Turbo's former cars + Current Car

So I thought I would post this up to show everyone all of the cars I owned for the last 10 years, as well as track my progress in saving for a new one as I am currently without a car all together. So, here we go:

1985 Mazda RX-7 GS (First Car)

• 1.1L 12A Wankel
• 100hp
• Torque?
• Automatic Transmission
• Status: Given away for free, thanks to my Mom...
• Modifications: None

1998 Nissan 200SX SE-R

• 2.0L SR20DE
• 140hp
• 132ft-lb
• Automatic Transmission
• Status: Totaled
• Modifications: Injen Cold Air Intake, Stillen Cat-Back exhaust, Nitto Tires

**Picture was taken after it was totaled**


2003 Dodge SRT-4

• 2.4L A855 Turbocharged
• 215hp
• 245 ft-lb
• 5-Speed Manual
• Status: Taken from me.
• Modifications: None

**After I had to take the SRT-4 back, I drove the SE-R for a bit until I purchased the Sentra below. The day I picked up the new Sentra, the 200SX was totaled.

2000 Nissan Sentra SE

• 2.0L SR20DE
• 145hp
• 138 ft-lb
• 5-Speed Manual
• Status: SOLD
• Modifications: Eibach Springs, Eibach Sways, Nismo lower tie-bar, SSAC Header, eBay muffler, B&M Short Shifter, painted stock wheels. (My brother later added 17" wheels and HID Lights. Dyno'd at 140whp)

2008 Mazda 3 S Hatchback

• 2.3L MZR
• 156hp
• 150 ft-lb
• 5-Speed Manual
• Status: Taken from me.
• Modifications: Removed factory side molding.

**After I had to take the Mazda 3 back to the dealer, I drove the Sentra SE for a while until I purchased the RX-7 below. The Sentra remained in the family until 2010 when it was sold.

1988 Mazda RX-7 GL

• 1.3L 13B Wankel
• 146hp
• Torque?
• 5-Speed Manual
• Status: SOLD
• Modifications: Airbox mod

1990 Mazda Miata (See complete story in next post)
1.6L B6ZE
115hp (stock)
100 ft-lb (stock)
195whp (2554 turbo)
230whp (2560 turbo)
5-Speed Manual
Status: SOLD
Modifications: Flyin' Miata Turbo kit, upgraded 2560 turbo, RX-7 550cc injectors, custom Megasquirt ECU, Coilovers, FM sway bars, FM frame rails, Hard Dog Roll Bar, 1.8 differential, Corksport exhaust, 15x8 ATS CompLite Wheels wrapped in 205/50 Hankook RS2 tires


1992 Nissan Sentra SE-R
2.0L SR20DE Highport (JDM)
140hp
132 ft-lb
5-Speed Manual
Status: SOLD
Modifications: KYB Adjustable shocks with Eibach coilover kit, JWT Pop Charger, SSAC Header, B14 Seat belt conversion


1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL (Project Car)
1.1L 12A Wankel
100hp
Torque?
5-Speed Manual
Status: SOLD
Modifications: None


1996 Honda Civic DX Hatchback
1.6L D16Y7 non-vtec
106hp
103 ft-lb
5-Speed Manual
Status: SOLD
Modifications: Interior gutted and re-sprayed, EG Seats, 1998 EX Transmission, de-powered EX steering rack, Drop Zone coilovers, AST rear subframe brace, 2000 Si rear sway bar, eBay header, custom exhaust, 15x7 Drag DR21 wrapped in Falken Azenis RT-615 tires


1994 Nissan Sentra SE-R
2.0L SR20DE Highport (JDM)
140hp
132 ft-lb
5-Speed Manual
Status: SOLD
Modifications: Short Ram intake


2006 Chevrolet Cobalt LS
2.2L L61 Ecotec
145hp
155ft-lb
5-Speed Manual
Status: Current
Modifications: None....Yet.


And that's it folks. For the complete story of the best car I have ever owned, my Miata, check out the post below. 👍

So here's the story of my Mazda Miata. I completely regret selling this car, but given the situation I was in, I had to sell it before I could quit my job at Flyin' Miata to move to Arizona. Looking back on it, I wish I had just kept it.

