hi everyone i am just looking for some advice
i am thinking of getting a turbo fitted on my 1.6 mexie mk1 [90bhp] and i wondered if anyone else had got one done and how it all went [ie were there any problems or did it make the car fly]
many thanks
matt
sorry i forgot i am thinking of getting it done at bbr
has anyone had any experiences there
Hi Matt - as no one else has offered advice, I’ll get the ball rolling by suggesting that your car is perhaps the least best of the mk1 MX-5s to go forced induction.
The 90bhp 1.6 was the ‘poverty spec’ model introduced in 1995 by Mazda, to encourage buyers towards the faster and better equipped 1.8 which came on sale in '93.
Of course you (or BBR) could turbo your car to some good effect - but I’m not sure that the gains would be worthwhile, when you consider that you could drop in one of the last mk1 1800 engines which put out (when new) 132 bhp.
And actually, BBR sounds a great idea, but they’re pretty well at the top of the game when it comes to MX-5 FI in the UK. Which means i) that they may not wish to do the work on your car (or will, but without any sort of guarantee), and ii) they will be expensive.
Your choice of course, and I have no experience of turboing, of BBR, or of the 90bhp '5 - but I’m just suggesting that if you’re insistent on going boost, there may be better cars to use as a starting point. I hope other, more experienced owners will be along to comment shortly.
HTH Steve
Hi steve thanks for the advise I must admit I am not a 100 per cent sure about the turbo route
I might have to sell it and look for a 1.8
many thanks
Barney
Just to let you know that I have a UK Mazda 1.8i Mark 1 , 1995. The engine is very sound, at about 45k miles. I am just about to replace it with a Jaguar 3 litre V6 through the Rocketeer conversion. I havent thought about what I will do with the old engine, I will probably sell it. The engine is in good condition. If you are interested i am happy give you right of firsat refusal. As to the price I will do a little research as to what such an engine will fetch. I expect the engine will be available mid April.
hi thanks for offering me the engine i am not sure what to do now
i will have a think
many thanks
Your car has the detuned 88bhp engine but that is not the end of the world for turboing in my opinion.
Most of the horsepower can be recouped with a change in cams. The pistons are different too but a much bigger job to change and relatively small power gain.
Not sure of the exact figures but most of the horsepower lost would be restored with the simple step of fitting the 115bhp cams. I am guessing you would be up to around 110bhp.
Given BBRs experience and knowledge in this area I would speak to them to confirm but on the face of it, your engine with a cam change would be almost as good for turboing as the 115bhp Eunos/early MK1 car.
I would do some research first re cam change and likely outcome. Upgrade the cams if it makes sense and run for a while before thinking about moving on to the turbo.
thanks for the advice i will ring bbr
Was that specific mill not actually the preferred base back in the day anyway due to it’s low CR?
Summat to do with being essier to set up and avoid pre-ignition?