Mazda MX-6 Forum banner

Explain the 1g Game to me?

2K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  psi 
#1 ·
Looking to pick up a 1989 MX-6 GT I have seen for sale locally. I recently sold my 2004 Dodge Neon SRT-4 and am completely new to these cars let alone Mazda's in general. First looking at the aftermarket for these cars, I realized there really isn't one (that is compared to the SRT-4 game). I also understand that these cars are very reliable and can handle many modifications with proper tuning and supporting mods. It comes off (as I have read) a very under estimated car that can produce great hp and torque numbers when done right.

My goals for the car are:

Beginners Mods (In the SRT-4 Community: CAI, plug wires, plugs, full exhaust, and a basic tune as well as what gauges are recommend for monitoring ex. Wideband, Scan Gauge etc). If someone could explain to me where to purchase these for starters would be great, and explain to me if there is more needed.

Looking into the future I would love to have a fun, reliable daily driver but still be able to put down respectable hp/torque numbers. That being said I would like to eventually do a turbo upgrade (what turbo is best for my application, where to buy, what is needed to do this, etc.) if possible (again I am basing this post off what I know coming from SRT-4's) I would like to do an e85 conversion (injectors, fuel pump, tune, where to buy, and anything else required.)

Again completely new to these cars so take it easy, I by no means call myself a mechanic but am looking to learn as I go.

My last question is what is the best option for tuning? I have seen Megasquirt on many applications but am wondering what else is out there, what's better, and why. I am looking for some sort of plug and play (ex. I had a Diablo Sport Predator for my neon, just plug into the OBD2 port load a tune and go). I don't expect it to be that easy so please enlighten me on what you guys are using.

Any input is greatly appreciated, and am pretty pumped to join this community. I have done a little searching here and there so if there is an answer I missed that has been posted again and again please link me. Thanks
 
See less See more
#2 ·
You haven't listed any power goals.

Use factory plugs.
Find a cold air intake adapter for F2/F2T on Ebay
Buy 3" I.D. filter of your choice.
Go to any parts site and shop for plug wires (buy the ones you like).
Find a chip for the ECU (post:wanted in for sale section).
Boost controller

You need a boost gauge and a wideband.

15lbs boost (without wideband) you can get more from the stock turbo but you need to stay rich because the turbo blows really hot air.

Garrett/air research T3 stage 1 48a/r turbine with 45trim 42A/R compressor (Saab 9000s 89-90 @ junkyard, get downpipe), Ebay F2T T3 manifold (or have T3 flange welded to stock), 2.5" intercooler pipe upgrade, chip, 94 octane fuel, 14-15lbs boost safe and reliable. (Should be faster then a Genesis 3.8l w/348hp with a turbo rated at 225 to 250hpr flow.)

Probably 100+ turbo's you can choose from and hundreds of hybrid variations and custom jobs or specialty brands you could run on this engine.

You will need some sort of standalone engine and or fuel management to convert to ethanol, unless you wish to run factory setup, factory runs 330cc (31lbs/h) @ 100% duty, so to run e85 instead you would need 430cc (41lbs/h) @ 100% duty cycle.
Any other size will require some form of fuel control system or off boost fuel consumption goes way up. Everything you asked about are aftermarket universal performance parts, they can be purchased anywhere.

There are no plug and play stand alone or engine management systems on the market for your car.
The most simple solution is an independent electronic extra injector controller that uses boost and rpm to regulate fuel based on your set points. This gives you no timing control however. Same price but 1/20th of the work of affordable stand alone.

Many will say that the valves will float at high boost, I agree, there are dual valve spring kits available on Ebay but a cheap and simple solution are valve spring spacers (shims) the come in thicknesses of 0.015" up to 0.060" I use 0.020" or 0.030" shims.
 
#4 ·
Once again Carnage is a wealth of info. but I saw 2 things.
You will need some sort of standalone engine and or fuel management to convert to ethanol, unless you wish to run factory setup, factory runs 330cc (31lbs/h) @ 100% duty, so to run e85 instead you would need 430cc (41lbs/h) @ 100% duty cycle.
Any other size will require some form of fuel control system or off boost fuel consumption goes way up. Everything you asked about are aftermarket universal performance parts, they can be purchased anywhere.
Yes this is very true, But I did run e85 on a completely stock engine, stock injectors and everything for may be max 4-5 tank fulls or half tank fulls. Was it safe? no. Did have any problems? no. did I notice a performance increase? Butt dyno says no. performance loss? once again butt dyno says no. but really for any change to the engine you need to get a tune. So could there have been gains? May be. But just a heads up, my car had 50 compression across the board so I wasn't too worried about screwing it up and yes it was turbo.
There are no plug and play stand alone or engine management systems on the market for your car.
MegaSquirt does make a ecu that plugs in and you can get a baseline tune from someone just so you can get it running and trailer it to get a dyno tune.
This to me is basically plug and play. No wiring involved or whatever. Could there be more involved? most likely.

It's your car though so if you blow it up, its because you didn't do all your homework and took some advice from some dude off the interwebz
 
#5 ·
Oh and welcome to the 1g. We are a dieing breed ,but I for one love me some 1g.
I hope you stay and keep your car on the road for years to come. You will find that there are many here that are willing to give some advice.

And if your in the DFW area (Texas) then I would love to stop by and check out your ride.
 
#12 ·
For one thing I love the 1g, I think they look better then the 2g. I hope we ain't the dying breed but it is hard to find these 1g maybe its because they are overseas? But anyways I'm new with the turbo cars stuff, I'm more a Ford V8 with a hell a lot of NOS guy. I just bought a probinator chip ecu for now. I wanting to get a megasquirt but I don't to cut and dice my wire harness. How hard is the installation of the megasquirt if they don't have the plug and play ecu. I check the link and it said 2001 and up. Ours is 1989.
But great info and awesome help from you veterans on here.
 
#11 ·
Do not buy any plug wires for these cars other than the NGK blues. Just... don't. I've had spark issues with every other set of wires i've tried, including the monster PRD wires that used to be available. (Those were actually the biggest pieces of crap i tried.)
 
#18 ·
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top