I drove a buddies miata over the weekend, and i have to say.....it really is a nice driver. super fun to whip around in, but an absolute SLOTH in a straight line. slow as a muhfug. I have a turbo honda and could be a little spoiled, but holy shit these things need more power.
Im thinking about picking up a local roller for $500 and swapping in a red top SR20DET that i have in my garage, possibly going the RB route. so, who here has driven a swapped miata? did it affect the way the car handles with a heavier engine in it? How did it feel with all the 'extra' power?
The miata engine is literally a de-turboed turbo engine. Why not just go that route?
William Ward
Why go for an expensive high-strung import or pigfat massive boat anchor when you could have the cheaper, lighter, more powerful LS?
Asher Ross
Needs more natural torque in general, even out of boost. Have you ridden in an ls miata? Impression?
Michael James
Bp6d, megasquirt 3, full exhaust. Enjoy 150whp. Plenty to have fun with.
Asher Anderson
Turbo solves all the issues of a miata, and if you forge the rlds, you can push well over 300hp from even the 1.6. 300hp in a miata is a better power to weight than a 2017 mustang gt. Turbo miata is the perfect car.
However a ls miata is also pretty cool. super expensive tho, and the body of a miata can't take more than 500lb/ft before it starts for twist really badly
Eli Price
What is the rlds? The issue is a 1.6 makes no torque. Im already in that boat with my Honda. Are LS's all people really swap in these?
Jason Morris
I'm guessing he meant rods
John Clark
wouldn't an ls create a very ungainly and overpowered car, it'd be like a chick with a dick
Brayden Sanders
>SR20DET Why not an SR20DE then? That'd be a lot easier, with a whole lot less plumbing to deal with. Besides, you're getting something like a 20hp boost over even a VVT NB18. >RB No. You'll kill it with understeer.
So, why not turbo the existing motor? That's a lot more power per dollar than swapping in an SR20DET.
>Needs more natural torque in general Supercharger kits exist, both centrifugal and PD. They're easy as fuck to install even compared to a turbo kit, and will be lightyears ahead of any engine swap.
Brayden Jones
K24 swap it then. Or put a supercharger on the existing engine.
Even a 1.6 will make decent torque (for a Miata) if you put boost on it. They take that boost like a champ, too.
>Ungainly Not really. You're swapping an iron DOHC I4 for an aluminium OHV V8 - the increase only offsets the weight distribution by 1%. >Overpowered Yes. Which makes it fun.
Adrian Gutierrez
I put a turbo on my 1.6.
Very easy compared to swapping the engine.
Jose Bennett
appreciate the responses.
gotta keep in mind that the miata im looking at is a roller, no engine or trans, and i have the SR already, thats why it was my first thought.
Im not totally opposed to buying one with an engine and boosting it, but im sure these tiny 1.6's cant take too much power before you fry a ringland on the piston or break a rod or some shit. My honda makes 335whp right now and i wouldnt go through the trouble of boosting a naturally aspirated car again unless its going to be a straight up monster.
K24 is not a bad thought....i didnt realize people were using the honda engines in rwd platforms, thats very interesting and warrants some research.
can the stock transmission/stock diff handle real power?
also whats the widest tire you guys are fitting on these cars for dealing with real power? no stance shit, just the widest tire you have heard of without mass modification. thanks all
Ian Turner
The 1.6 also came in turbo form and made up to 150hp in Japan, the 1.8 even came in 210hp turbo form, just not in the Miata. It's the same engine block.
Tyler Foster
exact same? very rare for companies to do that. typically the NA variant will have higher compression to make up for the lack of a turbo, and lower compress on the turbo engine to make for a safe platform that wont explode.
did these turbo versions never come in the US? the real question is what kind of power can these stock blocks make before they pop? if they can push 300+ at the wheels like my honda, its a possibilty
Wyatt Myers
Supposedly the b6ze will make about 400 before it pops. That's just what I heard tho so take it with a grain of salt. It is an iron block and iron blocks can take a ton of pressure
>but im sure these tiny 1.6's cant take too much power On the contrary. Both the 1.6 and 1.8 tend to be reliable up to 225-250hp, depending on who you ask. They were meant to be boosted from day one.
K24 would be easy, swap kits for them exist. Remember, people have been wanting a RWD Honda ever since they stopped making the S2000, and a KMiata fits that bill perfectly.
Stock trans and Torsen diff will be fine up to 300 ftlbs if you don't put slicks on it and launch it on a prepped track.
Widest I know of would be a 225/45/15.
The B6ZE is only 9.4:1, which is lower than modern turbo engines.
The US did get the Mazdaspeed NB, which came turbo from the factory, but they're rare and too pricey to mod.
If you build a 1.6 or 1.8 with proper internals, just under 300 is achievable on the stock rolling gear. Realistically speaking, anything over 200whp is fun and anything over 250 is a riot in these.
>It is an iron block and iron blocks can take a ton of pressure Nice quads, but seize this meming. Block material doesn't magically add strength to the rotating assembly.
Aaron King
Your stock clutch is good for 140hp, your stock 5spd is good for 250 lb/ft and your stock rear end in a 1.6 is good for about 140 too. Now a 1.8 torsen from a later car is good for far more and a 6spd trans is good for 400 hp
If I were you I'd yank the engine from your fwd civic and put it in the miata. You'll have to do some fabrication to get it to fit in a rwd layout but a Honda k series of whatever would be a great swap for a miata. Your civic will never handle like a miata, no fwd car really will desu. Put the good engine in the good chassis and you've got yourself a very quick car
Anthony King
I don't think OP has a K though, and anything but that is pretty hard to swap into a Miata since there's no kits available. Hell, if he had a turbo K20, 335whp is pretty mediocre nowadays when people are making that n/a. Besides, that way he'd end up with two rollers for quite a while.
Jace Barnes
Checked
Carter Thomas
>im sure these tiny 1.6's cant take too much power Displacement matters very little as far as power potential goes, those old Audi 5-cylinders are only 2.2 liters but can hit 400hp by just cranking up the boost, 600hp on forged rods and 1000hp on a proper build. They were built for high boost and loads of power, for rally applications. Mazda's B6 and BP are very similar in that they were also intended for rally applications, and being boosted to hell and back. Maybe not quite to the same degree as those Audi blocks, a JZ or an RB, but they're still capable of very respectable numbers.
