My 1.8 mk3.5 gives a noticeable extra acceleration kick at 3500 revs, particularly in 2nd and 3rd gear. is this normal or should it pull like that all the time.
Normal, they do have that characteristic.
That’s good to know. My mk3 sport gets that extra kick about 3200rpm, and it’s a lot more noticeable when its cold, it’s barely there when everything is up to temp. I didn’t know if it was an issue, as I rarely hear anyone talk about it.
Can you explain why it does that?
I think it’s mapped into the throttle buttery operation. Maybe something to do with a gradual warm up or something.
I know of someone who’s had it taken out with a remap.
Hmm, with the normal V-Power mine has lots of pull all through the rev range.
The only time I’ve noticed a mid range ‘kick’ it was when it had a tankful of Tesco regular and it actually seemed to be just a bit flat in low revs and then woke up. I thought at the time it was the VVT kicking in.
i think it’s by design and more noticeable when cold (emissions?), the fly by wire throttle is initially restrictive in lower gears ( one of the benefits of a remap is to alter the throttle response to pedal inputs) plus the inlet manifold has some jiggery pokery to help spread the torque band across the rev range. Obviously there’s no VVT on the 1.8
That’s exactly what I thought too. I feel the kick no matter what octane petrol I put in it.
If you want to know why the car does this, then get a dyno check. The torque band starts lower than than the H.P., and both gradually climb through the revs till they meet at around 5,500 rpm, then they continue in sync till you get to around 6,500 rpm, when the torque starts to fall below the H.P. band. Red line is 7,200 rpm, when the engine will cut out momentarily, so don’t go there!
H.P. sounds good, but it’s the engine torque that provides the umph!
Low torque at low revs is why new owners complain the MX5 has no power, in comparison to most other cars, but you have to learn how to drive it, using the gears and revs to get moving.
Club motto has always been - “Drive it like you stole it”!
On the other hand, when town driving, I find 2,000 revs in gears up to fourth (6 gears) give me adequate power to be civil and obey the law - out on the open road I tend to revert to normal - - - - - 
Correct - VVT was discontinued after the NB facelift. All Mk3 1.8’s are lower powered than the Facelift.
My 2.0 NC Coupe Sport has a real kick at 3500rpm, the variable cam kicking in. Can hear it through exhaust note too, starts to really scream : )
As Stevieh and Robbie said, it is just a choke style function that will disappear as the engine warms.
Gerry, Power, (HP,) is the rate of doing work, and is a function of torque at an RPM. (how much you can twist, how quickly) The power and torque curves will always cross at 5,252rpm when using a traditional HP, lb/ft torque calculation.
Mmmmm, buttery throttle operation. Yum.
Hopefully a couple of pictures firstly 1.8L and then the 2.0L - note the VVT controller just in front and right of the oil filler.
Downloaded an NC Mazda brochure from Bourne Road Mazda earlier - watched late movie so slight delay - - - -(joys of retirement!)
This does NOT state either engine has VVT, and the displacement is listed at 1798 cc for the 1.8 and 1999cc for the 2L. PS figures are 126 for the 1.8L at 6500 rpm and 160 PS for the standard 2L @ 6700 rpm.
The NB facelift 1.8L had a displacement of 1840 CC, a PS of 146 @ 6500 rpm with VVT.
Conclusion, if the NC 1.8L has VVT then it ain’t working too well The 2.0L engine has more displacement and one would expect an increase on the PS figure without VVT.
You can see the VVT actuator on the 2.0L below, at the front end of the intake cam.
On the NC, there is no VVT on the 1.8 (L8 engine) and there is VVT on the 2.0(LF engine).
my 1.8 at full throttle from go has no surge but is constant power getting better as the revs increase; however despite no VVT, at half throttle it suddenly “surges” at about 3500rpm. It’s been the same since i bought it, always assumed that was normal.
Yes, it’s normal. See post #2
My 2006 2.0ltr pulls smoothly through the rev range. Bags of low down torque make it easy to drive in town on 4th gear (out of 5). On the open road take up is smooth although the noise from the exhaust pipes at 3200rpm becomes music to my ears. Wifey claims that’s when the big grin appears.