Hi, I have a 2013 NC and am looking to undertake a naturally aspirated power upgrade. BBR do some packages. Has anyone applied any of these, and any feedback. They offer a catted 4 to 1 exhaust manifold upgrade which is said to be MOT compliant. I assume I should include this ?
Interested in this myself and specifically from BBR as it’s much closer to me.
Any feedback at all, especially with the catted manifold?
Guess a few of us are interested bbr cat manifold + remap around 1200 pounds that pushes out around 185bhp at 7000rpm what iam interested in is a better driving car not going to be around the 7k rpm especially with the misses in the car my days of raging a car every were as gone …more into spirited driving …cruising so not sure what would do for me told a remap on its own would be a waste of money…
I might visit BBR tomorrow and will post any feedback. I too have been told that an ECU remap without at least changing the 4 to 1 exhaust manifold is not really much. BBR offer three naturally aspirated packages I will find out about : super 180, super 185 and super 200. The highest natural aspirated power uprate is the super 225, but that is considerably more expensive. In any way, I am not looking for top speed but more power when accelerating from traffic lights and when overtaking. Mt experience of the latter is that some people seem to take it as a challenge to drive faster when you try to overtake them, and I’d like a bit more power at those revs.
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Apart from the trafic light Grand Prix bit, that’s what most of us want too. The conventional and well documented route to now has been to fit a 4:1 NON-cat manifold of which there are many to choose from, butget £450-ish) and then re-map of which (I think) the first £200 is simply the licence fee for first time you do this.
I fitted a Racing Beat manifold plus a re-map from BLINK near Chester, 184 BHP and a delightful sound c/w spits and pops.
The end driving experience is ideal for enthusiastic country lanes although since I’ve seen BBR lates gorgeous throttle-body unit I’m dreaming again . . .
Three years ago in December I had the BBR manifold swap, remap and a Non-BBR replacement back box fitted to my NC1. It made about 188hp at the time. Feels much more sprightly on the road and hasn’t lost any of its OEM characteristics (not that you’d expect it to with a few dozen hp more…). On a run, fuel economy is the same or perhaps slightly improved too. Obviously with spirited driving it dips. I like that the package releases a noticeable amount of torque and was the main reason I wanted to go for the upgrade.
I felt that was a good compromise between price and performance and am really pleased that I had the upgrade done.
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Be nice if they offered a group buy discount if there were a few interested 
Another vote for Paul Roddison Roddisons Motorsport Sheffield S9 1US
0114 244 5300
Keith
I think the BBR super 185 package basically replaces the 421 exhaust manifold, centre section and back box, along with ECU remap and hi flow air filter.
Sounds like what you have and gives ~188 bhp at 7,000 revs.
However, I like the shape of the power curve all the way up to 7,000. I rarely will be at those revs, probably most likely in the 3,000 to 5,000 range for overtaking.
A couple of questions (you have already addressed my concern on mpg).
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Did you have a new cat fitted for MOT compliance ?
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Is there an appreciable increase in engine noise (I’d prefer if there was not…)
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Did your insurance go up a lot ?
Thanks for your advice/information.
Hi,
I did not originally have the centre section replaced but later had this swapped for the BBR version so this is essentially now the Super 185.
- No issues passing MOT
- Noise wise, I have a Racing Beat rear silencer which is fairly loud and does drone at certain revs when it gets hot. I haven’t heard how this compares to the BBR versions, nor Cobalt (this is sometimes recommended across Forums), but my guess is the Racing Beat is one of the louder ones.
- Hard to say for insurance as situation dependent but I do not remember it being an unreasonable increase. All of my mods are declared. I think Adrian Flux were competitive in this regard.
Thanks
Hi There,
I have a 2012 NC with BBRs Super 200 and Ohlins R&T suspension which we’ve covered around 35k miles in since the conversion.
BBR have been great for us as they’re local. I went straight for the Super 200 but have not touched the rest of the exhaust system, its possibly a touch noisier but its definitely not intrusive. The car has done regular european road trips since the conversion with no concerns about noise. MPG has got a little worse when pushing on or on short trips, however longer trips I’d say MPG has possibly improved a little. I reasonably regulalry use the car on track and for autotesting which skews my average MPG readings but your welcome to see them here on fuelly
No issues at MOT time, and insurance is a little tricky as there are so many variables but it possibly increased ~ £200 a year.
