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Not necessarily. The 1.6/1.8 in the NA Miata is a heavy engine for its displacement. A properly done LS swap is not a substantial weight gain, the key point being "properly".
I can simultaneously praise my semi-stock Miata for its nimble manners and iconoclastic rebellion against the modern world of SUVs and rolling supercomputers, while also pining for more power (and especially for more torque).
An NB crosses my mind now and then, but there’s no way I can get away with anything as small as a Miata. My Civic coupe barely cuts it for being big enough.
Funny how regardless of what car an enthusiast has, he/she always wants a bit more power.
Well, until you don't.
LS motor fully dressed 480 lbs
Miata 4 banger fully dressed 290 lbs.
Not the place to debate this, but those numbers are... disputed. See Miata.net or other sources.
The main source of weight-gain in the LS swap is in the transmission, if a T-56 is used. The total weight gain is on the order of adding a passenger and a full tank of gas. That is noticeable, but not enough to declare the character of the original car to have been ruined.
The bane of such swaps is shoddy workmanship, inadequate engineering, or bad components. This unfortunately is all too common, which is why purists - who declare swaps of any engine into any vehicle, to be a defilement - do have a valid point.
Towards that point, I drove a Mustang 5.0-swapped NA Miata some years ago. It was oddly inept in every regard, feeling both heavier AND (if that were possible!) sluggish in a straight-line. There are decidedly many ways to fail. And no, this isn't meant as a Ford-Chevy debate.... but rather, as an acknowledgment that good workmanship and engineering, are nontrivial challenges.
Not the place to debate this, but those numbers are... disputed. See Miata.net or other sources.
The main source of weight-gain in the LS swap is in the transmission, if a T-56 is used. The total weight gain is on the order of adding a passenger and a full tank of gas. That is noticeable, but not enough to declare the character of the original car to have been ruined.
The bane of such swaps is shoddy workmanship, inadequate engineering, or bad components. This unfortunately is all too common, which is why purists - who declare swaps of any engine into any vehicle, to be a defilement - do have a valid point.
Towards that point, I drove a Mustang 5.0-swapped NA Miata some years ago. It was oddly inept in every regard, feeling both heavier AND (if that were possible!) sluggish in a straight-line. There are decidedly many ways to fail. And no, this isn't meant as a Ford-Chevy debate.... but rather, as an acknowledgment that good workmanship and engineering, are nontrivial challenges.
To be honest with you, I didn't think 190 lbs was much to worry about for the HP and torque gain.
Hell I'm just a cheeseburger and fries under 200 most times myself.
I do prefer non-engine swap vehicles. The newest Miatas run 0-60 times that are quite respectable with that little 4 banger.
Of all the two-seaters I've owned (everything from an 850cc Austin Healey to a Z06), the most fun and drivable car I ever owned was one of the ones on the small HP and torque side of the pile. Crappy 0-60 times but went around corners like a roller skate. No scrubbing off speed, just fly into the corner and twist the steering wheel a bit with your foot jammed into the floorboard.
Well, somebody's missing the entire point of the car.
Point & shoot, it's not. It's all about inertia and carrying corner speed. You can carry the same corner speed with an LS3, as you can with the stock lump. But, with an LS3, it's more of a challenge between the turns...
Unless, of course, it's beyond your abilities...
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