Well I got good news and bad news for you.
All you need is a ten and a fiver, a key and a car and a sober driver. Wait no that's not right?
All you need is a boost cut removal chip and a boost controller.
If you are sticking with the factory turbo it's flow is the limiting factory on the F2T, the factory turbo flows 21lbs/min of air any more and it dies (not a pretty death, not a slow death, more of an instant graphic suicide with a 10gauge shot gun).
When running the factory turbo I could:
-Take my block to a machine shop, bore the block, have higher compression forged pistons and performance rods installed and spend 5000+$
-Have the head ported and polished 800+$.
-Have a custom intake manifold made with larger TB 1000+$.
-Install a large intercooler and 2.5" pipes 400+$.
-Have a custom exhaust manifold fabricated and a custom 3 inch exhaust system installed 1200+$.
-Install a chip and a boost controller 100$ or standalone 600+$
Total: 9000+$
You could install a chip and boost controller 100$
Total: 100$
We would both have a maximum air flow to the engine of 21lbs/min, I would need less boost to reach 21lbs/min, you would just need to run more to reach 21lbs/min.
9000+$ or 100$.
The good news is there are no aftermarket bolt on exhausts, intercooler/pipe kits or worthwhile turbo kits available for the F2T.
How is this good news? Because Custom is king, Bolt on is for pussies. Make your F2T fast and be a king. Leave the Honda's, 350Z's, Sti's and Evo's to the pussies and watch them, their bolt-ons and ego's shrink in your rear view mirror.
The F2T can handle more boost in stock form than any of the cars mentioned.
Tuned exhaust? for what the car is turbocharged, more flow means less back pressure and more power.
With naturally aspirated engines, intake resonance, flow path, exhaust harmonics all play a role in how the engine performs. With forced induction air is forced into the engine, it doesn't care about the path it's just a question of area the boost pressure occupies, how much pressurized air can get forced in when the valves open and how well the turbo can deliver that pressure and volume of air during the rpm range.
Naturally aspirated is like a person eating food (air) the smell (resonance), the taste (harmonics) and moisture (flow path) of the food decide how much and how quickly the person can eat enough to fill their stomach (cylinder).
Forced induction is like putting a tube down someones throat (turbo/pipes) and pushing food down the tube (boost), it doesn't mater how the food smells, taste or if it's even food, how long it take to fill the stomach is decided by the size of the tube and how hard you push on the food. Exhaust is like the digestive track, to get more food (exhaust gas) out you need to push whats going in harder (more boost).
The F2T is really good at spooling a turbo quickly, size your upgrade withing your power goal and to spool quickly and hold boost to redline, you won't have to think about any of the N/A tune shit, intake manifold performance will be based on diameter and length (all math), exhaust flow will be based on size, bends and restrictions but flow will dictate power not proper sizing and design. If you install a turbo that only spools at 4300rpm than you need the N/A bullshit to get the turbo spooling quicker and loose the advantages of the F2T, an exhaust system tuned to generate more N/A power from 3000-4300 rpm will suck under boost at 5500rpm.
Any exhaust shop can make you a system, I recommend 2.5" mandrel bent pipes, run a high flow cat, a 32-36" resonator (sherry bomb/thrush muffler) and any 2.5" muffler and it can flow enough to run 30psi boost.
How it sounds depends on the cat, "resonator" and muffler you select, you can make the exhaust sound any way you want, unlike bolt on kits that decide how your car should sound (pace setter for the 2nd gen sounded horrible, people paid a lot for the kit and had it installed and most stuck with their car sounding like shit).
Don't try to think outside the box, instead try to realize there is no box. The Mazda F2 motor is limited only by your imagination.
Universal is your friend.
