Last week Neil from BBR called me to say he had finished the TURBO mk3.5 hed been working on which i saw a few weeks ago in its early stages of build when I went for a test drive in the Supercharged version, so I went last saturday to try the new Turbo version, so I had a comparison and a choice. No contest in one word the TURBO is PHENOMENAL<img title="Smile" src="editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif" alt="Smile" border="0" /><span>,What a car its just so quick yet so driveable i had a massive silly grin on my face and still have, I didn't want to give it back, Neil reckons its around 270bhp and 225ftlb torque,and its only running 6psi of boost and Neil said could probably go higher, the car is actually going to Autocar today with other cars in an under £30,000 sports car group test if this doesn't win!!!!!!!!!! I</span><span>t's awesome so I'</span><span>ve agreed to have mine done ASAP the shove in the seat is unbelievable its porsche territory and with the full exhaust system you have to hear it, it even sounds quick, the rev counter climbs so fast in every gear it just pulls so hard in every gear, i did 70mph just to hear if the exhaust was too loud but its not, but open the taps and its got a real bark if Mazda sold mx5s like this from new there would be a queue out of every showroom door its that good.
Hi sorry for delay in reply router packed in,Yes BBR will turbo the mk3 and 3.5 with both 1.8 & 2.0ltr engines the cost as far as i know are around the supercharged prices but that depends on how far you want to go ie just Turbo, Turbo and full exhaust system plus an option for a bigger intercooler, i dont really know a confirmed price as yet, i know what im paying but i dare`nt broadcast on here wife might see it!!!
The workmanship that goes in is worth it, TDR as far as im aware cut panels move the battery etc the BBR version there is no cutting if you ever wanted to remove the Turbo installation it will go back to standardÂ
Well Its official the promise of the Mk3/3.5 TURBO Ive been going on about is on BBRS web site http://www.bbrgti.com/product_details.php?id=11676&make=18&model=531 Mines booked in for the full 280+BHP cant wait YIPPEE,YOU Really have to Drive one of these to appreciate how QUICK this MX5 is, I drove it two weeks ago and i`m still Buzzin
what is the economy expected to be like? I know you don’t exactly buy something like this and consider economy however I would use it to drive the the track and so it would be important.
i would have thought it be better than the supercharger though.
The economy should be fine. I am intending to make cheaper forced induction options available for the NC asap. I’ve just bought the development car. The plan is simple… if you want the FI and are happy to find a used turbo or sc, then you’ll want my kit.
The mk2 I use as my courtesy car is currently at 252rwhp with a turbo, yet is as easy to drive as the original car (hence why I let customers have it) and economy is up to around 40mpg on a long motorway stretch… maybe 4mpg if you press the loud peddle.
The pleasure with the turbo is that it can remove some of the pumping losses of the engine at a cruise state… aka unlike normal pumping loses where the engine is using energy to suck the required air passed a partly closed throttle, a turbo will help to push a little passed the throttle. There’s lots of talk about when turbos are on boost, but even off boost, they can still be supplying more air than when na for a given throttle opening which improves economy and drivability.
Also, unlike Supercharger… the parasitic loses are very low, which is better for economy than said SC.
Thanks for the info very usefull to know. at the moment the car is a daily driver so i’m not 100% sure on reliabilty yet. I have heard the bottom end on the mk3 engines are weak.
i will keep watch on the forums for news skuzzle as i’m definatly intrested.
ok thanks for that. what do you think i should expect keeping reliabilty in mind.
i have a 1.8 with a few mods sports cat and de silenced centre pipe back with sports back box and just a pipercross pannel. would 220 at the wheels be reasonable? 200 maybe? doesnt seem to bad for a 1.8
rapidratchet many thanks for starting this post, its stirred up a huge amount of interest! We look forward to seeing you and your car later this week; with a few tweaks (no rise in boost pressure) our prototype car is now running over 290BHP
oz1986 the engines on the MK3 are not week at all, the MK3.5 has a forged crank which is the only major difference, we have never known a crank to fail on a MK3 MX5. We have a 1.8 with our stage 2 supercharged conversion your welcome to test, this makes 240BHP (approx 215WHP) and has done for the past 2 years with both press and potential clients testing the car, it’s never missed a beat. Expect 210WHP with our turbocharged conversion running 0.4bar, 240WHP plus with an exhaust and clutch running 0.6 bar.
