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Car Forum / Mazda / Mazda Miata / March 2006Is Supercharging Safe for the motor
I have a 2002 Miata and I am interested in either supercharging or installing a turbo. I am wondering what potiential damage can this do to your motor. Is it worth going this way or just leaving it alone. I don't want to track my car but I would like better performance. Any opions are welcome. Thanks, Paul G. > I have a 2002 Miata and I am interested in either supercharging or > installing a turbo. I am wondering what potiential damage can > this do to your motor. Is it worth going this way or just leaving > it alone. I don't want to track my car but I would like better > performance. Any opions are welcome. It's all up to you and the way you drive. You'll get reduced engine life, reduced gas mileage, reduced tire and brake life, etc. etc plus you'll probably have to use premium gasoline. All of these things depend on you, if you drive sensibly you'll find the car will last as long as a non-supercharged car but.... if you wanted to drive sensibly you wouldn't have asked, right? ;-) I won't disagree with XS11 as what he's saying is technically correct but I think the effects (wear and tear wise) are exaggerated. If you do your research you'll find that the miata engine was built for turbocharging and that's partly why it's been such a bullet-proof performer. You'll also be able to find thousands of people who will say that something like the standard Jackson Racing SC is basically a plug and play upgrade, with the likelihood of 100k trouble free miles. You'll also find that many of those people believe it gives the miata the perfect amount of power. Others are in that 'more is always better' camp and prefer turbocharging. You can do a more exotic set up with substantially more power. Remember that you will begin to effect reliability tire wear :) You can do endless reading, every conceivable angle, in the forums at miata.net. It'll be time well spent. Keep in mind the 'father of the miata' is a believer that if you can't go fast with 90 hp, you won't be fast with 900 hp! Hopefully you are aware that you can and should use the entire rpm range available on your miata. Good luck, Chris >> I have a 2002 Miata and I am interested in either supercharging or >> installing a turbo. I am wondering what potiential damage can [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > long as a non-supercharged car but.... if you wanted to drive sensibly > you wouldn't have asked, right? ;-) > I won't disagree with XS11 as what he's saying is technically correct > but I think the effects (wear and tear wise) are exaggerated. If you [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > You'll also find that many of those people believe it gives the miata > the perfect amount of power. What about a 12 yr old that already has 165k on it? Are there any additional concerns putting a SC on a more venerable model? -Scott > What about a 12 yr old that already has 165k on it? Are there any > additional concerns putting a SC on a more venerable model? I'd seriously consider some motor work, particularly the bottom end. New rings and a valve job couldn't hurt, either. If you have worn rings and leaky valves, you're going to be losing some of the gains the blower will give you and the blower will add a bit of load to the crank and rod bearings so new ones can't hurt anything. If you do none of the above, you'll probably still be OK, the engine is pretty tough. I would have to think real hard to find a blown engine in a Miata - doesn't happen often. They seem to be rock solid. Check out Miata.net and ask around, they are the experts! Yeah the engines do seem to hold up. Mine of course gave up the ghost, but it was the short crank and not the engine. The lady that lives across from me has one with a little over 700,000 KMs and it was still running okay until just before the new year...hard to believe eh? > The lady that lives across from me has one with a little over > 700,000 KMs and it was still running okay until just before the > new year... So what happened "just before the new year"? Did it die or did she sell it or???? > > The lady that lives across from me has one with a little over > > 700,000 KMs and it was still running okay until just before the > > new year... > > So what happened "just before the new year"? Did it die or did she > sell it or???? She still has it, determined that shes going to get it running again this summer. I'm trying to buy it of her as its always good to have some extra parts + it has a hardtop of which mine is lacking. It would have been nice to have it for the winter, but hopefully I'll get it off her eventually. The car was repaired at a local shop and then died on the way home so I think there is no chance of it being fixed again but you never know... > Yeah the engines do seem to hold up. Mine of course gave up the ghost, > but it was the short crank and not the engine. The lady that lives > across from me has one with a little over 700,000 KMs and it was still > running okay until just before the new year...hard to believe eh? I'm just trying to imagine even attempting to do 700,000km in the UK!!! My GPS tells me that from the