Living in Japan, I have the pleasure (or displeasure) of constantly seeing clean and clapped out JDM Legend Cars. After buying my FD3S, the market began to explode. $8k cars were now being sold with $30k-$50k asking prices and quite frankly, they didn’t seem worth it to me. While visiting my local UpGarage, I came across my 1 owner, pretty rusty but all original, 1995 NA8 S-Special Miata and payed just under $1,000 USD after all fees and stuff from the local Mazda dealership and was in love. I love this car more than the FD, BUT… it was really really really slow. There, I began the process of turbocharging my Eunos Roadster. My budget for everything was under $5k USD and I wanted it to be faster than my FD3S. So, below is my parts list and why I chose to go this route instead of just buying a full kit.
Flyin’Miata Intercooler Kit – $600
Flyin’ Miata was the first thing to come to mind for turbo roadsters, but the price did not make sense to me. I was unwilling to pay $4k and risk cutting (or notching) my car, but their intercooler kit made of silicone could not be ignored. So I looked at a lot of pictures and finally bought it.
CX Racing Manifold, Turbo, Downpipe, Lines Kit – $1,400
The CX Racing kit was the second thought, and I found that most who hate the manifold never actually owned one. The quality was acceptable and the manifold walls were very thick.
Now I have a full turbo kit for the same price as the original CX kit, but I don’t have to cut ANYTHING on my car and my Air Conditioner and Power Steering will still be unaltered. I will add that if going CX Racing, you have to get a different oil feed and distribution tee, as the provided one looks and feels very poorly made and could possibly catch on fire. Also, I had trouble with the oil return tap as I could not find that size in Japan and it seemed pretty restricted. Also, initially the turbo burned oil on acceleration, but stopped after about a month.
Now I have to make the car work and run well, so I followed my tuner’s advice and bought the following:
MSPNP Standalone ECU – $800
AMP EFI Electric Boost Control Solenoid – $60
Innovate PSB-1 Wideband/Boost Gauge – $250
Walbro 255LPH Fuel Pump Kit – $100
Denso RX-8 Injectors – $50 ($25 from junkyard, $25 for cleaning and flow test)
Speedy EFI MAP Delete Plug – $40.
Clutch Max Stage 2 Clutch + Lightweight Flywheel – $180
Many of you may comment on the reliability of the parts chosen, but they have been doing great, and I’ve experienced minimal issues, if any. The clutch was the best value, as twin disk setups for sale here are very expensive and uncomfortable. Also, the car is a cheap car to me, so I do not feel the need to buy expensive stuff.
There you have it! The car plus all the parts were about $4,480 USD plus about 3 months of waiting for shipping. Labor was free as my tuner (GOMi Tuned), my friends, and I did the work. Also, the tune was free, but add $500 for average tune (we do not have a Dynanometer on my island) and you will still be under budget. Also, Also, the full resonated and muffled 3” exhaust was free, but Enthuzacar.com sells it for $440. All in, I made my goals and took it to race… I have suffered 0 in-class losses at 1.1 bar and 1 loss to a GC-8 STi at .5bar (of course I lose to my friends’ 400+whp cars) but the list of cars it has defeated are below. If you have any questions, start a conversation below! If you don’t believe it or you just hate women, that’s okay too just leave a comment to let everyone know. Thank You and Good Luck with your Turbo Miata!
