1.6 (turbo) v's 1.8

[GuinnessMK]

I'm tempted by an MX-5, but am confused by the engine outputs / options.

Wikipedia has the 1.6 as 120 horsepower and the 1.8 as 130 bhp. Is there much noticable difference, both in real world performance and or economy?

Then I thought about turboing it with one of these:-

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yf78ew4

What would be the estimated power of a 1.6 running that turbo kit? Or are there better options? Or turbo kits for the 1.8?

[Howard-]

Your URL is broken but most turbo and supercharger kits develop at least 160bhp, and some far in excess of with some tweaking. This equals a fair whack more power than a standard mk1 1.6 or 1.8.

[JFReturns]

The wiki is pretty much correct. However, the real world difference is marginal as the 1.6 is lighter than than the 1.8....

Not sure about that turbo off ebay... looks a bit... cheap??

Have a search on here for better kits which are UK supplied. Expect at least 160bhp, but any more than that and clutch etc. would need uprating.

EDIT: For more info. regarding turbo/super charging kits, see quote from another thread:

Herman Toothrot said:

http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?dept=32

http://www.bellengineering.net/index.php?cPath=5_1...

http://www.fastforwardsuperchargers.com/

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewProducts.asp...

http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-P...

Edited by JFReturns on Wednesday 3rd February 11:47

[GuinnessMK]

Thanks for the info.

It'll have to wait for another day!

[AJI]

slight hijack....

what are the other tuning options if not choosing turbo/supercharger route?

I'm guessing it fairly limited on the small NA engines.

[Herman Toothrot]

AJI said:

slight hijack....

what are the other tuning options if not choosing turbo/supercharger route?

I'm guessing it fairly limited on the small NA engines.

yep, cams are available search "integral cams" and after market ECU's and traditional port and polish, maybe skim a bit off the head to raise CR. All very expensive for modest gains.