Car modification philosophy

[Doug Danger]

I realise I probably sound like a bit of a twat and reckless hoon in above post. Just as a disclaimer, I am honestly very safe and cautious in urban areas, especially during the day. Spirited driving is mostly always on mountain roads where other people are rarely driving and reserved for late nights when risk as it the minimum.

[ralt]

Hi.
I just read this thread and had to reply.
I bought an na6 mx5 when looking for a friend who wanted to buy one and asked me could I have a look for something decent. Saw one on here with a story which always draws my interest. Checked it out with my son who is a mazda trained mechanic and ok although it had all the signs it had been overheated. What the heck I bought it having had no thought to owning one. Drove it for a while went ok used oil and eventually decided to change the engine to long nose and do some basic modifications because my bent is making engines more efficient and produce more power. The result has been 130rwhp drives like a standard car and is legal. I guess the point of this is you do not have to spend lots of money to get decent increases in power however you do need a very well modified cylinder head as this is the key.

[Mr nanotech]

Time for an update.

For the last couple of years some friends and I have had a car meet up in Melbourne where we meet up for food and then go back to a big high rise parking garage. It's a big thing with mates and we all go out for tea and then retire to take photos etc.
Anyway, this was approaching quickly and after feeling sorry for ages not having my car on the road I figured "you know what? lets go to this thing". I spent the day installing the stock ecu, fixed the broken handbrake, loosened up my stiff restrictive throttle pedal, raising the car to a decent functional height with control arms parallel to the road, put in a bunch of parts I had sitting there waiting to go in and got it running. I had some minor teething problems like an injector leaking and a coolant leak. After a bit of mucking around I got there.
The car still needs a wheel alignment and a few other things but it's getting there.

Since then I've been able to just drive the car an enjoy it. Tonight I went on a cruise with a mate and just chilled out enjoying the car. I'm now focusing on fixing everything that's broken on the car and getting it working the way it should. I want to spend as much time as possible behind the wheel instead of under the bonnet or in the garage with the car. So far so good.

[Mongo]

Hi guys,
Mongo is new to the forum. He has (by your standards) a very ordinary virtually stock 2009 NC. Bought it new in 2010 and it has just turned sweet 16 (thousand kilometres that is)

Mongo has no radical plans for it as commonly appear on this site but just a few gentle touches now that it is out of factory warranty. So far shocks and sway bars. Tomorrow it gets some headers, after that some decent tail pipe stainless. In the very near future a very mild supercharge of only 2.5 to 3 pounds. Decided against the Cosworth supercharger even though it is a very nice piece of engineering - it more than Mongo has planned for forced induction. Mongo figures it only needs about 30 or so extra newton metres of torque. Lastly, will think about some air intake mods.

The idea is to make it "sweet" and "happy" to do its thing in a balanced way rather than create an outright beast.
Mongo knows this goes against all the principles that seem to be held near, dear and sacred on this forum !! so, you will just have to pretend you do not know Mongo if you come across him in motor vehicle public.

would like to have posted some quick images of "Sunny" but not sure how to do that on this particular forum. Mongo easily posts images regularly on other photographic forums he belongs but directly from his own computer and not through flicker and all that other similar type of nonsense. Not sure how its done here.

Mongo thinks each car has its own character and, depending on the character of its owner, they may or may not see it for what it is and how it may be best brought out to its best. One size does not fit all. Just some primitive thoughts from Mongo.

[doc]

I like your "Style" Mongo.
I bought My MX-5 to BE my daily driver.
Great little car that seems to be very well balanced. Mine now has 27K on it.
a few more pony's would be nice, But I find I take off much quicker from the stop lights than most as it is.
Your ideas sound, well, sound to me. lightly modify it to bring out the best in the car, not turn it into a beast.
I would like to see a bit less body roll in my 08 NC. But I enjoy the ride comfort as is.
My Vette will bounce you around much, much more. And has rather large sway bars and springs.
It also makes 4 times the power. So that's my "Fun" car. But feeding it takes it out of the "Daily" category!
(also fear of getting hit).

[NitroDann]

It will be a lot more cost effective to forget the intake and exhaust mods and just run a few more pounds of boost.

Dann

[Mr nanotech]

In the very near future a very mild supercharge of only 2.5 to 3 pounds

If that's all the boost you plan on running, don't even bother. You won't notice anything. My friend has a an na6 running a supercharger at 5psi and you'd be hard pressed to see much of a power difference between that and a stock na6.
I'd run double that figure you mentioned at least if you want to go this route, otherwise you are throwing your money into the gutter for nothing.

[PB]

-I really miss some of the characters we've had on the forum but I understand that life goes on and peoples priorities change.

We're still here mate . We just lurk a little more in our old age and reminisce the days when the unicorn had not been found (but had been photoshopped)

[Rasputin]

Mongo, I'm not sure why you feel that way about your car.

Why spend money if you aren't going to go the whole way with it?

Don't get me wrong here when I say this, you're entitled to modify your car the way you see fit. I just don't know why you'd want to unlock "10kw" instead of "100kw".

You will kick yourself in the groin down the track when your lust for power once again sets in, and you have to respend your money to achieve your new goals.

I myself have turbocharged my car through NitroDann here on the forum. Car is making a healthy 120KW, and while it's beautiful to drive with plenty more torque, i do feel like I want more. I will take it to it's limit, and once I'm comfortable there, I can once again see myself wanting more. That will require a full forged build and once I'm there, I will probably soon after be dissatisfied wanting more and more. Seeking power is a disease, and once you're in the thick of it it's very hard to stop and just enjoy what you have.

