Nsomniac

iTrader: (3)

The stalker is manufactured from scratch on their own design. I don't have any of the information on it because I can't afford one for at least the next 16 years until both kids go off to school.

http://stalkercars.com/FAQ/

kaj

iTrader: (60)

My Evo is almost paid off. When it is, I'm selling and going with an 818c. As much as I dislike Subaru stuff, it will be left mostly stock and run on e85 for safety. I really want to have something lightweight and tossable with a tube frame and ease of access to everything.
I love my Evo and hate to get rid of it... but I think I'll have even more fun with the kit car, especially when it comes to R&Ding parts.
It will be like a focused, more-powerful Miata LOL

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

I thought of the 818, but it seems like it would be a horrible street car.

WarmMilk

iTrader: (1)

I looked at some pics of the 818C, how do they get air to the intercooler? looks like its just sitting on top of the engine bay with no airflow going to it at all...

kaj

iTrader: (60)

Absolutely. I have a Civic and a trailer. Tow vehicle is next, though the 818 will be street legal, in case I decide to drive it to the track, for some weird reason.
My focus will be a track car that I can drive to local meets and autox.

Functional air scoop on the roof.

WarmMilk

iTrader: (1)

no ducting? just dumping air into the engine bay... doesn't look like it'd be very effective to me...

kaj

iTrader: (60)

I assumed I'd make my own, so I didn't really worry about it. Maybe it comes with something.

WarmMilk

iTrader: (1)

that would work... or put a couple high flow fans on it... but then you'd have to deal with fan noise

kaj

iTrader: (60)

It's gonna be a noisy car either way, so I wouldn't mind. Not like "ear plugs under the helmet" noisy, but lots of NVH, etc. I don't mind.
At 1800-2000lbs, it definitely won't be luxurious.

WarmMilk

iTrader: (1)

yeah, but fans powerful enough to be worth putting on an intercooler are gonna be loud, especially when they're a foot and a half behind your head, and its the annoying kinda loud too... not the awesome engine noise kinda loud... haha..

of course you can solve that by putting on a stupendously loud exhuast

kaj

iTrader: (60)

I'll sound like a vacuum cleaner LOL

WarmMilk

iTrader: (1)

installed my Ohlins over the weekend

Check out the discoloration difference between the exhaust side and the intake side coilover





some Ohlins install pics:
I like this little notch on the shaft so I could tighten the nut, too bad only the fronts have it though





and turns out +50 17x10's rub on the actual wheel in the rear...

WarmMilk

iTrader: (1)

I have a pad knockback issue that I can't figure out and its driving me up the wall. I regret getting those stupid wilcraps, should have just got race pads and ran stock everything else (or got stoptech's which didn't exist at the time I bought the wilcraps)

I love how it handles though and how it feels in the corners and direction change and steering feel... basically I love everything about how the car drives except for the braking, which is something I messed up somehow (other NC's with the same wilwood brakes don't have knockback).

oil cooler is a must if you track the car, I can hit 300 degrees within a few laps. certain models have a factory "oil cooler" where it circulates engine coolant where the oil filter mounts. Someone on the forum said it keeps his oil temps down to the 230-240 range, he said he's an advanced/instructor class driver, so he's not out for a sunday cruise on the track...

the transmission is amazing! I have a carbon clutch, its basically a stock clutch and flywheel but they replaced all the friction material with carbon pieces, the full rotating assembly weighs like 13lb. I love how it shifts, its super light, but direct and crisp at the same time. I've never missed a shift, never grind a gear cause my hand couldn't keep up with the pedal. it just makes shifting effortless, both up and down.
my only gripe is 4th gear (on the 6spd, there's also a 5spd available) isn't evenly spaced between 3rd and 5th, its a lot closer to 5th than 3rd. most track driving is done in 3rd and 4th, so having a shorter 4th would benefit.


time to vent:

power on a budget is proving to be BS. There's still the 2.5 swap, but that really gets you low and mid range torque, and like 10whp on the top end, cams (the only ones I've seen actual results for) will get you another 10... basically you max out at about 160-175whp NA. power delivery is like a small turbo car that starts running out of breath around 5k rpm (dyno chart below)

only way to get any actual power out of it is to go boost. the later cars (09+) can handle high 200's on the stock block, its a gamble to do that on the earlier NC's. But a 2.5 is only $800 and has beefier internals and a boost friendly compression ratio. but boost costs money and you gotta spend a pretty decent amount on cooling and still be pretty close to the edge with whats considered safe temps with track use. no one has figured out a real cooling solution for it yet. also, kraftwerks is more like krapwerks for the NC (and apparently lots of other applications too).

the only viable tuning solution so far is ecutek and its not very well developed for the NC platform. a lot of the definitions are flat out wrong. its ok for an NA tune, but seriously lacking for boost (doesn't even have boost control). also tuners are way over the top paranoid about their tunes being stolen or whatever... there's basically 3 tuners, 2 seam to be pretty decent but are primadonna's. one is ok, easier to deal with, but super slow. the whole incorrect definitions kinda limits going to a tuner who's not familiar with the platform unless he's willing to take the time to figure all that out.
there are 2 forum members who tuned their own cars and are pretty helpful about sharing which definitions are incorrect and what they really are.
There are no plugnplay stand alone options currently, but Haltech and Adaptronic are working on it. But they've been working on it for years now, so who knows when it'll actually happen.

the community is a little weak though. they're generally pretty helpful, but they're huge board sponsor brown nosers. they take their word as gospel even though its just bs sales pitches half the time. anytime someone calls sponsors on their BS (me and like 2 other dudes) then get tons of hate and personal attacks. I blame the community for lack of development for the NC platform. they have the "the sponsor I bought this from said this work so it works, who cares if I actually overheat on the track or make 30hp less then advertised" mentality, so there's no incentive to actually get stuff done right.


cliff notes:
I love the car, power aftermarket and community leave a lot to be desired.
if you'd be happy with 160-175whp, the downsides I listed don't really matter. I'd suggest getting an 09+ so you can rev to 7500. on my 07, fuel cut is at 7k and if you go back and find my dyno plot in this thread, you can see hp is still climbing there

here's and example of the 2.5 dyno curve and the BS vendors pull. The plot shows a full bolt on internally stock 2.0 at 160 and a full bolt on internally stock 2.5 at 200. The difference between those two combinations on this dyno is 40 WHP when the real life max is 10 WHP in favour of the 2.5. This has been proven multiple times with the only outliers being plots from a couple of vendors. pull down the whole curve so the peak hp is at about 170hp and you have your realistic 2.5 expectations.



edit:
thought I should add, between the light weight and short gearing, the car doesn't really feel slow. only time it feel slow is when you actually race someone or shift into 5th at the track (just over 100)... or when you get a point by at the track and try to pass them

kaj

iTrader: (60)

Not sure if it would help.. but i have a friend that ran a turbo-charged NA for a number of years (260whp). He did AutoX and HPDE the whole time. Never a hiccup. If you think any of his advice could be helpful in regards to tuning options, etc, I can PM you his info. He'd be happy to help a fellow Miata guy. FWIW he also found the community lacking, so went about his own route.. to the point of developing parts for which he later sold rights to.
Anyway, the car looks great. Keep it up! Miatas don't make power.. that was a given.

WarmMilk

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the offer, but the NC is a completely different animal than the NA/NB... the only thing they have in common is the gaint brace thing that connects the engine to the diff... power/tuning/cooling is completely different