Spooling vs Flying???

C

cmartella

Member
Ok, I have spent weeks going blind staring at my screen researching the two different kits. I live in Michigan, so emissions is not a concern. I would love some feedback from you folks about why you chose the kit you did and any problems you have encountered. I noticed there are a lot of people using the spooling kit; what drove you to choose this over the flying kit?

I am torn between the spooling stage 2 with the stage 3 add on and the flying kit, they come out to being the same change but I would love to hear actual street differences and problems. Like YP5, I don't have time to monkey with the engine every morning before I leave the garage. Any help is greatly appreciated and don't be suprised Terry and Keith if you get some emails from me soon.

Thanks

Chris
 
I chose the Flyin' kit because at the time I bought it in August '02, it was the most accessible and it was the cheapest (being one of the ten original prototypes). I am certain the Spoolin kit wasn't even ready at the time for comparison.

Anyhow, some of the advantages of the Flyin' kit are the intercooler, the fuel pressure regulator / ECU trick. Flyin' Miata and Corky Bell have developed several excellent and reliable kits for all varieties of the Mazda Miata. FM has a very solid reputation for build quality in the Miata circuit, and thier tech support has thus far been excellent.

This is not to knock spoolin at all - i know less about his kit though, so i will leave that talk to the other XXperts :) but with his kit you get the tubular manifold.
 
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i have also went with the flyin kit due to the and also ther awesome street credibility there isnt one person that i have talked to that has been unhappy with there fm kit or the service they provide.
 
just like said before, not knocking on the other guy, but TeRRy from spo0Lin is the sheit! hes never not answered my emails, questions, concerns, etc. hes giving me outrageous deals and the best customer service bar none. i went with him because i heard he was a co0L guy and his products were great. putting them in now and playing with them, im glad i did. just what i think though. oh, and he has allllllll kinds of stuff to offer for your turbo set up, pre made piping for interco0Lers, fmus, o2 modifiers and all other kinds of sheit. email him or go to his site to see all the gooooddiieesss.

www.spoolin-turbo.com ??? sorry if its wrong, im tired
 
the flyn' kit is great for those who want to keep all there emision system in tack
i dont know much about the spoolin kit

but the first thing you need to know is what are your plans for the car and then plan
if emmisions is not a concern then maybe both groups can help you
give them a call im sure they can help answer all your concerns
 
Hi, my name is Patrick, and I'm a boostaholic!
headbang.gif


Anyway...:rolleyes:

The reason I went with the BEGI/Flyin' Protege Kit was the fact that I had the funds available, the accessabilty of the kit and the ease of installation (I had to do it by myself!). I knew also that Corky Bell has mad street credibility for the 100+ kits he has developed, so I knew I was getting an excellent product. They have excellent customer service, and great instructions to follow. Note that my kit was the 10th prototype kit before the sales and R&D shifted to Flyin' Protege. You have to keep in mind anytime you modify a stock car, you are making it operate outside of the perameters it was set up for, and you will have some periodic maintanence (more so than when it was stock) most likely. Me having a prototype kit, I was essentially volunteering to beta test. Yeah, there were some kinks to work out, and they got worked out by me, the other prototype owners, and mainly the staff at Flyin' Protege and B.E.G.I. Now the beauty of this kit is that it allows you to keep all the emissions stuff in place, and pass emissions. Although I opted to go with the off-road downpipe, this is a great option for those worried about C.A.R.B. Knowing the reputation that the Flyin' Miata kits have for upgrades, I don't doubt for a second that they are on the way for the Protege!

Now the Spool kits are 1st-rate also. I have talked to Terry many times about turbo issues, and he always exhibits 1st rate customer service as well! I've seen 1st hand what one of his kits can do because I've taken a few rides in Big_Ben's MP3 when it had the kit on it. MAN!! That thing flew! With either kit, you won't go wrong because the customer service is always behind you. [says like Yoda] Most important that is![/says like Yoda]

Lastly, it all depends on what you are looking for in a kit. Are you looking for just speed? How about Reliability? Do you have to worry about emissions? Can you afford to repair your car IF something goes wrong? Keep all this in mind, and go call Flyin'Protege, or contact Terry and Norman at Spool-turbo.
 
cmartella, if you can wait until mid-june then we might be able to get a group buy rate from terry at spoolin. I talked to him a while back and he said that i need to get 3 people to buy and he will hook us up. I am not sure if this deal still exists i need to talk to him about it.
 
Well, I dont have a turbo YET. But I already ordered, it should be ready this week.
Ive choose Spool Turbo over FMiata cause it looks more aggressive. But I still think Fmiata kit looks AWESOME, looks like stock turboed car. I does even keep both cats!!!
I know that both Fmiata and Spool have shared information before to make their kits better and better.

After all, and the most important thing is: Customer Support, which both are excellent handling that.

I suggest you should call them or write them if really interested and has the compromise to invest on the turbo...and of course, to follow their advise.

I think the learning curve is not that bad, learn the basics and to monitor feedback, and you will be all set. Here you will not be alone anyway.
 
I own a Spool ITS kit and its the best no problems. For the future ask around and see how many people w/ each kit have had problems. I'm sure you dont want to be taking apart your engine every couple of months to replace parts, and how many people have had oil problems w/ the turbo and so on. Another thing do you want a nice tricked out manifold or a log style mani?
 
No owner of either system running a stock engine has ever had a melt down yet.

