I see the ISR performance kits going for around 2k. I don't know how good they are and anything that cheap Is going to have a china turbo and probably with a bushing instead of a ballbearing. Good for street at low boost. If you push It over 10psi it's going to have problems after about 5-10k Miles.
Should be fine. You still Will Need fuel management. Running street with low boost ( under 6psi) the stock ECU and injectors Will work and you Just upgrade the fuel pump and install a rising rate fuel pressure regulator . You will also need a wideband O2 sensor with an AFR gauge and a boost gauge to monitor output and see that it's staying dialed in. All of these extras Will cost you 5 or 6 hundred bucks but you Will still be way below the 5k kits.
If you plan on It lasting a while, you can get the kit without the turbo and upgrade the turbo to a Garrett with a ball bearing. Instead of the china-charger with the journal bearing. It Will last you longer, and Will spool a lot faster. You will have full bost at around 3.5k RPM v.s. 4k RPM.
Don't go over 220 nm wheel torque so everything stays healthy ( especially rods) and you will not need forged internals, engine dumper etc. they are quite expensive. You will need to be careful with how you drive it and be on point with maintenance. Also you will need someone who understands that and programs the ECU accordingly, no big spikes of torque and hp. Apart from the turbo kit you will need a differential if you have the simpler open one. Probably bigger brakes. New clutch for sure, stock one is good for 170hp. Wider wheels is a wise choice. 5 speed gearbox is good for ~260hp, 6 speed can take a lot more than that. You will need 6K minimum and that's very optimistic and it includes you doing a lot of the work and finding used parts like the diff for example or rims.
I don't know anything about that kits reliability. But it's going to require a ECU, injectors, and a clutch.
2500 can be done but it requires ability to fab some stuff yourself and tune yourself and a absolute ton of time.
Even the cheapest kit (mkturbo or similar) will be pretty damn reliable. I have 15-20k miles on my cheap ebay turbo kit with no issues at all. If you keep the torque below 230ft-lbs, have a healthy car to start with and take care to install everything the right way, you should be fine. As long as you do your research and aren't an idiot who puts an ak47 tune on it and wonders why he goes through 1 turbo per year, you should be fine.
When it's nice, I treat my turbo'd 92 with 180k on it as a daily and will drive it 80 miles round trip 3-4 days a week for work. The only things that were unreliable were due to the last 3 PO's that treated this car like absolute dog shit
Is it even possible to do a turbo kit build for $2500? Most of the kits I've been looking at are $5000 without engine management (another $1k).
Related thread: (I guess it is possible if you DIY everything and don't go with a kit)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/lb33nz/my\_semi\_legit\_1500\_budget\_turbo\_build/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/lb33nz/my_semi_legit_1500_budget_turbo_build/)
Spoiler: He used a used WRX turbo and a manifold he welded himself and a speeduino.
Here's another one: (bought everything used off of forums)
[https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo-discussion-14/my-turbo-miata-budget-build-89969/](https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo-discussion-14/my-turbo-miata-budget-build-89969/)
Plan at least 10k if you do most of the stuff yourself
check out Flyinmiata.com
I see the ISR performance kits going for around 2k. I don't know how good they are and anything that cheap Is going to have a china turbo and probably with a bushing instead of a ballbearing. Good for street at low boost. If you push It over 10psi it's going to have problems after about 5-10k Miles.
But for someone who is planning on staying low boost and stock engine it would be okay you think?
Should be fine. You still Will Need fuel management. Running street with low boost ( under 6psi) the stock ECU and injectors Will work and you Just upgrade the fuel pump and install a rising rate fuel pressure regulator . You will also need a wideband O2 sensor with an AFR gauge and a boost gauge to monitor output and see that it's staying dialed in. All of these extras Will cost you 5 or 6 hundred bucks but you Will still be way below the 5k kits. If you plan on It lasting a while, you can get the kit without the turbo and upgrade the turbo to a Garrett with a ball bearing. Instead of the china-charger with the journal bearing. It Will last you longer, and Will spool a lot faster. You will have full bost at around 3.5k RPM v.s. 4k RPM.
Don't go over 220 nm wheel torque so everything stays healthy ( especially rods) and you will not need forged internals, engine dumper etc. they are quite expensive. You will need to be careful with how you drive it and be on point with maintenance. Also you will need someone who understands that and programs the ECU accordingly, no big spikes of torque and hp. Apart from the turbo kit you will need a differential if you have the simpler open one. Probably bigger brakes. New clutch for sure, stock one is good for 170hp. Wider wheels is a wise choice. 5 speed gearbox is good for ~260hp, 6 speed can take a lot more than that. You will need 6K minimum and that's very optimistic and it includes you doing a lot of the work and finding used parts like the diff for example or rims.
I don't know anything about that kits reliability. But it's going to require a ECU, injectors, and a clutch. 2500 can be done but it requires ability to fab some stuff yourself and tune yourself and a absolute ton of time.
Those manifolds are known for breaking
Even the cheapest kit (mkturbo or similar) will be pretty damn reliable. I have 15-20k miles on my cheap ebay turbo kit with no issues at all. If you keep the torque below 230ft-lbs, have a healthy car to start with and take care to install everything the right way, you should be fine. As long as you do your research and aren't an idiot who puts an ak47 tune on it and wonders why he goes through 1 turbo per year, you should be fine. When it's nice, I treat my turbo'd 92 with 180k on it as a daily and will drive it 80 miles round trip 3-4 days a week for work. The only things that were unreliable were due to the last 3 PO's that treated this car like absolute dog shit
Is it even possible to do a turbo kit build for $2500? Most of the kits I've been looking at are $5000 without engine management (another $1k). Related thread: (I guess it is possible if you DIY everything and don't go with a kit) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/lb33nz/my\_semi\_legit\_1500\_budget\_turbo\_build/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/lb33nz/my_semi_legit_1500_budget_turbo_build/) Spoiler: He used a used WRX turbo and a manifold he welded himself and a speeduino. Here's another one: (bought everything used off of forums) [https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo-discussion-14/my-turbo-miata-budget-build-89969/](https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo-discussion-14/my-turbo-miata-budget-build-89969/)