How much work would it take?

M

Mx5

Torque Junkie
Points
27
Location
Mosman NSW Australia
Car
3.8 V6 Holden Skip
To make a 0-60 in under 3 seconds car, my car of choice would be a 1998 1.8i Mx5, but what would be the best small car to do it with and how much work would it involve ?
 
Quite a lot I'd imagine. It would probably be easier to do this with something like a Fiesta RS Turbo. Personally I don't like these cars - they're crude yet incredibly effective, something to which TN69 will no doubt readily attest.

Over to TN69 - he's done something pretty impressive with one of these.
 
Three seconds is the new five I think, too many cars can hit sixty if five now. :lol:

I think the key issue would be traction & weight reduction. Then concentrate on horse power.
I think OG is the man to talk to. :D

I know it's not vety scientific but this calculator is fun.

http://www.060calculator.com/

Didn't TC have one of these? I coulnd't find it just now. :confused:
 
If i could take a 1.8i Mx5 some how get it to 350 Bhp at the flywheel and take the weight down to 1900 lbs according to that calculator would be under 3 seconds,

Sound resonable?
 
Mx5 said:
If i could take a 1.8i Mx5 some how get it to 350 Bhp at the flywheel and take the weight down to 1900 lbs according to that calculator would be under 3 seconds,

Sound resonable?
Click to expand...

reasonable yes!! sensible no!! (unless you are loaded???)
 
How much would it cost you think, my plan is the do this as a hobbie when i get settled in Australia, so for me it is a goal so it takes as long as it takes really :D i dont really do sensible very well so should be good
 
You'd have to turn it into an outrageously high revving unit which will basically make it useless for road driving.

Diesel might be worthy of consideration if you want to use forced induction. The brake mean effective cylinder pressure will deliver outrageous torque - let's be fair, it's torque that makes a car accelerate.
 
HDi fun said:
Quite a lot I'd imagine. It would probably be easier to do this with something like a Fiesta RS Turbo. Personally I don't like these cars - they're crude yet incredibly effective, something to which TN69 will no doubt readily attest.

Over to TN69 - he's done something pretty impressive with one of these.
Click to expand...


I had 280 bhp at the wheels from the defenceless 1.6 turbo.
To get 350 bhp from a 1.8 na is going to near on impossible.
When I bought the Rs Turbo it had 3 Big Folders full of bills and reciepts for the work that had been done and it totalled well over 10k and that was just on the engine.
 
Mx5 said:
If i could take a 1.8i Mx5 some how get it to 350 Bhp at the flywheel and take the weight down to 1900 lbs according to that calculator would be under 3 seconds,

Sound resonable?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, that calculator is more for fun than accuracy. Using it with my data I will be doing 0-60 in 1.71 seconds :)

According to my software (CarTest 2000) 350bhp/1900lbs will get you down to around 4.9secs.

To get to 3.00 secs you will need to have around 500bhp and weigh no more than 1100lbs! (assuming rest of car is standard).

When I reduced the weight even further the 0-60 went UP, due to lack of weight over rear wheels causing wheelspin.

Gettnig under 3 seconds (actual rather than 'estimated', 'hoped for' or BS) is DIFFICULT. Modern cars are HEAVY.

I plan to be running under 3 seconds, but car is around 1350lbs, 520bhp, optimised weight distribution, wide and sticky tyres plus clever traction and launch control systems (and a lot of money spent on chassis and suspension mods).
 
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It's easy to get 350 hp out of a 2.0l engine, turbos and superchargers can get around that,

I have seen various MX-5/Eunos owners convert them to use an LS3 engine, that must get close...
 
jarrus said:
It's easy to get 350 hp out of a 2.0l engine, turbos and superchargers can get around that,

I have seen various MX-5/Eunos owners convert them to use an LS3 engine, that must get close...
Click to expand...

Yes, but 350 won't get you 3 in a 5
 
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I don't care how hard he pedals he won't make sixty in three seconds!
rofl.gif


Dammit OG you beat me to it! :D
 
If you do a chevy 350 with a turbo or a supercharger, find some super-wide, super-sticky tires, and remove as much of the body as you can, along with becoming an amazing driver to keep those wheels connected, you can do it.

