Hoping I can get some feedback in here. I have given up on looking at a new car and instead pretty much decided to speak to BBR regarding their Stage 2 Supercharged conversion for the 2.0 ND1.
The car is a daily and my only car so wanted to reach out and see if anyone else in here was running a Stage 2 as their daily car. I’m hoping to reach out to BBR soon to arrange (if possible a quick test drive) and talk through numbers but have had favourable insurance quotes and almost ready to hit the button. I would be surprised if I didn’t love the drive but thinking of the practicalities…
Hope you are aware that you will have to change the gearbox to an NC/Fiat 124 Spyder type including a BBR produced bell housing/gearbox adapter plate and finally change the ND2 differential to a Fiat 124 Spyder differential (to keep the gear ratios sensible). All this in addition to the basic supercharger conversion. The ND gearbox will just not cope with the torque produced by a supercharger conversion.
Yes you have to bare it in mind that the ND gearbox is its weakest link BUT there are plenty of ND’s out there with forced induction and many miles of happy motoring with no issue… Its not fair to say they ALL fail…
Although the gearbox used to be a concern my logic now is if it happens we can address it at that point. I am running a stage 2 clutch, ultra light fly and drive ‘enthusiastically’ which all put extra strain on the gearbox as is but yet to have an issue. I appreciate a supercharger would add further strain to the box but then you can’t always plan what will happen with a modified car…
Agree with to a certain extent with both of the above. The ND1 gearbox had a number of iterations during it’s lifespan as a result of a number of failures due to the increase in torque seen by the ND gearbox compared to the NC gearbox. This increase was a result of gearing changes in the ND gearbox as consequence of the ND requiring a smaller differential with a reduced gear ratio for lightness and space envelope reasons. Failures were mainly seen in cars used in motorsport but also in some road going cars. You may have one of the later gearboxes, which may just cope with the significant increase in torque (from 157 lb.ft standard up to 216 lb.ft stage 2 supercharged) and be lucky enough not to trash your gearbox. If it does, as you say, you can deal with it if it happens. You can just either get another new ND gearbox or the BBR gearbox conversion kit. All said, BBR would not develop and offer a gearbox conversion kit ( BBR MX-5 ND NC Gearbox Conversion Set – BBR GTi if they did not have a ready market for it.
I was only trying to bring your attention to the possible additional costs of the Stage 2 Supercharger Conversion but if this is not an issue for you, fair enough
Mine is running a V5 gearbox, its been turbocharged for approx 5.5k miles so far and it gets driven hard often. Mine needed a stage 1 clutch as it was slipping in every gear before I even made it 20 miles from BBR. The stage 1 clutch does make it a heavier gear change but apart from that the car can be driven hard or like a standard car, its still very daily’able. I wouldn’t go putting in an NC gearbox just for the sake of it, Neil tells me they have customer cars running much higher power figures (circa 400bhp) still using ND gearboxes. Gearbox cooling and servicing are more important i think, my oil gets changed annually regardless of low mileage (last year only 1600 miles).
Same one fitted to mine, i’d recommend it even on a standard car. You can also go down the route of oil coolers but they aren’t readily available off the shelf in the UK.
I’m dailying a Super 200 and previously dailied an NA with an MP62 cold side supercharger. I think you’ll be fine for comfort and durability as long as you take it for what it is: a bit snug, a bit noisy, and not a lot of luggage space. You’re obviously doing that, or you’d be in an SUV like most other commuters these days. As others have said, you may ultimately have gearbox trouble. I’m ’self insuring’ on the basis that a late fairly low mileage gearbox can be had for £700ish if needs be.