very tip of Scotland to the very toe of England it's 1334 km. In order to rack up that many km, you'd have to drive up and down the entire length of the country just under 525 times. The mind boggles at the monotony of all that driving - even in an MX5!! Eric Yeah well when you have Canada and the States right there within reach its not a ton. A friend of my dad has a 300 TD from the early 80s that has a little over 1 million, and again its also falling apart but those diesels last forever... > I'm just trying to imagine even attempting to do 700,000km in the UK!!! My > GPS tells me that from the very tip of Scotland to the very toe of England > it's 1334 km. In order to rack up that many km, you'd have to drive up and > down the entire length of the country just under 525 times. OTOH, at 20.8 km per lap, a German MX-5 would need just 33,654 circuits of the Nordschliefe. Piece of cake.  SignatureLanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html >> Yeah the engines do seem to hold up. Mine of course gave up the ghost, >> but it was the short crank and not the engine. The lady that lives [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Eric I would be tempted to say *especially in an MX-5", but that's just a question of individual preference. Driving distances are greater in the US. 1334 Km is 828 miles, roughly the distance of a round trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Mind you I wouldn't want to make that trip 525 times either. >> I have a 2002 Miata and I am interested in either supercharging or >> installing a turbo. I am wondering what potiential damage can [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > long as a non-supercharged car but.... if you wanted to drive sensibly > you wouldn't have asked, right? ;-) Actually, I'm seeing about the same fuel economy pre-S/C and post-S/C in my 2002 Miata, and I do not drive sedately. Yes, you need premium gasoline, but you really need to run premium in a 2002 Miata, anyway. Tires and brakes seem much more influenced by driving style than by S/C vs. non-S/C. The words of caution I'd offer are: - if you've never S/Ced a car, or a Miata, before, there's a learning curve. Don't tolerate pinging (much). In the higher-compression 2002, you will absolutely require electronic timing control (the J&S Ultra- safeguard works well for me). You'll also require colder plugs (a deal at sparkplugs.com) and you'll really want the DDM cold-air duct. - if you don't heed the above advice, you'll either end up with a car that always thinks it is running poor fuel and will have highly-retarded timing all the time, or you'll melt pistons and/or plug electrodes. - the stock JR nylon idler pulleys have a dreadful reputation; it took 23k miles for them to self-destruct. Track Dog Racing has steel pulleys that are likely much better (mine are on the way - the pulley death took place last Saturday). - don't go crazy with a smalley pulley for more boost - you're running a 10:1 engine already. A turbo-charged motor will have similar issues, I believe. I love the additional power that the CARB-legal JRSC provides and my motor doesn't drink oil yet. Cheers, Dana >I have a 2002 Miata and I am interested in either supercharging or >installing a turbo. I am wondering what potiential damage can this do >to your motor. It can potentially melt down your pistons, if improperly set up. But of course there is no requirement to do so. I put a supercharger on my 96 when it had 4 kmi on it and it now has over 135 kmi. The car has seen lots of adverse conditions. The supercharger gave the ghost after 100 kmi on the dot and was not rebuildable due to being sandblasted by the poor air filter provided by JR. So I put on a new supercharger. The engine is probably also sandblasted, in any case it is smoking oil through the exhaust, using about a quart in a thousand miles I think. > Is it worth going this way or just leaving it alone. That rather depends on what your priorities are, I would say. I was unhappy with the amount of power of my 96, and have never regretted putting on the SC for a second. I would do it again if I would get another one now. On the other hand, the 2006 Miata I am getting with 170 hp may have enough hp to satisfy me, in which case I will certainly leave well enough alone. Putting on a SC is an additional complication to deal with, and gas consumption and engine wear will suffer some. Also, it puts you in the wrong class for autocross. > I >don't want to track my car but I would like better performance. Any >opions are welcome. Opion, OPION, oPION, OpIoN Leon :) SignatureLeon van Dommelen :) Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .) rammm@dommelen.net http://www.dommelen.net/miata EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen) >I have a 2002 Miata and I am interested in either supercharging or >installing a turbo. I am wondering what potiential damage can this do >to your motor. Is it worth going this way or just leaving it alone. I >don't want to track my car but I would like better performance. Any >opions are welcome. It really depends on how well designed the system is and whether it is properly installed. -------------- Alex |
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