Hello all, so a couple of Q ( I am sure very tedious and common) — short version :
Experiences with BBR supercharge kit? 224? 200? Any other thoughts?
Any sensible upgrades to along with this?
I will primarily be using this for road driving not track. British roads as you do.
Additional background, Ive loved my NC while I was driving it since 2018. However for the past 2 years its been retired to my mechanics storage, various small things needed doing - but through one thing and another plus me not needing it back immediately - suffice to say 2 years went by very quickly.
I recently slipped into full mid-life do I need a Porsche or an Aston lucid dreams - and after having consumed far too many youtube videos to that effect - decided - no.
Instead my plan, is to get the BBR Stage 2 Supercharge on it, and then generally tidy it up.
Said tidying unfortunately includes some bodywork thanks to my ‘suspected’ previous neighbour and a traffic cone.
Depending how that all goes, Id even consider some upgraded interior, as in the grand scheme of things youre not looking at crazy money.
Anyway ! A bit of a general one, Im really looking for any thoughts or inspiration.
Thanks Ian, I didnt imagine the 225 would be a wildly significant increase, and I was thinking better to do this all the way as I likely will only do it once? But would you say that the 200 is all you need?
For suspension go bbr as well? or anything else to consider?
That’s very subjective, who wouldn’t like a supercharger whine? If you want to sit in the power band on a twisty A road then (in my opinion) the Super 200 package will get you there for a good few thousand pounds less.
The BBR suspension is probably a good match.
I’d also suggest talking to someone like Paul Roddison to see what other options to achieve the kind of car you want might be available.
Lastly BBR themselves have some interesting cars available, a complete vehicle change could get you there quicker..
Its true, and something I had considered. Quite enjoy the NC I have though and put some good time in with it over the first 4 years. I feel like it deserves to be sorted out
There are mixed reviews everywhere for everything, as ever buyers should carry out their own due diligence and evaluate different suppliers. Some suppliers are better than others in presenting their shop window, it doesn’t necessarily make them the best.
In my experience, these days reviews can be barely worth anything. People get very heated about things that others may consider an entirely non-issue.
The only thing I personally saw regarding BBR, was that once you’ve had the kit fitted, theyre not particularly interested in you, I have no idea how accurate that is.
The one thing I do know, is that people are about 100x more likely to take the effort to leave a negative review than a positive one, and within that you have to allow some amount of exaggeration as well.
The amount of products I’ve bought in the past few years that had some dire reviews, but overall I thought seemed a good product and ended up being absolutely fine, is considerable.
With all that said, one of my reasons for asking about this upgrade - was to gauge opinion from anyone whose actually had it installed and their customer service experience - so Id be quite keen to hear from anyone with that information.
All in all though - I play to go ahead with this most likely - so I will come back to this and update about how that all works out, my experience with BBR - and then updates at a 6 month and 1 year later period.
I bought a BBR turbo kit and fitted it myself for my first NC about 8 maybe 9 years ago now. It is only used on the road and it’s great fun. For my second NC which I bought with a knackered engine I fitted a 2.5 duratec which I absolutely love. It feels fully standard to drive but with a lot more torque. Midrange feels similar to the turbo but without the turbo’s top end. All in all it shows there’s plenty of different options out there and pretty much one to fit everyone.
I had the BBR200 fitted 9 years ago and it’s a decent improvement but not significantly noticeable day to day especially with low revs. But I use the car occasionally on track when the revs build its noticeably quicker than similar standard mx5s down the straights. Cars been totally reliable so never needed to contact BBR again but like stated I’ve read reviews a bit concerning as I’m considering the supcharger for next year.
So in the past week, was chatting to a friend whose also an MX owner, hes had the Stage 2 Supercharger and was talking about that exact issue and why he ended up going with that upgrade.
From what I’ve read the Turbo might be better for low down tourq and daily driving the super charger is better for track and revs. Although I’m sure the stage 2 SC will be a great piece of kit I’d be very interested to hear how it goes, my pockets would only go to stage 1 supercharger
There’s definitely a degree of trepidation here, because as many know the NC is such a well balanced piece of driving kit even at stock. Likely between now and spring I will hit up a few people I know, try to get some drive time with cars that have had an upgrade, maybe even a few test drives in other performance cars to get some perspective.
Ultimately, its always been a great drive even as it is, and I wouldn’t want to go through the entire process and end up with something that felt wrong.
When I wrote that first post here it was out of a desire to bring the car back out, and get a new but fulfilling experience out of it, and having spent time to reflect, I think I do need to at the very least figure a way to determine if thats the right choice before committing to it.
I would agree with Tinman statement that the Turbo is better suited for road use and low to mid range acceleration and torque, this is what I love about the turbo and it is great to live with on a day to day basis. Not that I ever use mine day to day basis.
So as Turbo’s are now getting mentioned. My daily is a 435D so in terms of how that feels I think I’ve got the Turbo side covered.
As I said tho, I think the best thing before committing hard, is try a few things Ive not before to try and make a more informed decision, as beyond that its really just guesswork
