1.6 or 1.8 turbo build

booki89 · Postby **booki89** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 11:55 pm

Still looking to buy my mx5, but ultimately it will get a turbo on it.

Just thinking ahead, which is the better motor for a more cost effective setup?

Are the costs similar to turbo each motor? Or is one drastically more expensive then the other? This would include rebuilding the motor too...

Is one easier to turbo?

Sorry if these questions are dumb, just trying to find the right car

Postby **NitroDann** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 7:19 am

Build a 1.8L.

Costs are identical. Forget rebuilding it.

Dann

booki89 · Postby **booki89** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:49 am

Why forget the rebuild?

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:58 am

The B6 and BP last pretty well as long as they aren't abused (and even then they still put up a good fight)

You can buy a B6 or BP with plenty of life left in it for less than 1/3 the cost of a basic rebuild.

booki89 · Postby **booki89** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:00 pm

Ah I see...
Most motors are about $1000 on eBay?

So in a nutshell, there is absolutely no reason to conaider a 1.6 over the 1.8?

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:03 pm

$1,000 seems to be the ebay default pricing, the same as they all seem to have exactly 99,000km on the clock.....

The prices are a fair bit cheaper in private sales (ie: guy smashed car at track and decides to part it out)

Larry_09 · Postby **Larry_09** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 7:15 pm

Nice post!

badface · Postby **badface** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:19 am

What makes the 1.8 a better choice? Just because you can get more power per psi you throw into it? Or are the internals actually stronger?

booki89 · Postby **booki89** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:22 am

I ditched the idea of going turbo. After actually driving the car as it is.

Its a heap of fun!

Turbo is off the list for now

Postby **NitroDann** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:22 am

Read the miataturbo.com DIY turbo wiki.

The weak point is the rods which are identical among all B series mx5 engines. Same part number and all.

The 1.6 has a worse flowing head, less capacity by 250cc and late 1.8's have higher compression.

Dann

Edit: OP go drive a turbo one

badface · Postby **badface** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:33 am

NitroDann wrote:
The 1.6 has a worse flowing head, less capacity by 250cc and late 1.8's have higher compression.

Dann

Edit: OP go drive a turbo one

Could the head off a 1.8 be put onto the 1.6 as they are the same size bore aren't they with a different stroke? Or are the coolant channels and oil galleries different? Say if you were particularly determined to Rev a bit higher.

And yes OP go drive a turbo one. I could never go back to N/A now. Huge smile on my face every single time I drive it.

marty085 · Postby **marty085** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 11:42 am

Dann, what is the cutover date / year for "late NA8s"? 1996 & 1997? Sometime in 1995?

Postby **NitroDann** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:11 pm

badface wrote:
NitroDann wrote:
The 1.6 has a worse flowing head, less capacity by 250cc and late 1.8's have higher compression.

Dann

Edit: OP go drive a turbo one

Could the head off a 1.8 be put onto the 1.6 as they are the same size bore aren't they with a different stroke? Or are the coolant channels and oil galleries different? Say if you were particularly determined to Rev a bit higher.

And yes OP go drive a turbo one. I could never go back to N/A now. Huge smile on my face every single time I drive it.

No the bore spacing is longer on a 1.8.

Also why would you want to rev more when you can go faster? Thats like riding your sons pee wee 50 instead of your wr450 because the peewee revs more.

As for teh cutoff date, somewhere in 97 I think, make a new thread if you cant google it, heaps of people will know.

Dann

badface · Postby **badface** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:58 pm

I don't want to Dann haha just wondering about the cross compatibility of the two engines

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:19 pm

If you're buying an MX5 buy an NA8. Its a better car all round. More rigid & stronger drive line.
having said that. its a better base. If youre going to get 400 RWkW you'll have to rebuild everything anyway so it really doesn't make any difference. if you're looking at say 140rwkw or so. the NA8 would be a far better choice as a base car to start modding.

Thats not saying the NA6 is a bad car. There are lots of things which are stronger on an NA8 for medium mods.