MX5 fan fest 2017 melbourne
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Driving 10 hours to the fan fest in my little NA6 was a bit of challenge. But she didn't miss a beat coming here or going home. Only had one slight problem with the top windscreen rubber seal being crushed by years of the hardtop squishing it, and going down I ran into torrential rain and had a few water droplets leak through this gap. Other than that it was just one damn uncomfortable trip that I'd never like to do again... (a few hours is ok but 10+ was just too much really). Nevertheless I was really proud of my roadster and bonded with it even more after that trip.
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The Boxster and NC MX-5 came down with me and had a much more comfortable ride than me lol. We drove down stayed the night and up early the next morning for the event, and drove back the next day. It was a quickie but goodie.
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AE101 Quad Throttle Happiness
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Ever since the beginning, one of my goals was to always get an ITB setup. I knew this before I bought the car.
I knew this was going to be a long term goal and I broke it down to smaller steps to accumulate parts slowly over time.
Can't tell you how many hours I've spent researching this topic, how many nights I've spent in bed with headphones listening to ITB pulls on youtube before I sleep thinking 'yeah one day my car is gonna sound like that'
Slowly I started accumulating parts whenever they became available on the used market, or when they were for sale new. It started with the AE101 throttle bodies. The manifold for the B6 was harder to find. I would say I collected parts over 2 years as it wasn't a major priority for me. Then a few months ago I looked at ITB parts box and thought, holy shit I'm close I just need a few more inexpensive parts and I'm done.
I was under a lot of peer pressure to just get it fitted :lol: and yeah it's true, I was so close already why not just go through with it, yes let's do it.
I gave the box of parts to MX5 Mania to fit and tune, and 8 weeks later it was ready (due to having to wait for a B6T cam cover gasket to become available - the one thing I forgot to order, of course it was).
I did have a few small issues with the cam cover when i picked up the car, the back vent was just dumping so much oil into the catch can, which being an ebay special, leaked. We blocked off the back port for now. The Fab9 cops kit also doesn't seal well and popped out a couple times since. I had this cover lying around for 2 years at least and spent a long time sanding it back by hand, and I was determined to have it on - has to expose the Toda cam gears. It did give me a bit of headache but that's the price you gotta pay to look cool.
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Ok so how does it sound?
Because there is no video I'll try to describe it in words, it's like open pod filter noise times by a thousand... ok maybe not that loud. It's like your intake just sucked in cocaine instead of air... it's hard to describe. I have a very quiet exhaust and all I can hear now is the intake sound greatly amplified with different tunes at varying rpms and different songs in each gear. It makes the car sound unique and old... I love it. Not sure if it's the throttle bodies or what, but sometimes it sounds like birds are chirping when its only partially opened, and yes you can drive it very quietly around town if you choose to... but's very difficult not to open up those butterflies and hear them sing.
Ok so how does it drive and perform?
It revs cleaner than before throughout the whole rpm range, mainly the top you can feel slightly more power but it's not a great deal different power wise to my old setup... it's more the response has become super sharp and the engine reacts to the slightest of throttle inputs. I was not expecting much power gain on my old setup and this was true. I'll have to upload my dyno graph but I don't have a before and after ITB to compare it to, but it was roughly 86kw/115hp at the wheels on this dyno. Yes that might seem a bit low but it's pretty much right from what I can compare to (a built B6 engine will get about 95-99rwkw/125-130rwhp on these dynos). My guess my old setup was around +-80rwkw??
Driveability is much easier than before, I think due to a combination of the variable TPS and COPS just make it so much smoother than previously. It's like it has return to stock levels of driveability instead of my old setup which I felt was not as easy to drive at low rpm, on and off throttle, and taking off at lights. The ITB setup actually made my car much easier to live with. This surprised me. I think people could daily this setup easily if they wanted to.
The engine idles between 1050-1100rpm. When you start it cold, you have to jab the gas and hold it for a while otherwise it drops rpm and stalls, its like an old car now hehehehe (love it). My aircon still works but it doesnt change the rpm of the engine because there is no IACV, no issues with it. Fuel economy maybe slightly worse but not by much. I get about 350-400kms (220-250miles) a tank depending on driving conditions.
I plan to change to pod filters once I find the right velocity stack, can anyone help me?
Overall impressions...
Driving Enjoyment AAA+
Power gain C
Driveability, ease of use B
Value for money D-
Face on WOT - PRICELESS
Yes I do recommend to anyone on the fence about it, JUST DO IT
Parts list in next post
Side mission - Saving the red one
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A couple years ago my friend and I got this NA6 from auction, it had been written off due to a slashed soft top and water leaking inside.
It had very low mileage about 120k kms (75k miles) and was stock std. In my eyes it was worth saving to pass to a new owner who would enjoy it, so we decided to buy it and fix it up in our spare time.
It was in a pitiful state, but using a lot of oem spare parts that were taken off my car, we managed to fix her up good.
The car got The Works. Replaced all fluids, filters, belts, spark plugs and leads, replaced the brakes, brand new pirelli tires with dialled in alignment, brand new side mirrors, stainless scuff plates, new speakers and headunit, new idle control valve, new shifter insulation, full interior and exterior detail, you name it. Whatever we could fix for the next owner we did it.
I took off the old frame (which now lives in my car) and broken soft top, gave it my pristine black soft top and frame that I wasn't using and was already removed from my car. I accidently broke the dipstick on the red one so I took out my good one and swapped it over. The broken one now lives in my engine bay. It was missing the spare wheel and toolkit so I put my ones in there.
I drove it around for some time while my car was off the road having the rear end repainted due to someone hitting me from behind, it was very rewarding seeing the hard work pay off, the car drove immensely well.
It didn't take long to sell either. Check out what it was like after:
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We did sell it to a good owner though, he did some mods of his own and took it to the track, he was a real driver and it went to a good home.
I think he ended up selling it on again for a higher price than what he paid for it:D NA6 prices are rising these days. The end.
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