I’d love to go to the Super 225 package however the cost vs benefit is a little tricky to justify (especially after the investment on the Super 200) and long term reliability is a concern for me.
BBR often have converted cars available to drive so you can experience them so give them a call.
Rich
Hi all. I stopped by briefly at BBR today. Here are some updates
- They won’t be able to offer a group discount for mods undertaken in their premises, but if you buy on online to do yourself, there is a 5% reduction if you enter the code NC Europe (…I Think…).
- When I asked them about catted vs non catted manifolds, they said for road driving one would need a catted manifold for MOT purposes, but very often people using their cars for track events only leave off the cat.
- As I am mainly interested in more acceleration rather than top speed, they would recommend the super 200 package. In addition to ECU remap, catted 421 manifold and K&N filter, this package also replaces the camshafts. The new ones have larger lobes and thus allow more air to be drawn in for more power at low revs.
- Quite a few people have said on longer journeys mpg is not affected (and indeed may improve slightly), but will obviously go down with a lot of accelerations or high speed racing.
- A catted exhaust manifold seems to cause no problems with MOT.
- Probable increase to insurance, best to talk with your insurance agent.
- If you don’t change the back-box there shouldn’t be an increase to cabin noise. (I am not keen on cabin noise increase as I do long trips, and having ‘got my girl’, I don’t need to impress others…
- ‘The Architect’ has said one can go try out some of the options on cars they keep in stock. I was not aware of this, and may call them and stop by another day to compare them.
That’s all for now,
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My understanding( which could be wrong) is that when you change cams to improve engine breathing at higher revs to increase hp you are generally trading off efficiency at lower rpm. This suggests to me that BBR may be talking b/s in order to sell one of their more expensive options.
Please discuss
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Hmmm interesting.
Firstly I wish BBR would be transparent with statements on manifolds. You only have to read statements on there web site which are conflicting with regards to being MOT compliment etc etc. This has been discussed at length on this forum. 4-1 and the catted one.
NOT one person has ever stated the car has failed an MOT by putting on a 4-1 non catted manifold.(I have strong views on that subject 
).
With regards to cam shafts, as long as they suit you that’s fine. But as already stated there will always be a trade off with upgrading them. You may achieve more horses at one end but you will loose some where else perhaps in the drive ability of the engine/car. As they say a trade off. I think you are spot on and need to drive one of the cars to make sure it suits you. Good luck with your adventure
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I had the BBR Super 200 upgrade plus the Koni suspension mods done on a 2009 NC. It transformed the car for both road and track use. I also upgraded the brakes and added some lighter weight rims.
I thoroughly recommend it and the service from BBR.
Well, there you go positive waves
Isn’t the cat issue more to do with it physically being removed as opposed to the emissions?
Basically if a clued up tester spots it’s not there, it’s a fail, regardless of an emisions pass.
Very unlikely as evidence suggests, but that’s my understanding.
Can someone explain something which is probably obvious to you guys, but not to me at present. When travelling at a steady speed, the engine is connected through the clutch, gears, propshaft and differential to the rear road wheels. Thus the engine has to rotate at a certain speed to achieve a certain road speed in a given gear. Using the standard MX5 gear ratios, it is not hard to work out (with the tyre diameter I have), that the engine has to rotate at ~ 3,200 rpm in 6th gear at 70mph. As all power uprates push up the engine power at all RPMs, does this mean the engine is delivering more power to travel at the same speed as previously ? Seems counter-intuitive, but there is probably some obvious flaw in my current understanding.
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Travelling at steady speed and load you would use the same power. This might mean you have a less throttle to acheive the same thing in a higher output car. The power would be more apparent when accelerating as the increased power and torque would allow slightly quicker moves to a higher speed.
Important thing to understand is that the 5 is a sporty car which is meant to be worked through the gears with plenty of revs to achieve max performance. It is entirely capable of being embarassed torque wise by a black 07 plate a3 tdi with over-tinted windows and a vague smell of cannabis.
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