Cosworth Supercharger returns as BBR-Cosworth Supercharger!

Technical Area Forced Induction & ITB
2

 I see that the Cosworth Supercharger has risen from the ashes…see the following press release:-

Brackley, Northamptonshire, 30th November 2010

Renowned Mazda MX-5 tuner BBR has joined forces with Cosworth Engineering, the premier motorsport engineering company in the UK, to deliver an exciting performance upgrade package for the latest 2.0-litre, 158 bhp Mk3 Mazda MX-5.

The BBR-Cosworth collaboration unleashes a supercharger conversion for the Mk3, 2.0-litre MX-5 that centres around a state of the art 4th generation Eaton MP62 supercharger. A compact, reliable, quiet design that’s well proven in original equipment fitments across the world, the Eaton supercharger is mated to a Cosworth designed cast integral inlet manifold, which is optimised for both performance and fuel economy.

BBR–Cosworth Mazda MX-5 MK3 supercharger specification

  • Cosworth Inlet manifold housing
  • Eaton 4th generation MP62 Supercharger
  • Intercooler (Air to water)
  • High flow calibrated injectors
  • High flow air box, with high flow air filter
  • Competition high grade hoses and fixings throughout
  • BBR Auxiliary Interceptor 2010 engine control unit (ECU) with 3-D mapping and MAP sensor
  • BBR-Cosworth identification badges
The BBR-Cosworth supercharger upgrade power increases the power output on the Mk3 Mazda MX-5 2.0-litre model to a dyno proven 235 bhp at 7130 rpm, with a healthy 190 lb.ft of torque available at 5260 rpm. Crucially the progressive nature of the power delivery means that the delicate dynamic balance of the MX-5 isn’t upset, yet naturally with a power gain of 77 bhp and a torque increase of 51 lb.ft performance is transformed for the better.

The MX5 BBRCosworth super charger system, which is exclusive to BBR, is now available to for installation at BBR’s Brackley, Northamptonshire fitting centre, located 6 miles south of the world famous Silverstone Grand Prix racing circuit.

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So Cosworth got it wrong regarding the cause of the few engine blow-ups, it was the incorrect ECU settings after all!  Seems strange that a company with their expertise would have got it so wrong…

3

 

Cosworth knew that was the cause all along but their problem was how to fix it as Cosworth supplied the software of owners to program the standard ECU and did not chose an add on to the ECU because of the bad press given to add ons in the States but it is BBR that have done the right thing and proved it works with their add on and so Cosworth are happy to sell the kits to BBR.

4

 If Cosworth knew that was the cause why did it take them approximately 9 months of investigation into the ‘blown’ engines only to recommend that all SC owners replace their pistons/con rods with upgraded items all at Cosworth’s expense? As a matter of fact, Cosworth UK never issued an ‘approved’ ECU upgrade which is why the few people who installed the SC in the UK had such a bad experience! The difference between the USA, where most of the SC’s were sold (having been produced by Cosworth USA) and the UK, is that a number of ECU tuning companies in the USA were happy to tune the ECU as required whereas no such service was available in the UK. Surely this all suggests that Cosworth do not after all have the bredth of expertise regarding SC’s / ECU’s that you would expect from a company with their reputation. Whareas BBR clearly do… 

5

You are quite right Cosworth did not have the required in house skills. The major problem that seems to have cause mis directed effort is that the US ECU is different to the UK version and that there is over 40 different programs worldwide and across the time the car has been out.

The main reason Cosworth suggested and paid for the pistons/con rods etc was at first it was felt they could not handle the power and a company the size of Cosworth has a reputation to think about and they took the approach of keeping customers happy instead of bad press. It turned out after many months investigation that this engine does not handle knock (ping) well at all and eats pistons/con rods.

As you suggest the States have far more companies tuning cars and dyno time is nowhere near as expensive as over here so most cars got setup ok.

The Cosworth supercharger was never designed for the UK market as I understand it so when MX5Parts took it on the ECU side of things was still left to the customer although Cosworth still supplied the software to tune the standard ECU.

I would be interested to know how BBR-Cosworth have managed to get around a problem Cosworth on their own had, and that is the standard ECU would not work with a piggy back ECU add on. If extra fuel was injected by the piggy back the standard ECU sensed this and removed fuel to end up back at the starting point. It was even found if programmed incorrectly the standard ECU would do that if updated using the Cosworth supplied software. The ECU appears to monitor itself more closely than ECUs in the past.

I think at the end of the day the Cosworth kit is a well engineered supercharger and the installation is as though it came from Mazda it was just waiting for someone to sort the fueling and timing side out. I hope that someone is BBR. But at the end of the day I think this kit is just to expensive.

6

is this only for the 2.0 litre? have seen some of the ebay listing for the cosworth supercharger mention the 1.8 litre as compatible? is this true?

 

and i guess the warrenty goes out of the window for it? or is it a mazda approved kit?

 

looking at having one fitted now for my mk 3.5 20th anniversary woud this all work you think?