MX5 Owners in here....bring your curling tongs

4T5 · 1 Jun 2016 at 11:46

lordrobs said:
Anyone got an idea on where I might be able to track down a replacement boot for reasonable cash? I've been looking at ebay on and off and have seen every colour come up apart from British Racing Green

Email my Trust & I'll pass on Junkyarddogs mobile number, You can give him a ring then if he hasn't got one he'll put you on to someone who has.

MrKnifey · 2 Jun 2016 at 07:46

Still searching! Fed up of idiots wanting £1k for a "drift ready" car!

Rich1988 · 2 Jun 2016 at 18:50

Took the impulsive and probably reckless plunge and bought a very expensive and shiny toy to replace my mk2.5 Mx5 which I know have to try and sell!
2007, 2 litre Zsport (one of 400 made)

why was it so expensive... the eagle eyed of you will spot it in the next photo

Many smiles have already been had

picked it up today and it is such a good laugh!

Frozennova · 2 Jun 2016 at 19:03

Oooh a BBR Turbo.

MX5 + Boost = Childish Grin

wesimmo · 2 Jun 2016 at 19:09

Nice motor! Wish I'd gone that route now..

Clarkey · 2 Jun 2016 at 19:18

Turbo = awesome
Wheels = vomit

Can't have it all I suppose

Jasebta · 2 Jun 2016 at 19:29

Rich1988 said:
Took the impulsive and probably reckless plunge and bought a very expensive and shiny toy to replace my mk2.5 Mx5 which I know have to try and sell!
2007, 2 litre Zsport (one of 400 made)

why was it so expensive... the eagle eyed of you will spot it in the next photo

Many smiles have already been had picked it up today and it is such a good laugh!

Welcome to the club!

scaza · 2 Jun 2016 at 19:37

I was watching that on eBay when it was bidding, but I don't think it reached its reserve. Didn't realise it had been relisted.

Is there anywhere else that ventures into FI on the mk3 for less than the BBR cost? (Although the amount of development and time to make the kit look as oem under the bonnet as possible with that kit makes it worth the price as a recognised kit to be fair). I know skuzzle posted on a forum thread a while ago that they were considering it but nothing came of it. Might ring and ask. Certainly do admire the turbod mk3.

Rich1988 · 2 Jun 2016 at 20:20

Clarkey said:
Turbo = awesome
Wheels = vomit

Can't have it all I suppose

They are not my cup of tea, the Zsport comes as standard with these BBS alloys that are .... £850 each to replace!!! I cant afford to change them for different wheels just yet and they have michelin pilot sports on with a reasonable amount of tread left yet, so will be using them up and then getting some 16" wheels when I have some money again.

Rich1988 · 2 Jun 2016 at 20:23

Jasebta said:
Welcome to the club!

Thanks! I am looking at stage 2 already.... it already has the uprated clutch fitted and exhaust, so a new air filter, colder plugs and a remap is all I need for 305+ hp

scaza said:
I was watching that on eBay when it was bidding, but I don't think it reached its reserve. Didn't realise it had been relisted.

Is there anywhere else that ventures into FI on the mk3 for less than the BBR cost? (Although the amount of development and time to make the kit look as oem under the bonnet as possible with that kit makes it worth the price as a recognised kit to be fair). I know skuzzle posted on a forum thread a while ago that they were considering it but nothing came of it. Might ring and ask. Certainly do admire the turbod mk3.

I don't know of anywhere that so readily does Mk3 turbos yet, Mk2/1 different story you can find dozens that will do it for around 3.5k if you supply your own turbo. It didn't sell and was relisted at a higher price! but I got it for the original listed price back in March, I phoned BBR just to check a bit about the history and they said thats what they would offer for it so I paid trade price which is always nice!

Frozennova · 2 Jun 2016 at 21:06

FI conversions for MK3s are few and far between as Rich said.

Every man and his dog is offering them for MK1/2 or as I've done you can do it yourself for around £2k

Jasebta · 2 Jun 2016 at 21:08

scaza said:
I was watching that on eBay when it was bidding, but I don't think it reached its reserve. Didn't realise it had been relisted.

Is there anywhere else that ventures into FI on the mk3 for less than the BBR cost? (Although the amount of development and time to make the kit look as oem under the bonnet as possible with that kit makes it worth the price as a recognised kit to be fair). I know skuzzle posted on a forum thread a while ago that they were considering it but nothing came of it. Might ring and ask. Certainly do admire the turbod mk3.

