94 Protege classification

[tnord]

Sam Henry of Springfield Dyno did it.

Done the same way you'd tune any car i'd guess. start at idle, and gradually working your way through the map increasing load and RPM as you go. add/remove fuel until you get to you target AF ratio, add/remove timing until it quits making power.

i did send the sheet to Jerry @ DIY and he said my results are in line with what he would expect for a car working within in the IT ruleset.

and this was as good of a comparison as you can get, with dyno runs done at the beginning of the day on the OEM ECU after already optimizing base timing & fuel pressure, MS plugged in and tuned, then OEM ECU plugged back in at the end of the day immediately after the two best runs with the tuned Megasquirt.

and yes, i would expect the 94-95 miatas to see bigger gains from the MS (or any other standalone) than i did on my 96. remember all that stuff about why the car should be listed based on the 128 number vs the 133? my experience verifies that decision as being appropriate.

[JeffYoung]

Kip and Mike are pretty open about the Miatas. I don't know much about Mike's ITA Miata (don't even know if it is a 1.6 or 1.8) but I do know Kip told me the computer was necessary on the 99 ITS car in order to get it to rev to make power. I think he told me around 160, maybe slightly more, peak rwhp.

My personal view is that the Miatae are strong, nearly unbeatable at Roebling, but weaker at the up/down tracks like VIR and Road Atlanta.

[quadzjr]

Mike is a straight forward guy, I like his solution to the old computer rule, I can't remember the name brand of the computer but it was pretty slick. He may sell it on his website? Hell you could buy his whole car for 12k or less! Well you espeically could since it was rolled at roebling a month ago.

on the ITS cars htere were alot of teethign issues with the standalone, but I guess Kip figured it out while he was up north.

[lateapex911]

As i recall, he was blowing cam angle sensor with all to frequent regularity...

[quadzjr]

As i recall, he was blowing cam angle sensor with all to frequent regularity...

correct.. if you give kip about 2 hours maybe more he can tell you the whole story! haha

[JeffYoung]

LOL...but it's a good one. Really a case study in how to track down and fix a problem.

It was happening a lot. You'd go out for a session and pretty frequently you'd see the blue or the yellow car popping and bucking and headed in.

They got it fixed though.

[Aged racer]

I've got one of 2000 1.8 models. LIke the car at the ARRC last year, it started life as an SSC car. The engine is not the same as in the Miata (see below), which is not to say that dyno/ ECM mods won't help it. That's on down the line for us, though, we're just doing the minimum to get it on track in ITB trim for now (feeding a Spec Miata from the same pair of wallets).

Handling was the car's strong suit, as it had one of the famous "trunk kits" (shocks and springs, but no coil overs). We'll be on a slow development curve, but we think the car is well suited to the class. Had the ITAC not reclassified it from ITA to ITB, it would still be gathering dust in the back of the garage...

Hope to be on track for next month's MARRS/ SARRC @ VIR.

From the the Protege FAQ (http://www.protegefaq.net/):
Is it true that the Miata uses the same engine as my Protegé? All sorts
of speed parts are available for Miatas.
The 94-97 1.8L Miata uses an engine that is basically similar to the BP
engine found in the 1990-1998 1.8L DOHC Protegé (the 1999-2000 1.8L DOHC
Protegé engine is completely different, despite similar specs).... The 1999-2000 BP-ZE Miata engine is similar to the 1994-1997 Miata/Protegé
motor, but Mazda repositioned the intake ports slightly higher on the
cylinder head for increased power. Compression was also raised from 9:1 to
9.5:1. For Miata owners, this is good, but it's bad for Protegé fans because
a Protegé intake manifold will not fit on this cylinder head. Therefore, you
are stuck with a throttle body that faces the wrong end of the engine. To
date, this engine has not been sold in a FWD car anywhere in the world, so
there is no easy way to work around this problem.
.