| How to get 200 horsepower out of your Mazdaspeed Miata, for cheap. Are you growing tired of the stock power level of your Mazdaspeed, but don’t have the big bucks to spend on expensive upgrades offered by vendors? Well, then this webpage is for YOU! |
Cheesy sounding attention grabbing headline aside, it is possible to have upwards of 200 horsepower from the stock
turbocharger on the 2004-2005 Mazdspeed Miatas for not allot of cash.
But before you go trying to tune and blow something up, there is one very major precaution that you have to take.
Install a proper Boost gauge.
Absolutely do NOT upgrade anything having to do with the boost control setup on your Mazdaspeed without first installing a
proper boost gauge.
This is VITAL to not blowing up your car and fine-tuning the boost controller.
Boost gauges can be had anywhere from $40 for cheap China junk to $80 and $100 dollars for better quality and more accurate
gauges (I would go this route, always).
I personally use a BEGi gauge that I won at the HMC club raffle one night, retails for around $80 dollars and is pretty accurate.
Now onto the power steps…
Step 1: Install a free-flow catback exhaust system.
Remember one very simple rule about car engines and turbocharged engines in particular; they want absolutely NO back
pressure on the system.
Back pressure is evil, and you need look no further then the stock MSM exhaust to see why; slow spool speeds and lower boost
on the top end; plus the car feels and sounds absolutely horrible driving it above 4000 RPM.
There is allot of debate out there about which pipe diameter you should go with when trying to decide on a catback for your car.
Mostly it comes down to 2.5” exhaust systems and 3” exhaust systems. A turbo exhaust should be as big and as short as
possible, like a 3” turn-down right behind the cat.
But noise constraints might make this impossible for where you live, so instead, opt for a properly designed and built 3” exhaust
system.
Properly designed and built means as straight of a pipe as possible with proper mandrel bends when the pipe has to make a
turn.
A good friend of mine had one custom built at an exhaust shop for about $300 dollars, then he added a nice 6" rice-tip to the
end for another $60, so $360 dollars for a custom built 3” system.
I went the prefabricated route and ordered a 3.1” resonated system from Corksport for $450 dollars, which is mandrel bent and
TIG welded, and finished in gorgeous 304 stainless steel.
Both systems breath easily and allow faster spool-up, I’ve measured about 600 RPM faster spool up on average with just the 3”
exhaust alone, and the car feels like a proper Miata in the higher RPM range.
I’ve driven a few 2.5” systems and found that the spool was around 200 to 300 RPM sooner on average, and the engine didn’t
feel “as” free in the top end, but still considerably better then stock.
Now that the turbo is breathing easier on the exhaust side, it’s time for step 2.
Step 2: Adjustable boost controller, of either the Manual or Electronic variety.
The same friend mentioned above, found a great deal on ebay for a Greddy Profect E01 EBC (electronic boost controller) piggy-
back setup.
If you are willing to spend a bit more in your budget, EBC is the way to go as it allows more accurate waste-gate control and will
let you squeeze out every last ounce of boost your car can make on the stock ECU, ambient air temp, and quality of fuel for your
situation.
I went cheaper then that, a hell of allot cheaper, and bought a manual boost controller off of my friend Bryce.
It does the same job, but uses an old-fashioned ball and spring, and you adjust when the waste gate opens by turning a knob on
the end of the boost controller to set the spring tension to control when the waste gate opens.
You can get these on ebay for super-cheap and you will get a nice adjustment knob and the color of your choice, or you can
spend 5 dollars in parts and build your own from home depot.
I did the home depot route on mine, but could never dial in the correct amount of boost, couldn’t get below 13 lbs of boost in 4th
gear, which caused fuel-cut.
Step 3: Cone-style air filter on the end of the air flow meter.
This is step is equal to those little floral icings on the cake.
That last finishing touch that will allow even faster spool speeds and allow you to build boost even faster then previously thought.
This step isn’t really needed if you are already pleased with the above setup or have issues dumping the stock panel filters, but
you will build boost faster with this modification.
Removing the stock air-intake box from the engine bay entirely and replacing it with a cone filter from the auto parts store (about
$25 dollars for a filter and a good band clamp to hold it).
Remove the stock air filter box and housing from the engine bay entirely.
Keep the air flow meter and wires attached to the intake tube.
Now at the end of the AFM, attach a cone-filter.
Be sure to relocate the air temp sensor.
Use some cheap Wal-mart zip ties to hold the cone filter and air temp sensor in place, I zip tied mine to the shock tower brace as
not to stretch the rubber hoses coming off of the intake.
And there you have it folks!
You are now making an easy 200 horsepower on your Mazdaspeed Miata, and all at a minimal cost to yourself!
I hope you found this write up informative and helpful,
I would like to thank Mr. Paul Flores for coming up with the original blue print on this short-road to power.
