SS11's NB SE

SS11 · Postby **SS11** » Fri May 09, 2014 11:19 pm

So after finding the real costs of building a legal NA6 Turbo, and a change of direction (and now one car too many!) I have purchased a 2004 NB S4 SE! Came complete with some sensible mods to intake, and suspension. also came with a Tallboy rollbar, but due to the restriction of the seat (I'm 6f2 and need every bit of the rear adjustment) I have removed this and will move it on..
Although my first thoughts were that I would be happy with small adjustments, I suspect I will get carried away and give the bank account a beating (and probably get a beating from the wife!). Exhaust is first on wish list..
More pictures to follow once giving a polish

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Fri May 09, 2014 11:57 pm

Welcome. Interesting ride height and rear camber.

SS11 · Postby **SS11** » Sat May 10, 2014 12:39 am

Yes... it has Yellow speed coil overs and in the picture a touch to low... it is now a lot higher so it passed the RWC, I will end up with it somewhere in between and a alignment to follow..

Postby **Okibi** » Sat May 10, 2014 2:38 am

Congrats!

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Sun May 11, 2014 12:58 pm

Nice colour SE

It looks like you have a good start with the intake bits which should net you around 135rwkw at ~10psi and is how the car should have been from the factory but you'll find the ECU starts becoming problematic when you add the exhaust, the car will cough and splutter a bit when cold and will run lean.

Decide now upon your upgrade path so you wont waste $$$.

With larger injectors and a 2.5" exhaust at 10-12psi you'll be able to achieve 150rwkw on stock internals and that's a lot of fun.

If you're happy at that level, a ChipTorque "flash" (it's actually a chip replacement) is the cheapest option and several guys here are very happy with it since it returns the car back to "factory smooth".

If you're a tweaker or want to go beyond 150rwkw, an ECU upgrade is a "must-have" and forged internals are required if you don't want to blow up your engine.

Postby **Okibi** » Sun May 11, 2014 5:55 pm

Adaptronic will get it back to better than factory smooth but with the added bonus of being able to continue upgrades. :mrgreen:

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sun May 11, 2014 6:28 pm

If you're going to track it, be aware that putting more cooling and stronger internals in it now will be way cheaper than doing that later along with all the extra stuff you'll need to replace if, for example, you break a standard rod. You'll even save the cost of the tow and avoid wasting the entry fee for the event you failed to finish.

After having gone through a complete rebuild and upgrade after grenading the bottom end I'd also recommend giving the whole job to one company who get loads of praise from other forumites and who will take full responsibility for the whole job being right when completed.

Postby **tomli123001** » Tue May 13, 2014 8:24 pm

In regards to exhaust upgrade, I used SMB. Good quality, but had clearance issues with braces under the car. So mania or Nitrodan options might be better way to go with the exhaust.

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Tue May 13, 2014 9:56 pm

^
I believe that the MX5 Mania exhaust is the SMB exhaust (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'd like to know).

Another option is the FM MazdaSpeed exhaust:
http://flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4536&parentid=0&stocknumber=06-58300
http://flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4536&parentid=0&stocknumber=06-58305
- a great quality 2.5" stainless steel exhaust but the S&H almost doubles the price.

BEGi make a separated gases downpipe but BEGi build quality is hit and miss - you can get away with some less-than perfect components such as their CAI but the downpipe MUST fit well otherwise you'll be shipping it back and forth to get it right which will be expensive.

NitroDann's 3" exhaust is your best "bang-for-buck" aftermarket SE exhaust and he takes pride it his work - thoroughly recommended.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Tue May 13, 2014 10:01 pm

Mania use Magnaflow 2.5inch. I have zero clearance or rattle issues. From what iv heard Nitodanns 3inch exhaust also doesn't have any clearance issues, but I'll let the people who have gotten his confirm that

fastfreddygassit · Postby **fastfreddygassit** » Tue May 13, 2014 11:09 pm

Hey that's steebs (stevens) car!
Congratulations on the purchase! :BROADY:

I was eyeing that off at the beginning of last year.
Looks like you got a good buy there :mrgreen:

Postby **tomli123001** » Wed May 14, 2014 8:35 pm

SMB is different from Mania. Very different actually.
Different CAT and resonator.

SMB can bolt onto stock oem muffler, whereas the mania ones can not.

When off the car, SMB looks way better and quality. But when on the car, I had to put a lot of spacers under my cross braces and longer bolts to clear. The silver SE shield thing had to go also.

SS11 · Postby **SS11** » Sun May 18, 2014 6:47 pm

Thanks for the comments! feel my bank account getting ready for a beating!
Mostly just been giving it a good clean, replaced Side indicators, disconnected the annoying beep when key is in ignition with door open, and ordered some Personalized Plates.. from here

Plan A is new exhaust, and thinking I feel happiest about the Nitro Dann Option..
Plan B ECU (Maybe Chip torque, maybe Haltech or Adaptech...TBC)..

Mr Sexy · Postby **Mr Sexy** » Sun May 18, 2014 7:45 pm

If you havnt already check out the vendor for sale section. Dan's asking for interest in se bits.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Mon May 19, 2014 3:02 pm

Hey how/where did you disable the beeping?
Its on my to-do list!

Also if your going the Nitrodann exhaust (good choice by the way!) if it doesn't have one, get him to weld a bung on with a cap so if you eventually install an AFR gauge you already have a spot for it ;)