The Bogan

So, no videos, but, the FAB9 Elite manifold and 68mm Bosch throttle bodies are in stock, but, not the rear part of the air box The FAB9 rear airbox thingie is made with a 3" intake pipe, to suit the 3" intake pipe size of a 68mm throttle body When they get some more in stock is currently unknown as I'm waiting for FAB9 to reply with a ETA on resupply, my assumption is they outsource their plastic printing stuff to "china", and with the current "tariff war" going on in 'Merica it could be on hold for an undisclosed time Should I pull the pin on the Intake and throttle body, and wait for the airbox?????, that's what I'm thinking... 1. Would the standard 2.75" OEM intake on the air box really be that much of a restriction compared to the 3" naturally aspirated?????? 2. If I don't get the 3" FAB9 airbox fitted at the same time as the intake and throttle body will it need a retune, when/if it eventually turns up?????? As I'm impulsive, to a fault, decisions will be made within....."what's the time now"???....let's say 12 hours......LOL

A fine grit media blast would make short work of it after you tape up everything I grabbed a cheapo Ozito one from bunnings for about $30 that I used to clean up some old brake calipers and some brackets Messy, but fast Wear PPE though, stuff dusts up and is really bad for your lungs and eyes

Exhaust front pipe has been modified and the car is now a much nicer place to be cruising around in Volume hasn't really changed much, although it has toned down by getting a bit of a deeper sound, also there's no raspyness or noticeable drone, well, to my deaf old ears, hopefully it is "Jackie approved" next time we are out and about in the car 🤔 It still has a little "fluffiness" but only on idle from the cam, much less than before, but there's still a little bit there, liveable, but noticeable when I'm sitting with my head near the exhaust outlet critiquing it harshly Maybe it could be removed by playing around with the cam timing a bit, but, currently it is at spec from the Kelford cam card, so I'm living with it until I stop procrastinating and decide on what fancy pants intake plenum and throttle body I want to get, and then send the car off again for more modifications that are not really needed 🤣 All in all, I'm winning 😁

Nice cars and coffee at MX5 Mania today, saw a V6 engine swap from a Jag, and a super tidy K swap, heaps of MX5 of all variants, alot alot of other cool things as well LOL That truck was farking huge

You could check/calibrate that with a thermometer, we have long glass thermometers at work which go from -10 to +150°c, they are pretty cheap too I believe, as monkey fisted soldiers tend to break them, and getting new ones don't seem to send red flags to the people that hold the purse strings Edit: after a google they apparently cost about $80, but, digital ones seem to be much cheaper at around $40

Me, I would happly spend some more coin on better tyres for my street car Will they work, yes, of course, but why substitute some dry grip/braking distance, and wet weather grip/braking distance on what is really old tech to save some coin on your "precious" street car In the end it might not be you that farks up, it's the thousands of other idiots on the street that you need to worry about For a street car that gets some "fun time", I have found that a quality tyre that can handle dry, wet, cold (Canberra gets pretty cold) and hot conditions, which may costs a little more, is great insurance From my experience with them (driving around Goulburn in the winter) the RE003's are pretty poor in cold and/or wet conditions on the street If RS4's didn't hate gripping in the cold I would be running them always on the street, great in the dry, OK in the wet, but, they do hate the cold, with a passion, I run PS5's year round now, basically, I've found the PS5 to be a great year round street tyre for all conditions, they last well, and are mid range pricing wise TL;DR. Tyre choice is probably like what brand and grade oil you should use, ask 10 people, and get 10 different answers... LOL

My favourite LOL is when I see a nice car with $5-10k worth of fancy pants rims, but, they are running on some cheapy spec tyres And as for running semi slicks on a daily that might get caught in the rain, yeap, been there, done that, won't do it ever again, aqua planning going 110kph on a straight bit of Hwy with the Mrs in the car makes you think hard about your life decisions and tyre choices

I'm rating the Michelin Pilot Sport 5's I currently have on my NC, they are great for throwing the thing around on the street, and handle great in the wet, the price is also reasonable They are not as good as something like a RS4 in the dry, but, as it is a street car, the 5's are alot better for inclement and cold weather I've found RE003's to be 5hit....

