NA Miata Duratec/MZR Conversion

[timmmy]

The "new" Jackson racing has developed a Rotrex kit for the NB.Reasonably priced too,with engine management.I am waiting for them to finish the Rotrex kit for the NA,which should be out shortly.

Sweet, I was thinking I would have to make my own. The JR stuff is pretty nice and would make a fun weekend project

[breakaway500]

I have the Eaton M62 blower off my Atom I was going to make fit my NA Miata (Flyin-Miata sells a kit,but will not discount it without their M62 blower..),but after seeing the Rotrex setup JR has in the works,for $3k,with engine management,I decided to wait on the kit.The Rotrex S/C is mighty nice!

[Stynger]

If one is good, how about a self contained duel speed SC?

http://cars.blogs.ca/2006/05/11/antonov ... ercharger/

[Grippy]

That article was from May 2006, I guess it didn't catch on.

[breakaway500]

Interesting article.Kind of a twin scroll supercharger. Looks a bit complex.Maybe that was its downfall.

The Rotrex does have kind of a dual speed drive system:
"Key to the Rotrex supercharger's unique compactness, efficiency, low noise and reliability is its state of the art traction drive technology.

Great speeds and low noise are just some of the advantages of traction drives over traditional gear transmissions. Traction drives transmit power through friction forces between its rolling elements.

The Rotrex patented traction drive uses an elastic annulus with a small pre-span to secure contact between the roller planets and the sun shaft with a reasonable force. The patented "ramp effect" increases efficiency and reliability in the transmission by regulating the torque transfer capability on demand through self-adjusting planet geometry.

To enhance performance, the Rotrex traction drive uses a special traction fluid. These fluids are a new family of synthetic hydrocarbon oils and greases offering a series of unique performance advantages. Developed specially for its use in Rotrex superchargers, the SX100 momentarily increases viscosity under high surface pressure, enhancing the traction drive performance by securing the optimum friction between rolling elements while cooling and protecting the system.

This traction drive combined with the latest technology in centrifugal compression, characterized by high adiabatic efficiency and low noise, gives Rotrex superchargers an exceptional competitive edge over any other forced induction solution."

Link to pretty pictures.,,, http://www.rotrex.com/Home/Technology/P ... ncept.aspx

[timmmy]

Rotrex are also working on a derivation of their charger that is drive by an electric motor. While this needs lots of juice to run it, the nice thing is that it would be instant boost on demand. Sounds interesting all round. I know Koenigsegg like them and have them on their Audi based V8's making over 1000WHP on E85 (Guess where this is leading)

[WillM]

Hi Chris!

Yes, I believe you and I may have spoken about the MZR in the past. I've been a fan and drooling over some of the Cosworth bits for a while. Those roller-barrel throttles are neat. That said, they likely have an awful bang-for-the-buck ratio. Interesting comment about their drop in quality. I know that there are several Miata owners with Cosworth superchargers that have had nothing but problems.

I believe that the Focus guys have been getting good power from the Ford head and other aftermarket Duratec/MZR parts. I've recently "heard" that the crank shaft for the 2.3 liter engine drops right into the 2.0 block, but can't confirm. I had previously heard that the 2.3 was taller than the 2.0. Unfortunately, as with all things on-line and such, everything is speculation. Too much mis-information and unknowns floating about.

There was an NA (1990-1997) chassis with MZR engine transplant a few years back. I believe it was built for drift competition. Car was yellow. The big problem wasn't the intake or exhaust - it was the firewall. I believe the firewall had to be moved a few inches back for the engine to fit. Likely not a problem in your case!

As you might remember, I had Dana and a few other guys build a Miata engine at the end of last season. With some bargain hunting and the ability for a lot more down-time, I could have likely swapped in an MZR for the same or even less. The chopped firewall would put the car in a crazy SCCA and even COM class. That said, I'm running a set of TWM throttles on the 1.8, and I know that Garry @ TWM has a special/limited set of throttles for an MZR. I believe it is fitted for 4 aux injectors as well, for staged induction, but I"m not sure. Just mentioning it...!

There is a Miata tuning/racing shop in Japan called "NoPro". They offer some pretty trick parts. In the 90's, NoPro ran a Miata in Japan's GT SuperTouring series (picture below). NoPro has a 2.5L NC Miata with throttles, and it sounds amazing. I should hope it makes a good deal of usable power.

NoPro has a blog but the translation is hard to follow. Kudos to you if you can read Japanese. They dropped a 2.3 into a NC chassis in 2007, and moved to a 2.5 just recently. Seems to be a good amount of information concerning parts & compatability, but it takes some research. Blog link is here: NoPro Diary.

I know this will likely have more useful info for someone wanting to put a 2.3 or 2.5 into a 2.0 NC Miata, but the engine & parts info should be interesting. I've learned that there are some great performance shops in Japan, and they turn out some excellent products. Unfortunately, it seems that the typical US customer has been more interested in neon, "JDM parts", and "rice", that the quality stuff doesn't ever get mentioned.

I also prefer light cars that are easy on tires and brakes for my own rides, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating some of the heavy-hitting iron that attends COM (and other) events!

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/01 ... supercars