BBR’s DIY turbocharged conversion with custom map will be £4395 when released in September, we feel this offers exceptional value for a conversion capable of well over 300BHP. No corners have been cut, oil/water lines are teflon (not rubber) S/S braided, components are all custom made in house for the MX5.
[quote=Skuzzle]
I am intending to make cheaper forced induction options available for the NC asap. I’ve just bought the development car. The plan is simple… if you want the FI and are happy to find a used turbo or sc, then you’ll want my kit.
[/quote]
Whilst I admire your optimism, what a ridiculous quote, you have no chance of making a used turbo or sc fit sensibly! I’d also suggest you run your forced induction NC kit (when designed and installed) for 12 months minimum before considering to offer it to anyone, you’ve only just bought a car. You’ll have an extremely hard job to better either our turbo or SC package at their respective prices.
I have no intention to better it… buy why do you think it cant be done ? Surely you must know well enough that anything can be fabricated to fit.
My plans are to hit a different part of the market to that which you have covered. A DIY kit at your price will scare away many of the potential FI’d NC owners.
Look at the TRLane supercharger kit for the mk1… cheap… easy… reliable… works great. Uses used parts (most of the time) depending on the buyers budget.
The market is there for me to make a kit which is cheaper, just as reliable (assuming buyer finds a good used turbo / sc etc) and making good power. I dont aim to reach 300hp. 200 from the 1.8 is my goal and 240 from the 2.0 to give guys who started like me a chance to have an FI NC.
Just look at the mk1 options… theres lots of expensive new kits FM etc that all get bought… but just as many buyers who can not afford those kits buy the inferior cheaper kits and get very good results.
I know a cheaper turbo kit can be done by using inferior parts, cutting panels and moving parts using a used or Chinese turbo etc etc, but why? The conversion would look appalling and after your manifold has cracked after a couple of months, you’ve gone through 2 turbo’s, replaced your water/oil lines the £1000 you might save in the first place is now long gone. Do it once do it right!
The MK1 lends itself to forced induction, the MK3 doesn’t there simply is no room on either side of the engine which makes it not possible to fit a supercharger from any other vehicle without a huge amount of work, custom manifold, belt design, etc, which will end up costing more than our current options unless mass produced.
I wish you luck in your developments, but to get on a thread about a conversion that’s been thoroughly developed/tested and to try and promote a product that you haven’t designed and as yet have no experience of even tuning a forced induction NC is not on, hence my post.
Hi Steve, rest assured the BBR turbo conversion has been well tested on track and not just by us! Intercooler included in our base conversion is more than good enough for very hard road use and occasional track days (inlet temps are kept lower than any OEM cars we tune). For higher stages of conversion with increased boost pressure we offer an upgraded Garret core that’s extremely efficient and even under the harshest conditions, inlet temps are kept as close to ambient.
I think the old Cosworth SC failures have been long forgotten now? It was such a shame as on the whole it is an extremely well engineered conversion for fast road use, unfortunately bad mapping and a few minor hardware faults led to these failures, the 4 faults combined were a time bomb. With the testing and work we carried out with the original hardware (back in 2010) along with our own mapping there are now over 60 BBR supercharger conversions with not a single failure and very happy owners, surprised that you have not seen one on the track as a few track regularly. We’ve been tuning the NC with forced induction over 3 years now (4 years including development work), forced induction with reliability is certainly not recent success for us!
Anyone interested in either a turbocharged or supercharged conversion is more than welcome to a test drive, be warned though driving an MX5 with this performance, there is no going back!