HUMVEE are fine in big open areas, but they are problematic on the street and tight areas As for reliability, some of the US Army guys I have chatted with have said that when they were working they were fine, but, the do spend alot of time in workshops for multiple reasons, admittedly, they did get a hard time by the boys and girls who drove them I would definitely put them in the "buyer beware" category They do look tough as nails though

Would something like this be an option https://processhose.com/products/configurable-metal-hoses/1-2-in-t316-stainless-steel-annular-corrugated-configurable-flexible-metal-hose-assembly-with-ends-t304-single-braid-masterflex-af5550.html I'm looking at this for replacing the OEM EGR when installing a aftermarket intake plenum

Ouch

All I want to do is be a spectator and check out the cars in the show and shine

Not alot of room in the front or mid pipe to play with Helmholtz chambers, plus they are pretty hit and miss getting the length and volume right, and time is money when it comes to trial and error testing at a exhaust shop, it isn't like test fitting mufflers or resonators From previous experience with exhausts and trying to tone down the volume and eliminate some drone, a resonator in the mid pipe typically make it much better, and even possibly stop Jackie complaining about it, me, I really don't notice it that much, but, I am pretty deaf 🤣

The car revs up through the gears much better/faster now, and fuel consumption doesn't really seem to have be affected either on a Hwy cruise, which wasn't expected The FAB9 intake manifold has been problematic sourcing though, I've contacted Plasmaman to ask about their intake, which you can get different runner lengths spec'd, and, their different options for throttle bodies The only real physical drawback with the Plasmaman intake is how to connect it to my current OEM style airbox, as FAB9 make a OEM style back half of the airbox to suit the larger diameter throttle body, and all that is required is a 30°bend silicone pipe to mate the throttle body to the airbox Car also goes in for some exhaust work in a week or so to fit the biggest resonator they can fit clearance wise in the front pipe to help remove some of the drone, there isn't alot of realestate under there, a rough guesstimation is it will only be about 3-400mm long and maybe 90-100mm diameter, and with a 60mm exhaust that doesn't leave alot of space for the internal volume of the resonator to do its thing I'm thinking I may need to bin the "high flow" 100 cell cat for something a bit more substantial, yeah, and restrictive, like a 200-400 cell, to help, but, I have ample room for a really large bodied cat to replace the current one which has around a 4" diameter body I may look around in the recycling bins and see if I can find a massive newish cat that was "replaced" with some new full exhaust system that the local exhaust shop in Western Sydney is doing

Is there an actual website thingie for peoples who don't have Facebooks? Cheers

Noice Once exhaust leak is sorted post vids for audible sexy time The thing should be a laugh riot to drive

This is a controversial subject really, the whole power vs fun thing I mean And this is the main reason I got back into a MX5 Of the last few notable daily cars I've owned whilst I have frequented SAU R33 GTS-t: fun, but because I'm a idiot I modified well past a reliable fun car and ended up hating it, although that was my fault because I tried to have a daily cruiser and race car all in one, the family called it the sometimes car, because sometimes it was working, sometimes it was broken, gladly sold it NB MX5: brilliant car, thrashed the Bejebus out of it, but, again, was stupid and deleted the air con, power steering and stripped the interior out, whilst still fun, and reliable, and super cheap on consumables, it was not a fun place to be going on long cruises, I did love it, but basically every family member hated going anywhere in it, sadly sold it 2015 WRX STI: soulless thing that looked like your average Kia sedan and had that horrible boxer engine with glass ringlands, the family did like it though, that thing was one of my stupidest purchases and I still regret it 2017 Toyota 86: 😪 if I didn't crash it, I would probably still have it, it was a fun little thing, even with that horrible boxer engine, the family did like it, the only reason I didn't get another 86, or, BRZ was the boxer engine, I should have learnt after owning the STI, but I'm a idiot VX SS: great cruiser, fits the whole family, and was fast as.....in a straight line, but a big fat thing, so no enjoyment throwing it around corners, the family was unimpressed with the whole boganness of if, but they did admit it was a comfy place to sit on long cruises As for the NC, I feel it is perfect for what I want, or need out of of a car, whether I'm cruising the Hwy, back roads, twisties or peak hour traffic, the Mrs doesn't mind driving it either, or cruising in it as well, although she does bump her head of the roof nearly every time she gets in, which is farking hilarious, and the kids love taking it for a thrash as well So basically, I've had constantly more fun, and way less headache and heartache, both on the track and on the street, in low powered cars, go figure.....LOL One thing though, the Mrs has stated that the cams have made the exhaust sound much louder, which they have, but it doesn't bother me, in fact, I actually like it, but, to negate any future comments from the Minister for War and Finances I may look at some changes to the rear muffler set-up to drop the volume down a tad to appease her when we are out and about in it