This photo was taken the day I brought it home. 207k miles on the chassis, but it was rust free and the engine had the cylinder head replaced. Body was pretty straight and I'm pretty sure it had been re-sprayed at some point. When I bought it, it already had a Tokico handling package on it and 1.8 brakes.



First modification was a set of 15x7 Kosei K1 Racing wheels wrapped in Kumho AST tires. (not a bad all season tire!) I rode on these for a while then ended up selling them to save for a better set of wheels and tires.



Not long after that I added the FM Voodoo turbo kit. I purchased it with the Garrett 2554 Turbocharger, added 1.8 liter injectors and had the car tuned. It pulled 195whp at 12psi and was an absolute blast to drive. The turbo kit was actually installed by myself and a friend in his garage over the course of a full day. I fired it up running off the turbo dump tube at 11pm that night, then got up the next morning and installed the rest of the exhaust before driving it to work.



Not long after that I was involved in an accident right outside my work. I was making a left turn onto a one-way street. When there were no cars coming, I started to make my turn, except that a NAPA delivery van was coming out of a parking lot across the street, and we met in the middle. I was ticketed for the incident, but the ticket was later dropped as I found a law saying that cars exiting a private parking lot must yield to all traffic. 👍



Here's what the car looked like with my half finished repairs, and rolling on a set of factory 94-97 wheels after I sold the K1's. The road was one of our local Touge hangouts.



The next photos are of the FM Frame Rail install and after I put the FM Canon brace on the rear subframe. Both of these significantly helped the rigidity of the car. I noticed it immediately after backing out of the driveway into the street.




Had the hard top attaching plates powder coated black. I hate chrome.



This picture was taken at the track after I painted the 94-97 wheels black and installed the roll bar.



The clutch was starting to feel a bit on the tired side after a couple track days, so I pulled the motor and put an ACT HD clutch in with an FM lightweight flywheel. I also replaced the valve cover with one from a Mazda 323 GTX




The inner ricer in me wanted something other than a regular exhaust. So when Corksport released their 2.5" "Drift" exhaust, I picked one up. A little flashy for my tastes, but it sounded pretty good.



Here's a picture from one of our local autocross meets at the local ski resort. Nothing like autocrossing at 8200ft elevation!



To get some extra air to the radiator for cooling I cut a hole in the front bumper. This allowed more air to get around the intercooler obviously. Worked pretty good, as the car never ran warm again on the highway.



Next item on the list was to replace the valve cover again. I wanted something a little more flashy, but not too flashy. So I had a stock valve cover painted a metallic red that was a couple shades darker than the car. I think it came out spectacular.



So this is where it starts to get a little interesting. I got a Garrett 2560 turbocharger for cheap and wanted to clean up the engine bay, as well as re-fresh the motor and tidy everything up. I had an extra car to drive over the next winter, and also had my own lift in the shop with a place to store my car, so I decided to pull it apart.

Here's the car with the front body panels removed and the engine ready to come out.



After I had the engine out. You can see the downpipe still attached. Easier to remove it outside the car.



What the engine bay looked like before I cleared it out for painting. You can also see the lingering damage from the accident I had with the car. I didn't worry too much about fixing it because the body panels still attached/fit ok and the damage was hidden when everything installed.



Here's the engine on the stand with the manifolds pulled off of it. At this point I went ahead and cleaned everything up, painted the block and replaced all of the seals.



Engine bay getting a spray down with the pressure washer. After this I spent two hole days sanding the engine bay to get everything cleaned and prepped for paint.



...and here's the engine bay after painting. I had a local paint shop make me some spray cans with the factory color. Turned out pretty good after a few light coats, and a couple heavy coats.