Other options for the MK3 are Blink Motorsport for turbo (they will provide and fit TDR solutions from the states) or for supercharger Corten Miller kits are available here. The CM site came live just after I went for through BBR, otherwise it would definitely have had my interest as it seems to be a slightly cheaper but good quality solution, and you can't beat a supercharger whine!

And I actually quite like the zsport BBS wheels....

Rich1988 · 2 Jun 2016 at 21:55

Jasebta said:
Other options for the MK3 are Blink Motorsport for turbo (they will provide and fit TDR solutions from the states) or for supercharger Corten Miller kits are available here. The CM site came live just after I went for through BBR, otherwise it would definitely have had my interest as it seems to be a slightly cheaper but good quality solution, and you can't beat a supercharger whine!

And I actually quite like the zsport BBS wheels....

What power is your 5 running at? they quote 262bhp on BBR website but mine is making 275 when it was dynoed by bbr last year, wondering if this is a common thing?

DereksDontRun · 2 Jun 2016 at 21:58

A FI mk3 or even better the mk3.5 (as I personally think they look better) would be amazing...

without wanting to cause concern - wasn't there a problem with the BBR turbo manifolds (that I think was hope to be addressed in the Blink kit, which is why they went to TDR instead of just using BBR's parts)? I can remember a very very long topic on MX5 Nutz forum which seemed to turn into a shouting match between Roddison and BBR (and their fans) - think the gist was that the original BBR kit was advertised for and demo'd on tracks, but it was discovered the manifolds can't handle the heat and warped (due to the poor manifold bolt locations on the Mazda block). It then seemed that BBR then changed their mind and wouldn't warranty anything that had been used on a track (despite people buying it for that) and thus some falling out - I seem to remember some bizarre comment that they stated that the manifold should ideally be replaced after EVERY track session to prevent warpage problems. So, it seems that due to the poor Mazda design with the manifold mounting points, a turbo can heat the manifold enough to warp and cause a leak - when used for prolonged time, like a track or autobahn. Note. I think they mentioned a redesigned manifold at some point, so i might have just been an issue with the first few?!?

From memory there had been progress (and then setbacks) with the supercharging route too - when the mk3 came out, wasn't a Cosworth supercharging setup available, but they then removed it due to some fundamental problems. Didn't BBR then buying/sourcing the kit and rebadging it for them (and hopefully addressing the problems)?

My Mk3.5 was serviced, goe'd and tweaked by Blink, so I was always keen to see how they were progressing with their parts choice and build. I then sold my mk3.5 so no longer did research... But, I spotted a link to that Corten Miller kit, which looks interesting, but again v expensive.

Long story short - it seems the mk3 and 3.5 (despite the forged parts in the 3.5) seems to be a pain and/or expensive to get FI reliably...

Rich1988 · 2 Jun 2016 at 22:02

I believe, from what I have read that the issue was only with the supercharging kits, the mapping wasn't quite correct and the manifolds warped. hence why they don't offer a supercharging service any more. I didn't think there were any issues with the turbo set up, (besides the fact that above about 14psi the crank on mk3 can't hack it).

Housey · 2 Jun 2016 at 22:09

I need to arrange a run in the Blink turbo. They have offered it to me to have a go in as they rebuilt my race car last year so I was having a nose around at the turbo kit before they embarked on the build. Good guys up there, their road car they were converting is effectively identical to my wife's MX5 and I suspect a nice turbo and suspension upgrade would be great fun and ideal for track day work too if I could not be arsed to take the race car.

I spoke with BBR and it was very clear that they did not think their Turbo conversations were suitable for heavy track use. They were nervous about heat and strength of the build for prolonged track use and seemed to indicate they viewed it as a road car primarily, maybe suitable for 3 or 4 laps but obviously nervous about a full on hard track day.

Rich1988 · 2 Jun 2016 at 22:14

Yea I do think they are designed for fast road/light track, mine cost me fairly well all the $$ I had and I intend on keeping it for a number of years, so have no plans to go round the nurburgring like I did last year in my mk2.5!

