Well spotted, the page with the catted manifold doesn’t mention “dependant on emissions” https://bbrgti.com/products/bbr-4-1-catted-mx-5-nc-manifold
Does anyone have a picture of the BBR catted manifold? they don’t have one on their website and I haven’t read of anyone buying one yet. The only other catted manifold is the £470 IL Motorsport one which doesn’t look much different from the standard cat and manifold, only gives a 7hp gain apparently.
Goodwin racing also do one. That BBR test is strange as somehow the larger 1.75 primaries which are not of equal length appear to give a boost in midrange torque and top end horsepower over the 1.7" RB which has equal length runners. Normally you would expect either / or otherwise why not just make them 2.5". Also looks like it was tested on a Super 200 version which is not representative of the results a normal purchaser would get on a standard car
I ordered the BBR one, it’s on back order, so will take 2-3 weeks to arrive… my worry is it’s identical to the il one for a lot more money £715 as I cannot see any photos of one anywhere.
They both seem rather expensive for minimal gain in my honest opinion.
Gosh, yes agreed the BBR one is VERY expensive.
http://www.ilmotorsport.de/shop/article_detail.php5?aid=4637&oid=1546&depth=3&page=0&count=3&PHPSESSID=542c182ea6b52579c7899cc9538177f2
I might be able to help with the extensions.
I want to make a couple for my own racing beat manifold and I ordered a couple connectors.
I also make the O2 sensor extensions for 2Bular for his Lotus exhaust systems.
Seeing the huge expense for these catted manifolds which just remove the power robbing “pinch point” where the 4 pipes join the cat. It would be more cost effective to cut out the "pinch-point and weld in a new collector on the stock manifold.
I’m not surprised BBR have a 2-3 week wait, they are probably made to order. I’m looking forward to seeing the design, if they ever put it on their site. I wonder if they will have taken any design elements from the GWR street manifold
I have a 2007 2.0 Mk3 with 90k miles on the clock and two years ago had it fitted with a replacement BBR manifold and exhaust system up to and including the silencer but maintaining the original small in-line cat converter. As well as supply and fitting, BBR completed a remap and a rolling-road before and after check and a result showing around 190 BHP. No increase in insurance premium, the original factory fitted exhaust system has been recycled by local council, the car has done 12k miles and passed 2 MOTs with no problems.
I agree it appears an expensive option but one I was very happy with and which provides an obvious and grin producing improvement from 3,000 rpm upwards. Second to getting all 4 road wheels pointing in the right direction when we first got the car (a finger-nail biting test drive experience), they are the only improvements made to the car. I’m not looking at pushing grip and braking to the limit so no lowered suspension or more powerful brakes required. What BBR produced was a very responsive engine that is rarely put under real pressure (red-lined at well over 7,000 rpm). Even cruising on French motorways at 80 mph, just a quick check in mirror, down a gear and a bit of accelerator pressure and you are past traffic with no effort - unachievable in its original factory build.
I’d be more interested in that .
I looked at that, but doesn’t it say for left hand drive cars only?
My update was the Super 180 and suitable for the NC 2.0. I don’t remember it being a RHD only fit as I’m sure that would have stuck in my mind. As my car has he powered hard-top, I often come across items I would like but they are only for “cloth tops”. Anything that fitted my car and not a LHD would have been a bit unique.
Unless LHD cars have a different exhaust system run or wiring set-up, I can’t see why the fit might be RHD specific. There is no reduction in engine bay space with the BBR manifold and I even have the original heat shield fitted.
Though you can buy other free flow exhaust manifolds, and I was tempted, there was often the need to drill holes or cobble up O2 sensors to satisfy your ECU. You need to remember that the MX5 is sold around the world so the default ECU map will probably “burn” anything from potato vodka to five star. Not an efficient map hence the benefit of a rolling-road set-up.
Expensive yes, but then no-one ever said running a MX5 would be cheap. This was a one-off upgrade and requires no special maintenance, fluids, belts or puts the car under undesigned stress. I did’nt have to raise the car 4 feet of the ground, reach for a drill or spanner. Instead, after just four hours with BBR, I collected a vastly improved car. How long at at what cost would it have taken to reach the same stage using a DIY pick and fix method?
I don’t think GWR have had an opportunity to test it on a RHD car and I don’t think anyone with a RHD would risk buying one. There is a steering rod in the area of the manifold on RHD cars but not sure how close it would be.
With the Super180 conversion, is the ECU mapped for a specific fuel octane or are there multiple maps selectable by the cruise control buttons?
As I knew the car was going to get a couple of rolling road sessions, I made sure all the fluids were topped up including the fuel tank from my regular supply. The mapping is fixed with no other options - my car is not fitted with cruise control but I think modding the mapping may be possible with the BBR 185 upgrade.
I drove the MX5 in France on an 1100 miles tour late last year. Quite a bit of traffic free driving on the deserted country roads where its handling and performance were utilised plus some 80’ish mph cruising on motorways to travel the longer distances.
Used a good couple of tank fulls of their higher bio-fuel content fuel. Daily consumption ranged between 35 - 38 mpg with absolutely no detrimental effect on the car that I could see.
Hi richardn
Looks just as non-MOT compliant as my emission compliant BBR system. Just for information I’ve added a picture to show my NC installation with heat shield.
Looking under the bonnet, nothing sticks out as unusual, modified or even worthy of a second glance at an open bonnet show.
Did you receive the BBR catted manifold, how does it look/sound, are you happy with it?
Interested in this as well.
Looking at the Super 180 with the catted manifold.
It wasn’t in stock in the end, and I was impatient so I went to blink and got them to fit a 4to1 and quick tune.
Did you get an extension for the O2 sensor wiring? If so, where did you get them from? Did you need an extension for both the pre and post cat sensors?
Not sure, I assume so but blink sorted it.