You can also do it with the 1.8, but you are going to need to bore it and sleeve it. use titanium sleeves and a custom head and gasket with really strong head bolts to keep from blowing the head off the car with the high compression you'll be running.

Then you'll need a fairly large turbo (maybe 60mm?) and find a tuner to tune it so that you can get it off from a stop. Get an intake manifold that will withstand the pressure and an air-to-water intercooler to keep the air charge cool. Try to get it around 500whp. plus a professional tuner will be able to add in a switch to flash between tunes from streetable to a track tune.

whatever engine you run you'll prob need the following:

You'll need a cage and it would probably be a good idea to rip the car apart and strengthen the frame inside and out. This is going to increase your weight, but it will reduce chassis twist and make the car more drivable. plus, when you reassemble the car you don't need much more than the seats and the gauges.

Lastly, get yourself some good racing suspension. If you ever want to drive on the streets, you'll need adjustable suspension so that it's not to hard on your spine in daily driving.

For a normal person, this would be quite a hefty undertaking, but if you have passion, patience, and a bit of money, you can do it.

I'd love to see it.
 
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60mm compressor would be too small for 500 hp, you'd probably need upwards of an 80 mm compressor for that, small block chevy in an mx5 has been done before, but afaik not with a turbo, and mx5 is a great drivers car and putting an chevy ls3 in it would awesome with a turbo as well would be mental...
 
I think this is an interesting project but I really cannot see anyone making a Mazda MX5 clear 3 seconds to 60mph. They're not fast cars as standard, lively and drivable, yes, but not fast.
 
If it take me forever and i have to replace every body panel with fibre glass and have a whole new space age chasi or what ever i will do it lol, I will have a 3 second 1998 Mx5 :D called to Super Roadster :D, im 21 so in my rules i got like 59 years to do it :D fingers crosed after all Passion is Power
 
My goodness. It seems everyone on here is a moderator. Pretty wild.

I love to see this type of passion. This is how you see a sub-10 second datsun 280z. or a 1.5 honda that can hit 200mph.

http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/features/htup_1008_1990_honda_crx_sir/k20z3.html

Heck, bmw made a 1.5L I4 that made 1300 rediculous HP. with 1986 technology.

You can do it. Money, passion, information, time. you can do it. I wish I could apply their technology to my 5.0
 
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thanks man :D Believe and you can succeed :D thats what its all about, no point in tuning a car propaly unless you going to go for the best :D o im all excited now another sleepless night thinking of Mx5's
 
Thats exactly what i would like but with some nice styling aswell, enough for me to be able to go out and pull up next to the v8 fords and holdens and them think pfft silly little hair dressers car/ mid life crises car and then BOOM see you later pahaha god i love it
 
Mx5 said:
If it take me forever and i have to replace every body panel with fibre glass and have a whole new space age chasi or what ever i will do it lol, I will have a 3 second 1998 Mx5 :D called to Super Roadster :D, im 21 so in my rules i got like 59 years to do it :D fingers crosed after all Passion is Power
Click to expand...

If you are prepared to go to those extremes, then yes, it is possible. However, I would forget glass fibre and go straight to carbon as it is both lighter and stiffer. My Elan's glass fibre body shell weighs around 100kg. When it is made in carbon fibre is will be around 30kg and a lot stiffer.
 
Loz said:
Three seconds is the new five I think, too many cars can hit sixty if five now. :lol:

I think the key issue would be traction & weight reduction. Then concentrate on horse power.
I think OG is the man to talk to. :D

I know it's not vety scientific but this calculator is fun.

http://www.060calculator.com/

Didn't TC have one of these? I coulnd't find it just now. :confused:
Click to expand...

We have a quarter mile time calculator.
http://www.torquecars.com/tools/quarter-mile-time.php

0-60 has too many variables. I will try to do something though but I'm pretty sure my formulaic approach will not be very accurate.
 
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