Turbocharging the Smurf.
Discussion
Afternoon all. As the title suggests, I have decided to move to the dark side, and turbo the '5!
I have a very very capable mechanic who will be doing all the complicated bits, trouble is I have no idea where to start looking for parts - I can get my hands on a brand new T26 turbo for very little money, so I will be taking that as a starting point.
What are the essentials that I should start researching? I'm looking for about 200BHP from my 1.8 Mk1, with a loose budget of around £1500 in parts - would prefer to spend less if possible, but I know there is a strong relationship between cost and reliability!
So, I open the floor to PH... With a T26 turbo and Megasquirt ECU already decided and a goal of 200bhp in mind, what should I be looking at next?
I will of course be keeping a little diary in the thread of any progress!
Cheers,
Nikos.
I have a very very capable mechanic who will be doing all the complicated bits, trouble is I have no idea where to start looking for parts - I can get my hands on a brand new T26 turbo for very little money, so I will be taking that as a starting point.
What are the essentials that I should start researching? I'm looking for about 200BHP from my 1.8 Mk1, with a loose budget of around £1500 in parts - would prefer to spend less if possible, but I know there is a strong relationship between cost and reliability!
So, I open the floor to PH... With a T26 turbo and Megasquirt ECU already decided and a goal of 200bhp in mind, what should I be looking at next?
I will of course be keeping a little diary in the thread of any progress!
Cheers,
Nikos.
GT2860RS works well on mine, not a lot of lag, pulls strongly from 1500RPM.
RX8 blue injectors, direct swap.
Microsquirt V3
2.5bar or 3 bar MAP sensor, buy a genuine weber marelli from a reputbale supplier. The chinese ones on ebay are unreliable.
Intercooler, there are kits available but they are not at all tailored to the car despite what they tell you and a waste of money, get one about right shape and a bunch of pipes and tubes.
Oil cooler (maybe)
Fast acting bead type air temperature sensor
Begi or other good manifold, don't buy the EBay bunch of bananas one. It will crack up within a couple of days, utter rubbish.
Begi downpipe is a nice match with their manifold
36-1 crank trigger wheel and a VR sensor, Jenvey do one for the Mx5. Gives better timing accuracy than the standard 4 tooth timing wheel.
A wideband EGO system is nice and makes tuning easier. Not an Innovate LC1 unless you like burning money.
Toilet roll holder for dashboard mounting.
RX8 blue injectors, direct swap.
Microsquirt V3
2.5bar or 3 bar MAP sensor, buy a genuine weber marelli from a reputbale supplier. The chinese ones on ebay are unreliable.
Intercooler, there are kits available but they are not at all tailored to the car despite what they tell you and a waste of money, get one about right shape and a bunch of pipes and tubes.
Oil cooler (maybe)
Fast acting bead type air temperature sensor
Begi or other good manifold, don't buy the EBay bunch of bananas one. It will crack up within a couple of days, utter rubbish.
Begi downpipe is a nice match with their manifold
36-1 crank trigger wheel and a VR sensor, Jenvey do one for the Mx5. Gives better timing accuracy than the standard 4 tooth timing wheel.
A wideband EGO system is nice and makes tuning easier. Not an Innovate LC1 unless you like burning money.
Toilet roll holder for dashboard mounting.
This is my list,
Of course there are a lot of sundries too but not all of this is necessary for a 200BHP result. Mine was targetted at 320BHP so costs are a bit higher.
Wossner 8:1 pistons and rings 520
Manley forged rods 360
ACL Race Bearings 120
GT2860RS 0.86AR turbo 900
Begi exhaust manifold (cast) 285
RX8 440cc injectors 140
Microsquirt ECU 250
Full 3" Exhaust 550
Intercooler and pipes 250
Cosworth MAP Sensor 80
Jenvey Timing wheel 50
High pressure oil pump with steel rotors 220
Oil Cooler 159
Sard Regulator 85
Bigger Walbro Fuel Pump 80
Duel Feed Fuel rail 40
Dump valve 75
Begi downpipe 300
Gearbox 6 speed (optional but nice) 300, does leave it very short geared though.
Paddle cerametalic clutch 350
rebore and head rebuild 600
Boost controller (Gizzmo) 199
3" Stainless exhaust 550
drilled and grooved brakes 220
Of course there are a lot of sundries too but not all of this is necessary for a 200BHP result. Mine was targetted at 320BHP so costs are a bit higher.
