Considering buying and have many questions

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Qwimby2

I think I may pick up one of these cars and keep the Miata for a while before deciding between the two. I watched the video install of the Edelbrock supercharger, and figure I can do that in my garage in an afternoon. That's if if decide I really need that much gain. Next question, how well does the drive train stand up to that much power gain? I figure I'll need bigger brake for sure.

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If you have the space and money, that might be a fun idea to keep the miata, especially since you live in Florida. The FR-S is a fun driving car ....... but, nothing can beat a drive on a warm evening, in a roadster .....

It's my understand that how well the drive train holds up under 50% more HP and more torque, would depend on how hard you drive it (or better yet, how much you punish it).


humfrz

[BlackJesus]

Originally Posted by humfrz

If you have the space and money, that might be a fun idea to keep the miata, especially since you live in Florida. The FR-S is a fun driving car ....... but, nothing can beat a drive on a warm evening, in a roadster .....

It's my understand that how well the drive train holds up under 50% more HP and more torque, would depend on how hard you drive it (or better yet, how much you punish it).


humfrz

Why not have the best of both world and go with a targa top FRS/Brz. Its doable lol All he need is some extra cash.

On a serious note why dont OP just drive the car for a few months then go on that way. You cant really say how much power the car will need without getting it know it first. Its pretty much like wanting to get married without even going on a date. You might even be happy with the car in its stock form. The best cheap pratical mod would be some header + Tune and a e85 kit if you have it to your avail but this might end up costing you about 2k+. I fell in love with this car in its stock form even if people say its underpowered its still fun as hell to drive. The only issue that i had with the car was its torque dip but ill fix that up later with a simple tune.

What you should really look for is paint quality some of these car has orange peels with less than 10k miles and if you want something with a bit more "luxury" go with a BRZ limited or any other limited edition trims. If youre patient and willing to travel out of state then search for the car within 100mile radius. You can find a cheap FRS with less than 20k miles for 16-20k. Make sure that the tranny is in good condition, my old frs had weird clunky shifting and it would vibrate violently after 1 week from purchasing it from the dealership. Heck bring it to a shop and make sure there isnt any problems, it might cost you money but better be safe than sorry.

[MrDinkleman]

Originally Posted by Qwimby2

I think I may pick up one of these cars and keep the Miata for a while before deciding between the two. .

In addition to my new FR-S, I also have an NB Miata. I don't ever sell my cars so selling the Miata was never a consideration. However, prior to buying my FR-S, my plan was to permanently remove the soft top and leave the hard top on permanently, perhaps even replacing the latches with Spec-Miata brackets. But after driving the FR-S, I realized I did not need yet another small coupe (I also have a 79 Celica coupe project car). Plus my GF started talking about how nice it would be to have a convertible again. So, now I am looking at replacing my torn soft top and selling my hard top.


So, the point of all this? Keep the Miata for those top down days. And keep/add the FR-S/BRZ for those days when you want the sold feel of a coupe. Then you'll have the best of both worlds.

[Qwimby2]

I don't care for top-down driving...it's too hot for that in Florida most of the year anyway so the hard top if a permanent fixture. If Miata made a coupe I would be first in line. In fact they do make a dandy coupe in Japan but want send it over here.

I found a 2015 BRZ limited with 15,000 miles for 21K and will look at it tomorrow. I'll probably keep both cars for a while till I see about the BRZ. I think it will make an excellent track car in stock form. I'd rather beat someone with braking and handling rather than brute power, and I regularly discourage new students from hopping the car up before learning the basics. I'm thinking about the extra horsepower for around-town traffic.

[NyC Zn6]

Originally Posted by MrDinkleman

In addition to my new FR-S, I also have an NB Miata. I don't ever sell my cars so selling the Miata was never a consideration. However, prior to buying my FR-S, my plan was to permanently remove the soft top and leave the hard top on permanently, perhaps even replacing the latches with Spec-Miata brackets. But after driving the FR-S, I realized I did not need yet another small coupe (I also have a 79 Celica coupe project car). Plus my GF started talking about how nice it would be to have a convertible again. So, now I am looking at replacing my torn soft top and selling my hard top.


So, the point of all this? Keep the Miata for those top down days. And keep/add the FR-S/BRZ for those days when you want the sold feel of a coupe. Then you'll have the best of both worlds.

[Dr Speed]

Originally Posted by Qwimby2

I'm impressed with the car after driving a 2014.

Are there any practical bolt-on power additions? I think it would benefit from about a 30 or so horsepower boost. A turbo would be more power and expense than I need.

Are the 2013 and 2014 models basically the same? If so I can find several 2013s priced lower than 14s.

I know about the suspension changes in 2015s. Does anyone know if the earlier cars can be retrofitted with these changes? Is it worth doing if so?

What should I look for in general? I'll be getting a manual tranny for sure.

Thanks everyone. Any help would be much appreciated.

You can throw thousands into bolt ons for these cars but its not really worth the thousands you will spend. A drop in filter and a tune is probably the best bet for a few hundred bucks and a 10-12hp gain. That's the route I am going.


