FM3 Turbocharger System from Fly'in Miata
Turbo kit Components:
T25/T28 Hybrid turbocharger - Mfg by Garrett
Cast exhaust manifold - Mfg by BEGI
Intercooler and pipes - Mfg by BEGI
FM ECU Mk2 - Mfg by Link
440cc Fuel Injectors - Mfg by RC Engineering
Blow Off Valve - Mfg by Mitsubishi
35mm External Wastegate - Mfg by TiAL
Boost Controller - Mfg by Link
Air Filter - Mfg by K&N
Performance:
-Dynosheet at 15psi - Fall, 2000 - a bit erratic due to some bad boost control settings.
-Dynosheet at 15psi - September, 2002 - much more stable but less peak torque and hp.-1/4 Mile times - See the link
-Dynosheet at 22psi - This is not my car, but one with a Link and a bigger turbo installed.
Increasing the power output of the engine increases the stress on the rest of the drivetrain. Therefore, the clutch has been upgraded, the transmission has been replaced with a slightly stronger one, and the differential has been upgraded. To assist turbo performance, the exhaust system has also been modified.
Current Issues:
The wastegate on my system is a Turbonetics DeltaGate. I have been having a lot of boost control problems which appear to be related to this wastegate. Upon recommendation of other aftermarket forced induction enthusiasts, I decided to purchase a TiAL external wastegate to replace this Turbonetics unit. Supposedly, the Turbonetics unit is known to stick and act funny. The 35mm TiAL unit is a drop in replacement for the Turbonetics. I ordered one with a 0.65bar (10psi) spring since I plan to run 13 to 15psi of boost (3 to 5psi is a recommended variance when using an electronic boost controller).
I ordered my unit from Vishu Performance and it arrived in two business days (from CA to KY!) On the surface, this device is a real piece of art.
***Update*** 7/8/01
Before installation, I was concerned that the air fitting on the side of the unit would cause a clearance problem with the lower radiator hose going to the block. While installing this unit, I found that there was indeed a clearance issue with the air fitting. Looking closely at the image below, it can be seen that the hole for the air fitting is pointing towards the coolant hose. With the fitting attached, there was a slight interference but enough to cause a problem.
To overcome the clearance problem, I simply re-clocked the wastegate housing to position the air fitting 90 degrees from where it was originally; pointing it towards the driver's side wheel. With 2mm and 4mm Allen wrenches and a 19mm socket wrench, I had the unit apart and re-clocked.
The unit went in fine after the re-clocking. The body of the WG sticks down further than the Turbonetics unit but isn't as wide. The body of this unit comes pretty close to an engine mount bolt; as it turns out, installation was a little bit tricky but not bad. For a full description of how to reclock the wastgate, launch this write-up. (1.8MB file)
***Update*** 7/10/01
So far, my impressions with this unit are quite positive. I've driven my miata with the boost controller disabled and produced a fairly stable amount of boost (certainly much better than what I was seeing recently with the Turbonetics Deltagate). Per the FM ECU keypad, I see approximately 155-160 kPa of MAP (which is around 7-8psi of boost) although the unit I purchased had a 0.65 bar (9.5psi) spring in it.
I hooked the boost controller back into the system and began setting up the parameters today. Boost control is definitely improved. I still need to get the boost control settings right but so far it's running a lot better. I'm about to add newer ECU code and the temp sensor so I'll probably wait until then to full tune the boost settings right.
***Update*** 8/5/01
I hooked up the temp compensation board and installed the new FM ECU code. The car seems to run a bit smoother but no major differences noticed yet. Idle seems to be more steady and the "return to idle" after a high vac overrun is improved. Before, the idle would hang a hair like an overly dampened throttle body dashpot. Now it's much better.
Things were going good until my boost control solenoid decided to die. I think it was failing intermittently back 5 months earlier at the track, but the problem was compounded with a failing wastegate so I'm not so sure. It's definitely toast now (it sticks shut). Another is on its way.
TiAL WG is still working flawlessly. So far, a great change.
***Update*** 10/2/01
The WG is still working great! So far I'm pleased with the performance. If you have an original FM3 and the WG acts up... GO WITH THIS WASTEGATE! It is working fine for me. I have some minor issues to work out with an exhaust leak but the car is rockin! Power is great and I am very pleased with the overall performance. Of course, enough is never enough... I'll be datalogging and looking to optimize the system even more but 230+hp is the long term goal on this stock 1.6L engine. What a great hobby!
***Update*** 11/29/01
Well, everything is running pretty good. I've been fighting some over richness and my gas mileage has been horrible (as low as 16mpg), but I'm back up to about 20mpg now on the street. My butterfly style, original bypass valve finally failed. They have been known to fail on the FM3 setups due to high boost... mine lasted a long time so I'm not too disappointed. In place of it, I've installed the plastic Mitsubishi valve that normally comes with the FM2 kits, with an air filter so that it vents to atmosphere instead of recirculating. The K&N p/n for the filter is: RC-0790. Since the 10/2/01 posting, I have replaced the exhaust manifold gasket as it was blown. Click here to check it out. Pretty amazing that this gasket actually blew. I installed a EGT and Oil Temp gauge while I had the turbo manifold off. Click here for pics.
I finally purchased the Miata Lab Link (MLL) software but still need a laptop. A friend of mine also has the software but has it on his laptop. We've done some datalogging and smoothed out the fuel zones. This helped a lot in finding erratic fuel settings by graphically viewing the zones together. The improvements with the gas mileage were done with the MLL software. It just makes it a lot easier.
Future Work:
-Datalogging of the ECU for tuning enhancements - Boost controller needs more fine tuning. Need Laptop!!