The engine ready to go back into the car. I had the exhaust side of the turbo, turbo outlet and manifold all ceramic coated to keep heat down. I also bead plasted the intake side to give it that nice new silver shine. The intake manifold was painted wrinkle black and an FM fuel rail installed.



And that's it. Here's a picture with everything installed and up and running. I had also installed the Megasquirt at this time and was running on a base tune. I estimate the car was making about 230whp.



After that I installed the ATS CompLite wheels in 15x8 size. Hankook RS-2 tires wrapped them comfortably. In my opinion, this is one of the best wheels out there for Miata's.



This was the last photo that I took of the car one night at the drags before I sold it. The car ran a 14.00 @ 102 with an open differential and a crappy 60 foot time. It was easily capable of 13's.



That's it folks!

That's an impressive modding history on that Miata there.

If you think another one will be a good option, have you been thinking of getting an NB? If you get one with a good enough spec, options, condition and price (which shouldn't be impossible, even if they aren't from the '00's. Any modifications for it should be easy to find (maybe easier than the old NA now, don't know how it is down in America). If you don't go for a Miata, then maybe look for a few sedans that would be good enough. Don't go too sporty with those though at first - you don't want too much price and too much abuse on the car.

Not sure I could go NB, because at this point I'm going to have to pay cash for the car so a cheap NA is my best bet. It might be lacking in the beauty department at first, but it'll also be a project.

R1600Turbo

2003 Dodge SRT-4

[*]2.4L A855 Turbocharged

[*]215hp

[*]245 ft-lb

[*]5-Speed Manual

[*]Status: Taken from me.

[*]Modifications: None

2008 Mazda 3 S Hatchback

[*]2.3L MZR

[*]156hp

[*]150 ft-lb

[*]5-Speed Manual

[*]Status: Taken from me.

[*]Modifications: Removed factory side molding.

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Erm...

Explain.

Love the Miata, obviously. And both the mid-80s RX7s - I think the shape of those is fantastic, far more attractive to my eyes than the FC, if not quite up to the lines of the FD.

I like the Civic too, well-modified ones always look good. Not really a Sentra fan but I quite like the Neon SRT4, not a car we got in the UK - our Neons were always incredibly dull.

When you say "taken from me", what do you mean? Not stolen, surely?

Rotary Junkie

Erm...

Explain.

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homeforsummer

When you say "taken from me", what do you mean? Not stolen, surely?

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Apparently years ago in Arizona when you purchased a car, you could take delivery without actually being approved. 👎 I had the SRT-4 for about a week when the dealership called me and told me that I needed a co-signer for the paperwork to be approved. Couldn't find one, so had to give it back.

The Mazda 3 I drove off the lot brand spanking new with 2 miles on it, and the same deal. Two days before I was going to make my first payment, Mazda called me and said I needed a co-signer. I had that one for about a month before they called. Needless to say I gave it back with 1,800 miles on it. That was AFTER they figured out why my trade in wouldn't start, and the manager took an On-Star antenna off one of their used GM trucks because someone took the one off my Sentra.

Wow that miata was impressive 👍

I bought the car through FM and was making payments on it, including most of the parts that were on the car. In the contract it said the car had to be paid off before I could leave my job, so because I owed more than I could pay off I was forced to sell it.

Edit: and please don't give me crap about how I bought the car.....I know.

R1600Turbo

Not sure I could go NB, because at this point I'm going to have to pay cash for the car so a cheap NA is my best bet. It might be lacking in the beauty department at first, but it'll also be a project.

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A low-spec early NB can't be a whole lot more than an NA these days. Even with a few interior faults the car should still be good to drive. Although if you are thinking of modding for a project then go ahead and buy an NA again. You'll most likely be getting many mods so save the money up then.

Honestly I like the old school looks of the NA over the NB, so if I had the choice to buy one or the other with them costing the same, I would get the NA.

NA miata > any other miata in my opinion. And when you say "taken from me" does that mean stolen? If so, that's quite a few stolen cars.