I wouldn’t have thought power could be had as cheap as this without his insight and prior experiments in this field with his own
MSM.
Jeff Goji.
turbocharger on the 2004-2005 Mazdspeed Miatas for not allot of cash.
But before you go trying to tune and blow something up, there is one very major precaution that you have to take.
Install a proper Boost gauge.
Absolutely do NOT upgrade anything having to do with the boost control setup on your Mazdaspeed without first installing a
proper boost gauge.
This is VITAL to not blowing up your car and fine-tuning the boost controller.
Boost gauges can be had anywhere from $40 for cheap China junk to $80 and $100 dollars for better quality and more accurate
gauges (I would go this route, always).
I personally use a BEGi gauge that I won at the HMC club raffle one night, retails for around $80 dollars and is pretty accurate.
Now onto the power steps…
Step 1: Install a free-flow catback exhaust system.
Remember one very simple rule about car engines and turbocharged engines in particular; they want absolutely NO back
pressure on the system.
Back pressure is evil, and you need look no further then the stock MSM exhaust to see why; slow spool speeds and lower boost
on the top end; plus the car feels and sounds absolutely horrible driving it above 4000 RPM.
There is allot of debate out there about which pipe diameter you should go with when trying to decide on a catback for your car.
Mostly it comes down to 2.5” exhaust systems and 3” exhaust systems. A turbo exhaust should be as big and as short as
possible, like a 3” turn-down right behind the cat.
But noise constraints might make this impossible for where you live, so instead, opt for a properly designed and built 3” exhaust
system.
Properly designed and built means as straight of a pipe as possible with proper mandrel bends when the pipe has to make a
turn.
A good friend of mine had one custom built at an exhaust shop for about $300 dollars, then he added a nice 6" rice-tip to the
end for another $60, so $360 dollars for a custom built 3” system.
I went the prefabricated route and ordered a 3.1” resonated system from Corksport for $450 dollars, which is mandrel bent and
TIG welded, and finished in gorgeous 304 stainless steel.
Both systems breath easily and allow faster spool-up, I’ve measured about 600 RPM faster spool up on average with just the 3”
exhaust alone, and the car feels like a proper Miata in the higher RPM range.
I’ve driven a few 2.5” systems and found that the spool was around 200 to 300 RPM sooner on average, and the engine didn’t
feel “as” free in the top end, but still considerably better then stock.
Now that the turbo is breathing easier on the exhaust side, it’s time for step 2.
Step 2: Adjustable boost controller, of either the Manual or Electronic variety.
The same friend mentioned above, found a great deal on ebay for a Greddy Profect E01 EBC (electronic boost controller) piggy-
back setup.
If you are willing to spend a bit more in your budget, EBC is the way to go as it allows more accurate waste-gate control and will
let you squeeze out every last ounce of boost your car can make on the stock ECU, ambient air temp, and quality of fuel for your
situation.
I went cheaper then that, a hell of allot cheaper, and bought a manual boost controller off of my friend Bryce.
It does the same job, but uses an old-fashioned ball and spring, and you adjust when the waste gate opens by turning a knob on
the end of the boost controller to set the spring tension to control when the waste gate opens.
You can get these on ebay for super-cheap and you will get a nice adjustment knob and the color of your choice, or you can
spend 5 dollars in parts and build your own from home depot.
I did the home depot route on mine, but could never dial in the correct amount of boost, couldn’t get below 13 lbs of boost in 4th
gear, which caused fuel-cut.
Step 3: Cone-style air filter on the end of the air flow meter.
This is step is equal to those little floral icings on the cake.
That last finishing touch that will allow even faster spool speeds and allow you to build boost even faster then previously thought.
This step isn’t really needed if you are already pleased with the above setup or have issues dumping the stock panel filters, but
you will build boost faster with this modification.
Removing the stock air-intake box from the engine bay entirely and replacing it with a cone filter from the auto parts store (about
$25 dollars for a filter and a good band clamp to hold it).
Remove the stock air filter box and housing from the engine bay entirely.
Keep the air flow meter and wires attached to the intake tube.
Now at the end of the AFM, attach a cone-filter.
Be sure to relocate the air temp sensor.
Use some cheap Wal-mart zip ties to hold the cone filter and air temp sensor in place, I zip tied mine to the shock tower brace as
not to stretch the rubber hoses coming off of the intake.
And there you have it folks!
You are now making an easy 200 horsepower on your Mazdaspeed Miata, and all at a minimal cost to yourself!
I hope you found this write up informative and helpful,
I would like to thank Mr. Paul Flores for coming up with the original blue print on this short-road to power.
I wouldn’t have thought power could be had as cheap as this without his insight and prior experiments in this field with his own
MSM.
Jeff Goji.