Wossner 8:1 pistons and rings 520
Manley forged rods 360
ACL Race Bearings 120
GT2860RS 0.86AR turbo 900
Begi exhaust manifold (cast) 285
RX8 440cc injectors 140
Microsquirt ECU 250
Full 3" Exhaust 550
Intercooler and pipes 250
Cosworth MAP Sensor 80
Jenvey Timing wheel 50
High pressure oil pump with steel rotors 220
Oil Cooler 159
Sard Regulator 85
Bigger Walbro Fuel Pump 80
Duel Feed Fuel rail 40
Dump valve 75
Begi downpipe 300
Gearbox 6 speed (optional but nice) 300, does leave it very short geared though.
Paddle cerametalic clutch 350
rebore and head rebuild 600
Boost controller (Gizzmo) 199
3" Stainless exhaust 550
drilled and grooved brakes 220
Keep an eye on the classifieds on MX5Nutz. I bought my kit on there from a chap who was going back to N/A. Mine is a 1.6, but it's similar dollars for 1.8 stuff.
I bought a Greddy kit with downpipe, manifold + turbo, intercooler + pipwork, bigger injectors and a piggyback ECU (Emange blue) + a wideband for £1150. Quite a lot of cash, but it was everything I needed and that gave me 199bhp at 9 psi.
I'm swapping over to Megasquirt soon all being well, which means I can run bigger injectors, junk the airflow meter and wind it up to about 14psi!
Themost horrible job to do when fitting a turbo kit is the oil return. You really need to return it to the sump to do it properly which involves drilling and tapping it - a bit scary!
I bought a Greddy kit with downpipe, manifold + turbo, intercooler + pipwork, bigger injectors and a piggyback ECU (Emange blue) + a wideband for £1150. Quite a lot of cash, but it was everything I needed and that gave me 199bhp at 9 psi.
I'm swapping over to Megasquirt soon all being well, which means I can run bigger injectors, junk the airflow meter and wind it up to about 14psi!
Themost horrible job to do when fitting a turbo kit is the oil return. You really need to return it to the sump to do it properly which involves drilling and tapping it - a bit scary!
most important thing is manifold and downpipe. no point getting a spanky turbo if you can't find a decent manifold for it - you can get any turbo easily once you've got the pipework.
as above, other things you need to think about are oil / water lines, intercooler and pipework, ecu, WBO2, injectors, clutch. very easy to spend £1500 on that lot
as above, other things you need to think about are oil / water lines, intercooler and pipework, ecu, WBO2, injectors, clutch. very easy to spend £1500 on that lot
Yep, manifold and downpipe are the 'key' parts.
I also have a Greddy setup (well that's what it was to begin with).
I did write a lengthy reply to this, but lost in on the phone, grrr. A few things I remember off top of my head -
As for ECU - it gets slated by some by Emanage is very good in my experience especially for a budget - it makes tuning much, much easier as you don't have to worry about cold start, idle etc etc. If you get a full kit with boomslang harness etc, its very easy to fit too.
Edit to add - Ive seen kits of Emanage Blue, MAP sensor, Harness etc going for 250ish on ebay, which is a bargain.
Electronic Boost Control (I also have the Gizzmo EBC mentioned above). Highly reccomended, allows you to make the most of what you've got without raising to higher boost levels - improves midrange and lower end a lot.
I also have a Greddy setup (well that's what it was to begin with).
I did write a lengthy reply to this, but lost in on the phone, grrr. A few things I remember off top of my head -
As for ECU - it gets slated by some by Emanage is very good in my experience especially for a budget - it makes tuning much, much easier as you don't have to worry about cold start, idle etc etc. If you get a full kit with boomslang harness etc, its very easy to fit too.
Edit to add - Ive seen kits of Emanage Blue, MAP sensor, Harness etc going for 250ish on ebay, which is a bargain.
Electronic Boost Control (I also have the Gizzmo EBC mentioned above). Highly reccomended, allows you to make the most of what you've got without raising to higher boost levels - improves midrange and lower end a lot.
Edited by snotrag on Thursday 19th September 20:43
This might be of interest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUKgKtMXec8
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