I'm in the process of finding my first self-chosen car... not enough rwd cars out there.

Already explained 6 posts above yours.

SpartanG

NA miata > any other miata in my opinion. And when you say "taken from me" does that mean stolen? If so, that's quite a few stolen cars.

I'm in the process of finding my first self-chosen car... not enough rwd cars out there.

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Scroll up dude

Edit: Tree'd!

Ok sorry.

But hey, the cars were as good as stolen 👎 sorry to hear.

Pretty cool list of cars, that Miata you worked on looks like it'd have been quite the fun little track car.

You're in Arizona right? You'll need something with a roof if you're keen on avoiding getting sunburnt!

Convertibles have a roof.

Good point. Another Miata like that one tho would probably be the most fun idea and would kill the regret you feel from selling it.

If I get another one, I'm certainly going to get the same wheels. Loved those things.

Found a better picture of the 200SX SE-R after it was totaled. This is what a full size Chevy truck will do to your car when the driver isn't paying attention and pretty much hits you full speed at 40+ mph.

Same thing happened to my first nissan. Got rear ended by a white van. Trunk and rear frame were non existent.

Amazing what you come across while doing research for work. I needed a photo of a Miata with a front mount intercooler and found a thread from a guy listing one for sale. I recognized the other turbo parts he had for sale so I clicked on a link in his signature on Miataturbo.net. I found my car!

Apparently he decided to go 1.8L N/A and that is how he autocrosses it now.

buy it back, dude!

Or, just get another 7.

R1600Turbo

Found a better picture of the 200SX SE-R after it was totaled. This is what a full size Chevy truck will do to your car when the driver isn't paying attention and pretty much hits you full speed at 40+ mph.

*200SX*

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That's what my friends car looked like after someone ran a redlight and hit him.

R1600Turbo

Amazing what you come across while doing research for work. I needed a photo of a Miata with a front mount intercooler and found a thread from a guy listing one for sale. I recognized the other turbo parts he had for sale so I clicked on a link in his signature on Miataturbo.net. I found my car!

Apparently he decided to go 1.8L N/A and that is how he autocrosses it now.

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Wow, your exact car you had before? That's pretty cool. You should buy it back from him! Have to love Miata's, really one of the best cars anyone can buy. Haha, I just noticed your new avatar, that's really cute.

Thatman

Or, just get another 7.

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I want one actually. Looking for a clean '85 GSL-SE but haven't found one yet that isn't too much money.

Cano

buy it back, dude!

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crispychicken49

Wow, your exact car you had before? That's pretty cool. You should buy it back from him! Have to love Miata's, really one of the best cars anyone can buy.

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Not long before I left Flyin' Miata I contacted him to see how the car was doing. He offered to sell it back to me but I didn't have the cash. At the time he was putting a built 1.8 in it to run on E85 but I guess that motor eventually spun a rod bearing so he gave up on it and went N/A. The car is in New York right now.

R1600Turbo

I want one actually. Looking for a clean '85 GSL-SE but haven't found one yet that isn't too much money.

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Oh? I'm curious why you have a preference. Is it because your more familiar with an FB? Or do you like them cause they are tail happy, lighter, ect....

What do you mean by Given away for free, thanks to my Mom?

Thatman

Oh? I'm curious why you have a preference. Is it because your more familiar with an FB? Or do you like them cause they are tail happy, lighter, ect....

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I prefer the old school styling really, but would like the fuel injected 13B over the carburated 12A so that's why I'm looking for a GSL-SE.

the_stig_1

What do you mean by Given away for free, thanks to my Mom?

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Parents having yard sale + me half asleep = free car for someone else.

One of the oil seals went out and it was smoking badly so my dad and I attempted to fix it but ran into problems. The car sat on the side of the house for months since I had something else to drive. My mom got tired of it sitting there so she had me sign the title over and they gave it away for free. Something that wouldn't have happened had I been older and had more say in the matter.