Mk3 turbo conversion + info

Technical Area Forced Induction & ITB
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I have been looking at M135is, Megane 250 and other faster than my MX5 cars and thought why not get more power from the MX5 you have already invested time and money in to? It’s light, has an LSD and I know it pretty well now.

Are there any companies in the South of England, London, Kent that do MK3 turbo conversions?

Maybe buying a MK3 that has already had the turbo conversion? If it has been done by a reputable company, it should be okay :confused:

Mine is a NC1 on 52k, I know the NC1 engine is not as strong as the facelift models with their forged internals, I think they have a forged crankshaft but the NC1 is still good for 250hp right?

I did look at the 2.3 conversion but NA tuning is expensive and it doesn’t seem like a massive leap forward vs the 2.0 that I have now which is sitting at 182hp/160lbft torque.

1 Like
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It’s not south, but I’d probably take it to BBR. They are offering collection and return to you on trailers too

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I am in Kent - with an NC1 and am collecting the parts needed to convert mine to turbo as a DIY. I have a thread on here

I couldn’t see myself giving a company £5-6k when the car is only worth 3k to begin with.

So I am buying parts, as I can afford them, sharing on here what I bought and what I paid.

Once I have all the stuff here I will install it over some beers with friends and a bbq!

Luckily the dyno is only 2 miles from my house so once it’s built it’s not far to go to get mapped.

If time is a motivator then probably buying a BBR one with some miles already under it will deliver best reliability for you.

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I reckon my mx5 is worth 5500-6k but still, to spend 6k on the turbo conversion does seem like a lot of money.

Buying one pre-done with the proper paper work seems like a good way to save a bit of cash but it will be a long wait as I won’t touch any soft top versions.

With your buy what you can method, what do you reckon your total cost in parts will be? I have seen full kits and they were about £4000!

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Ball park costs tracking will be on my thread.

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Will keep an eye on it, you’re up to £1900 so far.

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I think I only have the intercooler to go that will be expensive - also I have bought a super cheap old-technology turbo, BBR etc will run a Garrett/BorgWarner so long term better reliability.

A few friends have been running these fine on other engines so as a budget effort I figured it’s worth a go. So I reckon £3k will see it done…at the moment.