You should either cut your losses now before you get in too deep, or think ahead and spend your money properly so one day down the track you won't have to re-spend on a bigger S/C etc etc and back hand yourself across the noggin because you didn't do it the first time around.

It may be a biased opinion, but it is DEFINITELY some good good for thought for when you do sit down and plan your build.

Good luck!

Dan.

[Mongo]

Mongo really appreciates the various views put forward.

Mongo is too old to be troubled putting his head constantly under the bonnet instead of his bum in the drivers seat. So, little steps to increase efficiency without destroying reliability is all Mongo is after.

Too many guys go the whole hog only to be constantly fixing that decision. Mongo sees too many very expensive near new shocks and coilovers being sold off in weeks because they over did it and found they were no good for the purpose. Lots of other expensive parts and equipment go the same route. Not for Mongo. Mongo does a lot of home work first. For example the shocks and springs Mongo fitted were german Sachs touring. Inexpensive but very effective. Hard to believe that these shocks (for street use) made the car much better riding and handling. they gave a more firm and positive feel and less “hop” in the rear and yet the ride is far more comfortable than the original shock. Racing beat sway bars set to “medium” are also working a treat !

The Racing beat headers being fitted today are as far as exhaust mods Mongo will go. After much research, he decided there is no real gain in mid pipe or muffler changes despite all the blurbs from those manufacturers.

As far as the low boost goes, a couple of things Mongo wants to say about this:-

simple physics will tell you that it takes energy to “draw” air into the engine. Any form of positive pressure induction will be better than not having any at all. Whilst you say you will not “notice” a difference at these low pressure levels, the engine will nonetheless be breathing better, responding better and actually still have more torque than without this modification albeit without that noticeable “kick” of a full turbo or SC boost. It is also hard to believe that it will not be noticed. Most standard inductions are about the 6 to 8 pound mark and are very noticeable. One would have thought that having induction of half to one third of that amount should at least yield some result and well within Mongo’s expectation.

Mongo does not want to get into the range of having to intercool, oil cool, changing injectors etc. This is a virtually new car. If Mongo had wanted to do all that he would have bought a very good second hand one for third of the money and then done all the things you guys have mentioned. Alternatively, he would have spent $55,000 - $60,000 on a new different car to begin with. This is a different exercise.

As far as wanting more……..Mongo still has the WRX he bought new some years ago and cannot part with it. It too is stock but very satisfying as is. It is the most “effortless” usable day to day car Mongo has ever dríven. Don’t need or want another power house - just a sweet little car that still needs to be “worked” when driving it - more a drivers car.

Throwing money away ???? so far the small amount on springs/shocks. sway bars (and later today, headers) is not a huge amount. Importantly, Mongo does not feel like any of it has been wasted. He is getting his money’s worth out of it and does not regret any of it. the Cosworth SC would have cost about $8600 fitted. Mongo has decided he will either purchase a new MP90 (at present $1600 new) or a new Raptor centrifugal SC (at present $1850) plus some fitting cost OR he may have a go at a very newish SC14 ($550) plus some fitting. The SC14 is looking like the better choice for the specific exercise Mongo has in mind. The other SCs for this exercise would be like buying a Ferrari to run it at 60k/h - no real point except they will be "new". All up to date with say, the SC14 fitted, Mongo will have spent a little over $3200 for everything. If he gets nothing from the SC and has to take it off and, he will probably only lose about $1000 at most of that amount. However, it is unlikely he will be taking it off. worst case, (although very unlikely to happen) he could always wind up the boost a little.

Mongo is not trying to shave a second on the 0-100 sprint. He has no goal to reach - just simply to make the car feel better to drive for the pleasure of it.

So, this is where its at. The basic differences expressed on this thread are really the differences in expectation of the individuals. Most of you would be disappointed with the end product of Mongo’s plan but that is because you always wanted more to begin with. Mongo feels he will not be disappointed simply because the results will be what he wanted (or close to it) to begin with. So far, that has been true for Mongo.

[Apu]

So are you making the decisions for Mongo? Why doesn't Mongo post for himself....

[Mongo]

So are you making the decisions for Mongo? Why doesn't Mongo post for himself....

you could say that Mongo always makes decisions at arms length (even if he has to borrow someone else's arm)

[Regie]

im looking forward to meeting this Mongo fella and watching him in his quest for the ultimate driving machine

[markwid]

So are you making the decisions for Mongo? Why doesn't Mongo post for himself....

There is actually a word for referring to yourself in the third person. It is called illeism.

It is often seen as a sign of narcissism, of being full of self-importance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illeism

[Mr Morlock]

Philosophies are things you develop over time - not overnight. Young blokes spend money often on impulse because cars are the main item on the agenda. Just spending money on cars and giving them too much attention is very often something that falls of the menu to be replaced by a lot of other things. A modern car- an NC as as an example does not need supercharging or really much in the way of mods- it merely adds cost and can influence its resale value and certainly its insurance cost but giving advice is easy though taking sensible ideas on board is another thing. It strikes me that Nanotech is on the right path- enjoy the drive and the mates. I have never let cars become a stupid obsession or one that takes money from more important things but it certainly does not mean that the interest cannot be enjoyed .