My friend has a Miata and he stumbled upon this car on one of the Miata forums:

http://www.clubroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9982





What do you guys think? I think it could be a fun little car, but the interior could definitely use some work... At least it's better than the V8 swap some Miata guys do...

 

Awesome. What would be ridiculously scary would be a turbo'd F20C miata...

 

why would you drop in a non turbo motor and turbo it? The miata guys have plenty of turbo kits, many of which are far more reliable than the s2k applications. The motor was basically a turbo motor without the turbo.

 

What makes it better than the V8 swaps?

Weight? nope...
Power? definanty not...
Fuel mileage? nope again...

 

That's pretty cool.

 

I don't profess to knowing a whole lot about engine swaps, but I can't imagine the f20c being 250lbs heavier than the stock miata engine like the 5.0l V8 is. Adding 250lbs to the front of the car is probably going to create a noticeable difference in handling in a very light car like the miata (especially when weight is removed from the rest of the car like in this example). [EDIT: Actually, in that guy's post, he says his F20C miata weighed in at around 2100-2200lbs with all the weight reduction. The stock miata weighed around 2200lbs, so with all the weight reduction factored in, the car w/ the F20C weighs LESS than it did bone stock.]

Also, 250hp out of a 5.0l is hardly impressive (though obviously it does make more torque). I wouldn't really call the V8's 10hp more than the F20c a "definite" power advantage.

Anyway, when I said it was "better" it was mostly subjective... I personally would rather have an F20c than a V8 in that car. But, to each his own, I can see the V8 miata's torque advantage being useful, and it would definitely be a head turner

 

If you're racing the car, turbo'd Miatas can present some problems in the cooling department. I know a guy that races a turbo'd Miata and in the middle of summer, he can't do a full race without overheating. You can only cram so much radiator/intercooler in the car so it takes quite a bit of engineering to make one race-reliable and still make decent power.

His car makes about 220 rwhp, I believe.

 

Ahhhh, I see.


I depends on what kind of V8 swap you do into a Miata. An LSx for example is actually lighter than the stock Miata engine. I'm not sure what a H.O. 5.0 motor weighs.

 

ah no. a LS2 is about 60lbs HEAVIER than an F20c and about 80lbs more than a NA 1.6 DOHC.

 

LS1 > F20