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.

[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.

[Apu]

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

[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 .

[Mr Morlock]

what on earth was that last post all about-claptrap?

[bear2230]

what on earth was that last post all about-claptrap?

That was a cracker of a response Mr Morlock. Almost word for word what I was thinking

[OurCognitiveSurplus]

Mongo was very wrong !! and he wrote an itemised letter to Mazda telling them so and challenging them to do something about it. To his astonishment, Mazda called Mongo one day and spent over a half hour on the phone going through the various matters (particularly of a design/function nature) that Mongo had pointed out to them.

What was on Mongo's list? I'm interested in an NC. I'm thinking I'd do wheels, tyres, coilovers, headers, intake and ECU and leave it there (maybe some minor cosmetic stuff). What were the design/function problems?