Postby Loren » Sat Sep 03, 2016 6:29 pm
In other news, our quest for lightness has almost reached its practical limit for the M4 class. We can install a lighter battery, and we could take the dashboard out and remove the rest of the AC system. Not much else we can do without getting too crazy, and it would all be for minimal gains. (the hood was actually pretty minimal gains, we just did it for fun and because it now looks bad-ass)
With that in mind, we're thinking on the other side of the power:weigth ratio equation. How can we add more power and still stay in M4... and without spending a crapload of money or time?
It's an intersting dilemma with a Festiva. M4 allows engine swaps, but ONLY if they don't net more than 25% more horsepower. Not a whole lot of engines out there that are readily available that would be worth swapping in that make less than 79 hp! Anything that's an "easy bolt-in" is pushing at least 90 hp. (stuff like the 1.5 variant of the B-Series Mazda engine) And the Miata 1.6 is 116 hp. So, that won't happen... unless we decide to make the jump to M3.
That puts us at... well, how much more power can we make with the existing engine? Well, if it were a Miata, we know that installing an aftermarket ECU and ditching the MAF sensor can net us a good 5-10% with proper tuning. And Ben happens to have a Megasquirt ECU gathering dust that is set up for a Miata, so it's almost plug & play. So, we're looking at installing that and doing some tuning. Should be good for something. And it opens the door for proper tuning of any further mods we do, like improved intake or exhaust, etc.
Loren Williams - Loren @ Invisiblesun.org
The "Push Harder, Suck Less" philosophy explained:
Push Harder - Drive as close to the limit of your tires as possible.
Suck Less - Drive something resembling a proper racing line.