/add with this kit? ie

What ECU are you now running?
What boost are you running to achieve 143kw?
What fueling had to be changed?
Is this with a FMIC also?

Thanks in advance,
Dino.

Wolf3d v4
11 PSi
yeh the fueling was change. His secret as to what but im sure he'll tell you.
and yeh front mount

prices quoted from AVO
* MX5 Stage 1 - No Electrics: $3862 + freight (No ECU Computer, no extra injector or wiring, has T25 or T28 BB WC Turbo)

* MX5 Stage 1: $4260 + freight (Has ECU - piggy back, extra injector set-up, has T25 or T28 BB WC Turbo)

* MX5 Stage 2: $5445 + freight (Has ECU - Full plug-in, 4 x larger injectors, fuel pump, has T25 or T28 BB WC Turbo)

if you want a cheap kit you can buy mine..

greddy copy kit with TD04 turbo....

manifold
dumppipe
TD04 turbo

$900

I got extra injectors
1.8l $80

and a RX7 AFM
$200

I was considering this kit also but i was quoted over 7k for the kit with t28 dump pipe link bigger inj FMIC with 10psi and approx 170rwkw.

Astroboysoup wrote:
prices quoted from AVO
* MX5 Stage 1 - No Electrics: $3862 + freight (No ECU Computer, no extra injector or wiring, has T25 or T28 BB WC Turbo)

* MX5 Stage 1: $4260 + freight (Has ECU - piggy back, extra injector set-up, has T25 or T28 BB WC Turbo)

* MX5 Stage 2: $5445 + freight (Has ECU - Full plug-in, 4 x larger injectors, fuel pump, has T25 or T28 BB WC Turbo)

yeh the extras come from the injectors that they use fuel pump and all that... you can save yourself money here and there if you know how too...

Luke has written a book and he'll probally get it published. (sorta)

I'd go the stage one kit

with no electornics and put on an emanage...

but to get it street legal here in SA you have to run the stage 1 kit with their piggy back ecu.

so $4260 and you'll have your bolt on turbo kit ready to go.. you'll need to get it tuned though to even turn it on with the link.

the injectors that they supply u with int he stage two kit are rated at 440cc. Alot of fuel flow there.

but to get it street legal here in SA you have to run the stage 1 kit with their piggy back ecu.

have you definitely confirmed this astro? I am waiting to see how you go before I decide......

Astroboysoup wrote:the injectors that they supply u with int he stage two kit are rated at 440cc. Alot of fuel flow there.

The injectors are identical to VL commodore/skyline. I doubt they are 440's, more like 270/310's. FWIW on my motor they run at a maximum of 70% at WOT @ 7k.
The major expense in the stage 2 is the inlet manifold mod and IC
When I did mine I purchased another inlet manifold and hit it with the TIG



Also, you'll develop more power/torque without the cooler
The emanage sounds like a good idea although the link that AVO supply is really all you need for 250+kW (target????).

Definately do a BB turbo. The usable rev range on a GT28 is a bit more than 4000 RPM (10PSI @ 2800RPM). A bushed turbo would be considerably less than that I would think.

Wòó

Woo wrote:

Astroboysoup wrote:the injectors that they supply u with int he stage two kit are rated at 440cc. Alot of fuel flow there.

The injectors are identical to VL commodore/skyline. I doubt they are 440's, more like 270/310's. FWIW on my motor they run at a maximum of 70% at WOT @ 7k.
The major expense in the stage 2 is the inlet manifold mod and IC
When I did mine I purchased another inlet manifold and hit it with the TIG



Also, you'll develop more power/torque without the cooler
The emanage sounds like a good idea although the link that AVO supply is really all you need for 250+kW (target????).

Definately do a BB turbo. The usable rev range on a GT28 is a bit more than 4000 RPM (10PSI @ 2800RPM). A bushed turbo would be considerably less than that I would think.

Wòó

woo where is that manifold from? na8?

NB8A, it's probably not that easy to tell from the picture, but the original is on the right and the modified on the left.

The support bracket that goes to the block has been removed on the new manifold which is why it looks wierd (well that and it's got 4 injectors hanging off it )

Wòó