peter's Touring project

[slater]

That is my guesstimate. The box from ESS was 90 lbs and I took about 20 lbs of stuff off for the conversion... That SC/manifold assy is heavy as F*ck.

dang... and that couldn't have been kind on your back.

I have no worries with my car. I'm shooting for about 315 at the rear wheels when all done so I just need to find another 30 HP.

If you want an LS, I'd skip the S54 and just go for it. Hardware wise, Vorshlag already makes all stuff to put it into an e46. If I had to do it again, that's most likely the way I'd go.

that's cool, and nuts.... based on their site, it's about $4200 worth of parts, not counting the engine, trans, or DME integration. frig!

I'm probably going to get chased out of town for this, but... that car would be unusable with that much power! lol

nah, i agree. too much power and you're just managing that all of the time. takes some of the fun away. with my car, i've got roughly 240hp and i can drive the snot out of it, within my limits. i like that.

[slater]

LS1 (a paltry 350hp) would be a better (read: safer) choice than the 430hp LS3. Either way, a Miata with a blublublubpopblublublubpop at idle would be absolutely hysterical.

I saw a build thread where the dude had 15x10s on all four corners because “anything less and I break traction on light throttle.” I think he had a lightly modded LS7.

LOL. that's nuts!

[az3579]

I saw a build thread where the dude had 15x10s on all four corners because “anything less and I break traction on light throttle.” I think he had a lightly modded LS7.

15x10??? I didn't even realize that was a thing...

[704sw]

nah, i agree. too much power and you're just managing that all of the time. takes some of the fun away. with my car, i've got roughly 240hp and i can drive the snot out of it, within my limits. i like that.

For sure. The whole thing about “you can’t out-Miata a Miata” is based on the premise of “it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.”

LOL. that's nuts!

Totally. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. But it sure makes for some entertaining reading/YouTube viewing.

[san]

If anything happens to this motor and the body is still good I’ll do an S54 heart transplant. But LS will happen in a car in my future, because reasons.

Sometimes I wish I had a sedan cause if anything were to happen to the engine, the s54 swap would probably happen. But with my coupe, it almost doesn’t make sense because I can just get an m3. Makes a little more sense for you to swap an s54, because blue...


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[slater]

15x10??? I didn't even realize that was a thing...

haha... yep! i've even seen 15x11's before... that's almost a square wheel, LOL.

For sure. The whole thing about “you can’t out-Miata a Miata” is based on the premise of “it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.”

totally agree. i remember the first miata i drove, i was bombing down a backroad and felt like i was flying - looked down at the speedo, and i was doing 50mph. it's probably mostly due to the size, and the top being down. loved it.

Sometimes I wish I had a sedan cause if anything were to happen to the engine, the s54 swap would probably happen. But with my coupe, it almost doesn’t make sense because I can just get an m3. Makes a little more sense for you to swap an s54, because blue...

ha, yep - because blue.

agreed on the sedan bit - but you could always still do whatever in the coupe. it's still a gorgeous shape.

[Sockethead]

totally agree. i remember the first miata i drove, i was bombing down a backroad and felt like i was flying - looked down at the speedo, and i was doing 50mph. it's probably mostly due to the size, and the top being down. loved it.

Boats are the same way. That's why I'm happy with a boat that tops out at 50mph...

[BMWCurves]

Speaking of LS Miata’s, the classic:

https://youtu.be/v0-UJLYGIZg


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[slater]

well, small update:

had the car aligned again this morning - i've been chasing an issue where the car just didn't feel very stable, especially at higher speeds, and the rear end would be a bit squirrelly - and pull to the left - under moderate-to-hard acceleration. i checked my alignment sheet from 12/21/17 when i had it aligned and found there wasn't enough toe-in, either front or rear. and, because i have spherical RTABs, i've heard that even more toe-in in the rear would be a good idea, because they just don't deflect (unlike the stock bushings).

so i went from 1/16" toe-in on each side to 3/32" toe-in (in the rear), with an additional 1/16" toe-in in the front dialed in, and wow - night and day difference! the car is much more stable at highway speeds, and steering feel is greatly improved - much more weight and feel. also, it's only pulling to the left on accel about 15-20% of what it was, which is a huge improvement - and heavy acceleration feels much better.

wow. toe-in, i love you.

now, i will be getting some GC camber/caster plates in the spring when i install my bilstein PSS coilovers with linear spring conversion, and i will dial in more positive caster (currently running a little under spec, actually), and a tiny bit more negative camber up front. so another alignment. but i'm happy with how things are feeling now.... and excited for the linear-sprung bilstein PSS!

[slater]

Ordered some cheap sound deadening insulation off amazon and installed last night under the rear seat bottom, as the factory stuff crumbled to bits when I had it apart for the overhaul.

It came as a big sheet, and I just cut this piece as large as I could without impacting seat bottom fitment. Did 3hrs on the highway this morning, and it’s remarkably quieter! Amazing for $20. it's mostly foam, about 10mm thick. adhesive on one side.




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