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81493 <--- read this tuning guide .

[Qwimby2]

Originally Posted by Dr Speed

You can throw thousands into bolt ons for these cars but its not really worth the thousands you will spend. A drop in filter and a tune is probably the best bet for a few hundred bucks and a 10-12hp gain. That's the route I am going.


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81493 <--- read this tuning guide .

I know there's a lot of controversy over K&N filters. I once put one in my normally-aspirated Porsche 944. I had been running all the way from 5 to 6 at the old Bridgehampton in 4th gear. With the K&N I ran out of revs and had to go to 5th on that straight. That made a believer of me.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by Dr Speed

You can throw thousands into bolt ons for these cars but its not really worth the thousands you will spend. A drop in filter and a tune is probably the best bet for a few hundred bucks and a 10-12hp gain. That's the route I am going.


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81493 <--- read this tuning guide .

Originally Posted by Qwimby2

I know there's a lot of controversy over K&N filters. I once put one in my normally-aspirated Porsche 944. I had been running all the way from 5 to 6 at the old Bridgehampton in 4th gear. With the K&N I ran out of revs and had to go to 5th on that straight. That made a believer of me.

Our cars are not like a 944 A drop in filter in our cars is debatable, some tuners show power gains, others show none, while others that show dynos with the filter removed completely with 0 hp. Personally I had the K&N filter with an oft tune before I got the TRD intake and it was quite good.

[MrDinkleman]

Originally Posted by NyC Zn6

LOL. Not to worry. I wouldn't be considering it if I wasn't already considering it without her input. I have five cars and I like it that they are all different and serve different purposes.


My real "impossible dream" for the Miata was to take a metal working class and make and weld in a real steel roof to convert it to a real coupe.


No need to now!!

[Qwimby2]

Originally Posted by MrDinkleman

LOL. Not to worry. I wouldn't be considering it if I wasn't already considering it without her input. I have five cars and I like it that they are all different and serve different purposes.


My real "impossible dream" for the Miata was to take a metal working class and make and weld in a real steel roof to convert it to a real coupe.


No need to now!!

There are some fastback kits for Miatas out there but I think they're carbon fiber and intended primarily for track. Now if you have an extra $20-25,000, Jim Simpson will build one of of these on your Miata chassis, or provide a fully-built car for a little more.

http://www.simpsondesign.net/italia2_preload.html

[Dr Speed]

Originally Posted by FRSBRZGT86FAN

Our cars are not like a 944 A drop in filter in our cars is debatable, some tuners show power gains, others show none, while others that show dynos with the filter removed completely with 0 hp. Personally I had the K&N filter with an oft tune before I got the TRD intake and it was quite good.

Yep or a Perrin filter for example.

[NyC Zn6]

Originally Posted by MrDinkleman

LOL. Not to worry. I wouldn't be considering it if I wasn't already considering it without her input. I have five cars and I like it that they are all different and serve different purposes.


My real "impossible dream" for the Miata was to take a metal working class and make and weld in a real steel roof to convert it to a real coupe.


No need to now!!

[MokSpeed]

Originally Posted by jdmblood

There's no replacement for displacement.

Forced induction worked fine for me.

[strat61caster]

Strat feels like pontificating. Definitely feels like power comes in four flavors on this car.

A. Look pretty, doesn't do much stuff: intakes, catbacks, lightweight pulleys, an off the shelf tune, etc. At best single digit improvements each, spend thousands of dollars for maybe 10hp.

B. Catless Header and tune, good for ~20hp or more depending on quality of parts and tune. Goodbye smog compliance in many places, hello annoyed neighbors at the noise.

C. E85, about +20hp from stock, +10hp on a catless header for 30hp. If you can get E85 not a bad deal.

So E85, chuck the kitchen sink at it in terms of every NA bolt-on mod in the book (there aren't really any proven internal modifications yet like cams and headwork, still very early on in this engines lifecycle) and you're looking at maybe +40whp or a bit more.

Example so I'm not spouting bullshit: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53946

D. Forced Induction, basic bolt on kit takes you up to ~240whp on a canned tune (from ~160whp), which seem to be moderately successful at those power levels with minimal changes and good reliability. With a custom tune and some supporting hardware you can push up to 300whp without breaking too many things along the way, past that you start spending big bucks to keep it together and power on the ground. Add E85 for even more punch, and the catless header, and injectors, and forged internals, and uprated cooling and on and on and on.

I'm honestly pretty excited about the current superchargers, smog legal kits look pretty trouble free so far, yes it's a $5k-$6k chunk of change for ~80whp (~100 crank hp?) plus other odds and ends to make the car work as a whole, but imo that puts you in pretty good position for a sub $40k sports car, Genesis, 370Z, STI, and Cayman/Boxster levels of power while weighing less (and in most cases less $$ up front and long term running costs), and nearly V8 Muscle car levels of power/weight (9-10 lbs/crank hp).

I'll probably be running a budget header and tune for autox purposes until I'm satisfied with that and picking up a supercharger kit so the car is mostly a weekend toy, that's probably ~4-5 years down the road though.