New guy here.

[reed_67]

Greetings!

I am in search of a 1st gen Miata at the moment seems like they are getting harder to find these days. I’ve heard great things about Tom being very helpful about the products he sells. I’ll be cutting my teeth so to speak on the Miata I’ve only done things like change oil to tunes-ups & starters, etc on cars, so for me this will be a learning experience.
I have read Keith Tanners book Find it Fix it Trick it & that’s helped out a lot so far,

My first question is that you’re talking about getting 170 WHP from a 99 Miata is that with any other mods or pretty much stock? I’m looking to get 180 to 215 WHP ish out of the car I buy. & the price of your coldside S/c is right on the money for me!

Thanks in advance! :biggrin:

[gludlow]

Wohoo, first crack at a reply!

First of all, the 99 Miata is actually a second-gen Miata (NB, also called an M2). Second, yes, getting 200WHP on a 99 Miata is VERY possible with Tom's kit and no other changes to stock, assuming a healthy engine.

If you really like the NA, make sure you get on with the 1.8L engine. I think they started in 1995. It stays pretty much the same until 2000 or 2001, where they added variable valve timing (VVT?). That increased HP a little. But the big jump was 1.6 to 1.8.

If I were you, and you're set on an NA, I'd recommend getting a 96 or 97 with lowish miles. Find one with upgraded suspension (don't know which offhand). Then I'd get Tom's Coldside (normal one if you want 200).

Another good option is the 99 10th anniversary edition (10AE). I think it has a limited slip differential that people rave about and other cool stuff. Slap a Coldside into that, and you'll have a SWEEEEET car!

[reed_67]

From what I understand the 94 was the first year with the 1.8 engine, I'm not sure if the 94 is the first one with a real wheel diff or just a stronger one.

I'm not sure what yeah I'll end up with so I guess it does depend to some extent what year I get as to how much WHP I'll be making. I plan to add more then just a blower to the car I just want to be sure I don't make it too crazy for the street. I think the HP I want would be perfect for my kind of driving though.

Thanks for the info though I'll keep that in mind during my search! :cool:

[gludlow]

Cool! One thing to keep in mind; when you start to exceed 220WHP in a Miata, that's when you start to have to replace engine internals; forged piston rods, etc etc. That's out of my area of knowledge, because I don't have the $$ to get a built engine. Also from what I hear, they don't have *near* the longevity of the stock engine, esp. the years you're talking about (95-96).

I'm sure more people more knowledgable than I will post replies here, so keep checking back!

(FYI for my Coldside, all I really did was replace the stock engine mounts with performance mounts and get some good maintenance like fluid exchanges. I did get a new muffler, but that was more for sound than HP)

[Toby Weir-Jones]

94 was also the first year for the factory Torsen rear end, which is the desirable differential. 90-93 cars had a smaller diff which isn't nearly as good.

I'll be selling my 96 M-Edition sometime soon, I need to do the timing belt service on it first. Otherwise it's in great shape.

This is a reasonable place to start familiarising yourself with the cars:

http://www.miata.net/faq/miatachanges.html

And then here:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/5361

twj

[reed_67]

I almost bought a 94 a while back but at the time it would of been my only car & I needed something with more room at the time. So I settled for a 98 Nissan 200-SX it wasn't a bad car very clean for the miles it had on it.
It wasn;t untill I drove a friends Miata that I fell in love again with the car now I'm hooked all over! :drool5:

I don't think I'l have to worry about the engine internals I don't want that much power I drove one with 180 WHP a while back & that was fast enough these cars are so light that it seems to take very little HP to make these things move.

I don't need to go into about how they handle! Thanks for the links by the way!

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Welcome to the forums.

Up to 225 is no problem on a bare bones stock engine. My 99 has 138,000 miles and has been over 200WHP since ~30,000. At the moment, I am over 15PSI boost non-intercooled.

The 170WHP kit for $2995 is a great way to start. It will let you get hooked and climb the learning curve until you are ready for more power. Find a good one cheap and have at it. You can fine great 94-97 Miatas for $5-7K. Add the kit for $3K and go surprise a lot of unsuspecting victims. :)

[reed_67]

I was reading some of the dyno pulls & it's going to be intresing to see what a
94-98 pulls. Are those dyno pulls with a stock engine? IF not what other mods have been done?

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Most of the dynos are stock engines. Can't speak for each individual dyno. My 99 and 05 are both bone stock.

[reed_67]

Most of the dynos are stock engines. Can't speak for each individual dyno. My 99 and 05 are both bone stock.


Cool that would explain some of the dyno pulls I've seen I got a small but hopefully effective list that will help with getting the HP I'm looking for.

[gludlow]

In your forum user settings, you can set the date of old threads to display; if you want to see more dyno runs set it to 365 days (or longer). You'll see WAY more threads in the FFS Dyno forum.

[reed_67]

Thanks I'll do that. Um that is if I can find out how....

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Also, when you have the list of forums showing, there is a box at the bottom lower left of the screen that says "From The". Select the period you would like to go back to, like "Beginning", and then click "Show Threads".