Jasebta · 2 Jun 2016 at 22:20

Housey I think has it right - I was recommended in terms of light track work with the BBR setup but as it'd be rare for me to see a track day I wasn't overly concerned, and I haven't seen any issues since they revised to a cast iron manifold. The guys at Blink did seem really welcoming & very open to talking about the turbo kit - it seems higher quality, and open to higher BHP & TQ, but this is also reflective in the price as it is on the same level if not more expensive than BBR (comparing to stage 2) which I guess is due to the cost of importing the kit over. Seems more suited for track work though, and well received in the states. One of the main reasons I chose BBR was the UK service base - I think there's only one car running the BLINK/TDR setup in the UK and perhaps only one CM rotrex car out there also, or at least as far as I can find online!

wesimmo · 2 Jun 2016 at 22:25

DereksDontRun said:
A FI mk3 or even better the mk3.5 (as I personally think they look better) would be amazing...

without wanting to cause concern - wasn't there a problem with the BBR turbo manifolds (that I think was hope to be addressed in the Blink kit, which is why they went to TDR instead of just using BBR's parts)? I can remember a very very long topic on MX5 Nutz forum which seemed to turn into a shouting match between Roddison and BBR (and their fans) - think the gist was that the original BBR kit was advertised for and demo'd on tracks, but it was discovered the manifolds can't handle the heat and warped (due to the poor manifold bolt locations on the Mazda block). It then seemed that BBR then changed their mind and wouldn't warranty anything that had been used on a track (despite people buying it for that) and thus some falling out - I seem to remember some bizarre comment that they stated that the manifold should ideally be replaced after EVERY track session to prevent warpage problems. So, it seems that due to the poor Mazda design with the manifold mounting points, a turbo can heat the manifold enough to warp and cause a leak - when used for prolonged time, like a track or autobahn. Note. I think they mentioned a redesigned manifold at some point, so i might have just been an issue with the first few?!?

From memory there had been progress (and then setbacks) with the supercharging route too - when the mk3 came out, wasn't a Cosworth supercharging setup available, but they then removed it due to some fundamental problems. Didn't BBR then buying/sourcing the kit and rebadging it for them (and hopefully addressing the problems)?

My Mk3.5 was serviced, goe'd and tweaked by Blink, so I was always keen to see how they were progressing with their parts choice and build. I then sold my mk3.5 so no longer did research... But, I spotted a link to that Corten Miller kit, which looks interesting, but again v expensive.

Long story short - it seems the mk3 and 3.5 (despite the forged parts in the 3.5) seems to be a pain and/or expensive to get FI reliably...

I was told that the Mk3 didn't have enough bolting points for the manifold so any high temps irrespective of choice of FI could risk warping the manifolds, how true that is I don't know.

The person who told me is no fan of BBR so I took it with a pinch of salt at the time.

DereksDontRun · 2 Jun 2016 at 22:26

Rich1988 said:
I believe, from what I have read that the issue was only with the supercharging kits, the mapping wasn't quite correct and the manifolds warped. hence why they don't offer a supercharging service any more. I didn't think there were any issues with the turbo set up, (besides the fact that above about 14psi the crank on mk3 can't hack it).

wading through MX5 Nutz. it seemed to kick off in this topic and then continued here

Starts on page 2 of the 1st link

Anyone want to buy a mk3 BBR turbo car with a blowing manifold?
I have one coming in p/x as the customer is ****ed off that he's not had good back-up from BBR.

I wasn't going to chime in here but the mention of blowing BBR Turbo and blowing manifolds - I'm all in.

February 2014 I bought BBR 290bhp Turbo kit on a 2.0L NC MX-5, after seeing these videos on youtube: https://www.youtube....h?v=zPsVuj8sRjM

The manifold warped after 1 Rockingham circuit, tried removing and re gasketing still blows badly. A warning for any of you guys buying turbo kits for trackdays wanting to do 20 minute sessions the manifold (Neal said on the telephone) is not up to the job and may fail and or warp. He made a new manifold that had uprated flanges and tested this on track and told me on the phone that it failed after 15 laps on circuit, he then told me he is making a new manifold that is cast however has currently taken A YEAR as of February the 3rd to make it and I am still hearing the same lies words everytime I speak to him on the phone "4 - 6 weeks". To be honest it is no way to treat customers, being truthful with them is. You would expect on a 5 grand turbo kit for the manifold to survive trackdays. I am sure there are many out there that have survived trackdays, but whether they put their car round towards its full potential is unlikely in my experience - I am sorry if that hurts some peoples feelings.

Every one is well aware of the turbo manifold issues bbr have even said themselfs that they sell the turbo kits as a road conversion,

etc. etc..

strangely I thought the issues with the supercharger weren't heat, but something else, just I can't remember. When I looked last year and um'd and ah'd whether to FI my mx5 or trade in, I was left thinking there was a fundamental heat issue with the turbo & manifold (due to 1 bolt missing in the engine block's design) and a different fundamental issue with the Cosworth/BBR blower.