The first iteration of the mule ran really low boost and was rock solid reliable. The guys in the development team knew there was still a bunch more power to be had so they're testing an small, safe incremental increase in boost to bump another 30~40whp I think. Other street cars running about the same hardware are well beyond that so it's a known quantity. I believe there are also some tire/wheel options being tested, the goal being to lower costs and further improve handling.
I know how busy the various member of the development team are so they might not remember to update this thread, but work is definitely being done. I'm not involved in the SSM project myself but one of my projects is sort of parallel so we cross paths quiet often. It was on the dyno just last week while I was there. Making power with cool temps and sounding quite angry. I can say this, the little beastie will be very much worth the wait
Either way it sounds like they have decided that the 1.6l platform is what they are targeting, correct??? I am not as concerned with the other details, they will be easy to swap when the time comes. I found another 92 this week that would make a great candidate. I pt in a vote for the 2560 as well and maybe megasquirt.
I am a little disappointed I was not consulted on this - I have been racing an SM turbo in NASA for years now, based on 1.8 l car and have done up to 8 hour enduro in it. I have countless development hours on it and have broken a lot of parts. 1.6 drivetrain (diff) will be too fragile
-------------------- Keith Verges Dallas SM #61 SWDIV
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Have you contacted Tim about this yet? If not, I would assume you would. Perhaps he didn't know what you have been doing fully. I'm sure he would be willing to listen. I also think more official news needs to come out if this is going to happen in 2010. I am trying to decide what route to go next year and I am sure others are as well. The last thing we need is a few hastily put together boosted SM's out there!
Region: SF
Car #: 99
Year : 1995 Posts: 49
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quote:Originally posted by kverges: I am a little disappointed I was not consulted on this - I have been racing an SM turbo in NASA for years now, based on 1.8 l car and have done up to 8 hour enduro in it. I have countless development hours on it and have broken a lot of parts. 1.6 drivetrain (diff) will be too fragile
I imagine any one doing this to a 1.6 will have no issue switching to a torsen... heck most of the fast 1.6's around here are already running a torsen.
tahoe z
2007 NASA 25hr Champion E2 / 2008 NASA 25 HR E2 2ND place
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Car #: 54!
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From my friend, who's been tracking a turboed Miata for a couple of years...
Starting with 1.6 cars isn’t a bad idea – there are a lot of them out there. The only drivetrain weakness is the diff, and they are weak to begin with – the Torsen upgrade is a good, proven choice. The one issue I see is transmissions – approach 200whp with pucked discs and a lot of hard shifts, and I think you’re going to see a lot of 5-speed failures. The expensive way to solve this is to allow 6-speeds; the cheap way is to require a standard street-style disc. Or let them blow up the trannies on the pucked discs – eventually someone will figure out that the street discs save the tranny and make nearly no impact on the laptimes
I do see some stuff in here that makes me scratch my head, though. The Goodyear slicks are just a great way to increase the costs, as are the flares required to fit them, and the new suspension, etc. If your goal is to draw SM guys into this class, then why change the suspension? Keep the Bilsteins, don’t even revalve them, and make the rear sway bar open. That’ll give enough tuning options to get the cars to handle correctly, without making everyone spend a bunch of coin.
A great way to keep the power under control is to require a stock ECU. Use an adjustable rising rate fuel pressure regulator and a stock ECU – no ECU to buy, no dyno time to buy to set that ECU up, etc. Cheap and simple, and far easier to police.
The turbo/SC Miatas that I have experience with are all using 15x9 wheels and 225/45 R-comps, and we’re going anywhere from 3 to 10 seconds faster than the SM record, depending on the weather and the specific car. More than enough grip. Spec a 225/45 RA-1 or something with a similar long life, and use SM wheels – again, the less you change here the better. 225s fit under stock fenders, so no flares (again, reduce the costs).
Makes me want to build one, though. My current toy is a 280whp turbo ’94, scaling right around SM weighs with the turbo setup. Still in development with my new turbo setup, but the first few events are promising: 1:58s at Thunderhill, 1:50s at ACS Roval (on the rev limiter at 145mph the whole way through 1 and 2), using a basic aero package (APR GTC-200 and a splitter) and 225/45-15 Nitto NT-01s, so it gets around at a decent clip. =)
Tim has driven my "mule" car. Like everythign, everyone wants to build a better mousetrap. I have a full spec build list and as far as I know am the only person to run an SM Turbo at a hard race pace for hours on end. FWIW, the transmission is not too big a problem at 12 psi boost, nor is the engine itself. The turbo kit is expensive and based primarily on the FMII setup with some important tweaks. DIY conversion cost from a 1.8 SM that already has a Torsen is around $7K
-------------------- Keith Verges Dallas SM #61 SWDIV
We'd like to try the 25 hour, but I hav enot had time to prep 2 cars and round up 7 funded drivers to make the effort worthwhile to get to Thuhderhill. I expect the car would last 25 hours, if prepped properly
-------------------- Keith Verges Dallas SM #61 SWDIV
I got into a discussion today about a Spec Miata Turbo class today which has brought me here.
While I do not know kverges, Verges sounds familiar to me and I think the NASA Enduro he is referring to was the spring race at TWS. I crewed for some friends and we almost needed pontoons for that race. I remember something about a turbo Miata there.
Regarding a turbo Miata, I thought there was a class for this on the West Coast already. So I'm looking for class info as well as car specs. After reading this, I am guessing this is still in the works.
After reading through a bit of this post, I am surprised to hear they have been working with the 1.6L since they are working on the "next big thing."
Here is an opinion from a guy who has never owned a Miata but is looking into SM. They have been around about 20 years now. They ran the 1.6L the first 4 years of production. Why would someone want to start the "next big thing" with the smaller, older and more limited 1.6 liter? The 1.8 liter has got to be more common. It's been in production 4 times longer.
Personally, I've been leaning toward a 96 or 97 car but I am hearing a lot of 99+ talk. What I hear is it's a better chassis. I like the first gen cars cause I find lots of cheap ones so I figure cars and parts are cheaper and easier to get. However, the 99+ cars do seem to have some advantages which would be even better with a turbo.
Regarding tires, fender flares, struts and suspension stuff, the Spec Miata is a pretty damn good package. I agree with the keep it simple plan. Come up with a standard turbo upgrade for the car and maybe allow a bigger tire without going to flares or different wheels. That way it's easy for existing cars to boost their way into the new class.
I look forward to finding out more about this class.
Region: NASA Southwest
Car #: 77
Year : 1996 Posts: 147
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Rotrex? I think the best option would be the Rotrex, 15x9 6UL's, 225/45/15 RA1's, sway bars open. That way a spec miata can be converted in an afternoon or vise versa. I'd also leave all the car year's in and just use restricter plates.
Jake
-------------------- "This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons!"
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