Both have prooven realiable in the short term as neither have been out for even a year yet.

If you want the most power go for spoolins and if you want to retain the cars ability to pass emissions then go with the FM.
Also the FM can be moddified to go to the same power levels as spoolins stuff but niether kit comes with all the guag goodies you will need to keep an eye on the system. Niether has an EGT or AFR that I am aware of.
 
I think it comes down to what do you want. Both kits have there pros and cons. Talk to owners on the board and call us the manufacturers. A turbo kit is not a mild upgrade so you should do you research and see what fits your objectives.
Both Fm's kits and our kits are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I can honestly say that I feel confident that we offer a lot of cool features that FM does not. On the other hand FM kits offer a lot of features and things that we do not incorporate in our kits.

To give you a brief break down.
FM's kits retain the stock oem look and even retain all oem emmissions systems. The kit looks well engineered and seems fairly straight foward to install.

Spool kits are more of a race kit. Its more wild then mild but it does not retain all oem emmissions controls and our intercooler add on takes some additional work.

It all depends again on what you are looking for.
Pricing is very similar and both kits.
We try to offer great customer service and I frequent the forums regularly.
Kieth is on here alot as well and from what I hear they offer great service as well.
 
spoolinmp3
'Its more wild then mild'
U got to love that quote........heh, heh. I am indeed suprised that I almost missed this post....well I have spools stage 2 kit...and let me tell you...I loved it when I put the kit in myself and I love it now even more now that it's in and kicken all sorts of...(well let's just say... I got to keep washing my KCs for all the a** kickin I am doin!) You know all the reviews you see in R&T and Car&Driver..how they say "Zoom-Zoom. It's a delightful front wheel drive sedan that is entertaining on the road and track. Just give us more horsepower, please!' Well, what they should have said is"Just give us spoolITS-power." If you like the trick look, that is the kit to get. Let me not forget...it ain't all looks either. Those who have it, KNOW....oh yeh...and those who don't have it, are soon finding out the hard way....:p
 
BluMp3Turbo: I made this thread a few weeks back...so he doesn't even have to do the legwork!

http://www.mazdamp3.com/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14238

cmartella: Personally, I chose the Spool kit. My main reasons are...
bigger/better intercooler
better manifold
downpipe included
external wastegate

But I'm looking for ultimate power. The main downside I see about the Spool route as of right now is the install. I've yet to even recieve the parts, but the install manual is a little vague, and I've already found a few install issues that aren't noted in the manual. You also may have to pick up a few random items (hoses, teflon tape, things like that) to correctly install the kit.

But that's basically it. I think it would be a good thing if Terry made the Spool stage 3 install manual a bit thicker, covering more things, and warning about potential problems (like he's done recently with updating the manual because of my AC condensor placement thread). But it's just a matter of him getting feedback from people, sitting down, and doing it.

Other than that, maybe including a few extra miscellaneous parts in the kit would help, so it's easier for the end user.

But like I said, I haven't installed a thing yet, this is just what I know thus far. I don't regret going with the Spool kit. :-)

The only real plus I see about the FM kit is that from what I hear, the install manual is nicer, thus making the install easier...and you can keep your stock exhaust, whereas with the Spool kit, you really can't.

But basically like everyone else said...if you want an intercooled kit...and you want simplicity and good power gain, go FM. If you want ultimate power and are willing to put some personal time in research and asking questions, go with Spool.

Speaking of questions, I probably email Terry 10 times a week, and he's usually pretty good about getting back to me and searching for answers. From what I hear, the FM guys share this quality as well.
 
PS-I'm currently going back and forth w/ Terry on a few small issues (fitment/install mostly) on making the kit install as smoothly as possible. Hopefully with the help of me and other guys who have his kit (special props to Little Beavis) the install should be simpler and easier by this summer.
 
It's true, we're not flashy. It's what comes from being in business for 19 years :) It's been a long process of development for our Miata kits, and we've brought that knowledge over to our Protege kits. We're inherently conservative and we test things out thoroughly. For example, the O2 voltage clamps. That wasn't even recognised as necessary until we did the research.

You can say similar things about the rest of the kit. A cast manifold is strong. A well designed cast manifold will outflow a poorly designed tubular. This has been borne out on 600 hp Lexus motors. Intercooler design is not all about size, but about efficiency.

We're listening, too. We're looking for ways to safely increase boost. We're working on a big showy intercooler.

But first, we have the Open Track Challenge to run (http://www.flyinmiata.com/projects/OTC). 7 days of road racing with one of our Miatas. So I'll be gone for a little while and won't be able to answer any questions. You might enjoy the dyno videos we've put up on our Miata website...

Keith
 
I spent a lot of time researching FM, Tri-point (before the "Aerodyne collapse", and Spool.

I chose Spool for the manifold and the intercooler.

I could go on and on like the others to say the pros and cons, but I think it has been said. Terry is a great resource and answers all your questions, but it would be nice if you didn't have to ask.

I spoken with Keith and FM. They know their s*** too.

I have yet to get my Spool completely up and functional. We think it is okay, but don't know yet, so I don't have a final answer, but it just comes down to what you want.

If you want 100 more hp, go with Spool (only choice). If 70 is enough, FM has your back.

Damn, now I did start writing a novella. . .anyway, wish there was an easy answer, but much like marriage, you just have to pick one and deal with it! :)
 
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