Yes, but 2 things of the top of my head, 1. Legalities of nitrous on a street car. 2. No chop chop. I fully understand that there's much cheaper ways to make power, and whilst a wet 50 shot is fairly cheap to install, bottle fills are expensive, and bottles always need to be refilled, and nitrous also has its own inherent issues with reliability, and tuning, from my experience of others using nitrous, it doesn't take alot to lunch a engine real quick if something goes slightly wrong when spraying, if I wanted a big chunk of additional powers, a spooly boy would make alot more sense, disregarding the additional engineering, supporting mods and other logistical issues of sticking a spooly boy on a car that came naturally aspirated from factory In the end I'm not racing for sheep stations, and I don't really care if people make more power, or are faster than me, or spend less, or more than me, the only thing the car needs to do is drive around and make me smile, which it is doing now Really, I just want a shiny new intake to look at when I'm cleaning the engine bay, and of course, some more induction doorts, and maybe even that 5kw for that elusive 200hp cherry on top that I might get If the FAB9 intake plenum, TB and air filter box thing doesn't eventuate for whatever reason, Plasmaman do one, not as fancy looking, and a fair chunk of more cash is required when including the TB and other bits and pieces that are required to install it, but, it is another option that is available to me if FAB9 one does fall down (but I really, really.....really, want the FAB9 one though) TL;DR. You want what you want

I've got cash, it's the NA LOLS I'm after now Plus, I've had a few boosted cars, and it is soooo easy to turn a reliable car into a unreliable drivetrain eating money pit monster by just paging up and chasing more My power goal for the NC is to try for a reliable naturally aspirated 150kw or 200hp atw (I'm old, and the old naturally aspirated cherry of 100hp per litre is a goal that I would like to hit), no more is really needed for what I use the car for, so a additional 5kw is what I'm chasing now, that 5kw is about $3k away, I think....

So, good news and bad news Bad news first: The intake plenum is lost in the mail apparently, I haven't paid for it yet, and MX5 Mania are still chasing it up, farking 'Merica postal service Good news: Any retune will be free if and when it turns up, I'm still keen for them to throw it on The car goes noticeably better, with only the typical initial take off thingie from a choppy cam and manual transmission, but giving it just a little more RPM than before gives it a smooth take off (and hour or so of peak hour traffic sorted that little skill out) Car made around 145kwatw & 225Nm (Intake may get me to 150kw, maybe....🤣) Weirdly, 145kwatw is the same max power that my standard 2015 WRX STI made a few years ago The cam really comes alive from around 3.5k and keeps making power and holds it flatish all the way to 7k, whereas before torque would drop hard around at 4.5k Drive home was sadly in peak hour, although I did get a little clean air here and there to wind out 1st and 2nd a little bit, and whilst the gains aren't anything for the "boosted boys" to be impressed at, the thing is a blast to drive The sound in the vid is poor, as it is in a undercover yard at work, but, outside, in the wild, it sounds awesomeballs to my ears with all the choppyness I consider it money very well spent for the outcome Cam specs for reference (Basically the biggest you can fit with stock pistons) 20250417_171807.mp4 LOL, I don't think I will ever grow up

The larger TB I had on the SS was a pain to get to idle right, but, that was cable In the end they just raised the idle up a couple of hundred RPM so it was happy idling away either in gear or in park (slush box life) I'm curious on how my NC will idle with the new intake, larger TB, and cams that are currently going in/on, but I have faith that MX5 Mania will sort this "electronical" "black magic" out the best they can in the tune with a electronic TB Sometimes I wish I knew more about the intricacies of tuning, but most of the time I don't because I know it would hurt my brain 🤣

No such thing as E30 in Sydney servos As stated above, flex fuel is your only viable, and "safe" option I believe

VN Group A bonnet buldge 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