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MK1 Mazda MX-5 Miata Gets Boosted K-Series Treatment, Half a V8, Double the Stock Power

We’ve talked about this before. Nothing fuels a Miata purist’s anger more than turbocharging or supercharging an MK1 Mazda MX-5 Miata. This two-door Japanese roadster was designed to be the perfect driver’s car. And as such, has won acclaim for being what it is – a lightweight sports car that’s exceptionally fun to drive on the back roads.
Turbo K-Swapped MK1 Mazda MX-5 Miata 8 photos
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/BoostedBoiz
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The Miata isn’t the only model designed for driving pleasure without overzealousness in the power department. Toyota and Subaru-collaborated 86 GT and the BRZ are some of the newer driver’s cars in the market that look like they need a turbo, but might never have one.

Still, tuners will break the barriers of conformity and stuff anything under the hood to achieve their desired power outputs regardless of the sneers they’ll get from purists at the friendly neighborhood Cars and Coffee meet.

Well, this here is one of those builds. It’s a Honda K-Series swapped turbo Mazda MX-5 Miata by BoostedBoiz on YouTube.

Stock, the MK1 Mazda MX-5 Miata came with two options a 1.6-liter or a 1.8-liter engine good for 116 hp (118 ps) and 129 hp (131 ps). As meager as those figures might seem, its low curb weight, 50:50 weight distribution, and independent suspension meant a lot of room for some fun behind the wheel.

Add that to a 5-speed manual transmission sending all the power to the rear wheels, and you’ll be chopping through the hill passes with an evil grin.

Still, while the MK1 Miata makes the perfect driver’s car – it could do better with more ponies thrust to the rear wheels.

The BoostedBoiz went the whole nine yards and doubled the power on this Miata with a turbo Honda K-Series swap.

If you know anything about tunning, the Honda K-Series engine is perhaps one of the most popularly swapped engines after the small-block Chevy V8. These engines are both plentiful and enduring – they’ll also take a beating a keep pushing on.

The MX-5 Miata had a simple setup on paper; a Honda K20 engine, Turbonetics turbocharger, and a front-mount intercooler, with the only limiting factor being the stock Miata 5-speed transmission, which they felt wouldn’t handle the kind of power they are looking to make (300 hp/304 ps).

A lot is needed when turbocharging a naturally aspirated engine, including setting up the turbo on the N/A block, modifying the exhaust manifold for the turbo, setting the intercooler piping right, oil feed lines, wastegate dump, and an ECU tune for the anticipated boost increase.

That was a walk in the park for the BoostedBoiz team, and on their latest upload, they put their street-built K-swapped Miata on the dyno.

Unexpectedly, the quick-build K-swapped Miata exceeded their expectation pushing 347 hp (352 ps) at 7,600 RPMs.

It made closer to 15 psi near the top of the third gear, which is still you know nothing for this thing. The tune is super safe. The air fuel’s perfect. So, there’s no need for us to keep beating on this thing on the dyno,” Kyle Wade of BoostedBoiz said.

Check out the video below to see this boosted K-swapped MK1 Mazda MX-5 Miata by BoostedBoiz do some burnouts.

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About the author: Humphrey Bwayo
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Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life.
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