Kinda how I thought of my project. "Damnit, turbo's are getting to be a hassle. I sure like corvettes. I also like my MX-5. Whats the fastest corvette again? Z06? Huh, I should do that. Z05. or MX-Z06. Should fit, right?"

 

I've gone back and forth a thousand times in my head on whether I should stay NA or bolt a pair of snails under the hood. Nothing in the world would give more of a wow factor than seeing twins tucked up next to a V8 in a Miata. It's just tough to justify when 600 ish rwhp is fairly easily attainable in a NA setup without the added complexity and weight of FI.

.....still would be a fun project though

 

I thought of turbos on the Exocet. There is even a guy doing a build now and he is planning on 850HP out of it. For me, I like the smooth transition from a supercharger. I will have the LS-1 tweaked with a cam, springs, pushrods to get a good number but then I want to drop in the LSx-376b with a Whipple 4.0 on top. That will be two years away I think. Car Craft did that combo and pushed 768HP with the 4.75" pulley... I want to dyno it with a 3.5 or 4" and see what number it throws. Then back it down to the 4.75 again for the street.

 

Back to the dyno on Monday. It developed a case of rough idle. Need to get the tune cleaned up post intake swap. Curious if there is any change in numbers. They tuned it hood open so it may not make much difference on the rollers. I expect plenty of difference when it's not sucking super heated air off the headers this summer during real world driving. Too bad I didn't do some stop watch 0-60 and 60-120 numbers and 1/4 mile prior to changing the intake....

 

Gator... the hood vents from FM dropped my coolant temp by 12* by letting the hot air out from under the Simpson Designs hood....worth the coins in my book.

 

There is a guy locally that punches louvers in the stock hood. But his time is hard to get. I'm holding out on that option because the result is so clean.

I'm not having cooling issues currently though cooler is better. My reasons for venting the hood are more around reducing under hood pressure. Trying to gain some higher speed stability.

 

Can under hood temps ever be too low? The SD hood was a cowl induction style scoop and adding in the vents and the Diamond-plate shield kept my intake temps reasonable. Every little bit helps.

 

Assuming your cooling system is working correctly, no. Properly tuned, the cooler the intake, the more power you'll make.

The punched louvers are something I looked into. Clean and effective. I even considered having them punched upside down and backwards so they didn't protrude above the surface of the hood. Same effect.

 

Brought the car in to get the tune cleaned up post LS7 intake install... For those converting from your cone intakes to the vette, get that tune done sooner than later. He was seeing 20% more air than with the 4" tube and cone intake. ..and the results show up.

 

Ho Lee Chit.

That's a lot of pickup for an intake swap.

 

The best part is it's now a true cold air intake instead of the super heated air intake I had. No more summertime HP face plant.

I was surprised too though. I was just expecting to get the tune cleaned up and no HP increase. Kieth told me to expect about 20 or so when I was looking at having FM do it prior to pick up when I bought it. I didn't do it then due to time constraints. Nice to see his predictions were pretty spot on though.

Next steps are LT headers and cam. ....likely next year... For now I'll just feed it fuel and tires.

 

wow very nice! I'm glad I picked one up

 

when i switched over to the ls7 intake i could feel the difference. and my holly HP EFI added more fuel (self tuning). i need to find a dyno.

 

[QUOTE=. i need to find a dyno.[/QUOTE]

Injected Engineering: There's a Reason Our Customers Will Drive Eight Hours to See Us.

 

Good question. The 300HP turbo just doesn't have the torque. Building a 5.3L LS with dual turbos for the NC. Where can a I find a home for the 4 cyl turbo motor? Only has 50K miles on it and runs very strong. The whole drivetrain will need to find a home at some point.

 

This is an old thread so likely not many still following.

The classifieds section of Miata.net forums would be a prime spot for exposure to many enthusiasts. Facebook Marketplace may also reach some potential buyers if you select a wide distribution area.

 

thanks