igratton

Well,

It seems we've found what looks like a nice MX-5 turbo to replace my wifes Punto GT Turbo.

The spec is roughly as follows:

Jap Spec 1998 (Series 2) on an R in White
29,000 miles
Black hard roof + std soft top
Sport version with 6-speedbox and LSD etc.
Ohlins coilovers all round
Upper and lower front strut braces
Rollover bar
Blitz Induction Kit
HKS Exhaust
HKS Turbo Conversion.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of turbo charged MX-5 ???? My research shows there appears to be 3 companies offering turbo conversions.

1. BBR (British Brodie Racing i think) - Phase 1 kit about 165bhp, Phase 2 kit about 235bhp
2. Official Mazda Turbo conversion - MX-5 SP ??? Auzzies only approx 220bhp???
3. HKS Bolt on kit - approx 170bhp)

I have some underbonnet photos of the above car and it deffo has the HKS conversion. Uses a baby Garret T25 and NO INTERCOOLER - yep - the snail of the turbo just has a pipe connecting straight round to the throttle body. The system uses a mini HKS FC fuel controller to convince the injectors to add a bit more for the turbo.

Ideally I would like to get my hands on a factory spec SP - but I don't think there are any in this country (someone prove me wrong please ). I am a little concerned about the lack of intercooler on this system - I think they only run about 7psi of preasure but even so - the charge temps must be holding things back.

Can anyone offer any advice on these turbo conversions.

The car is currently stat up in West Lothian (south of E/bro) and I'm in Derby - its a long way to travel unless I know its worth a proper look.

you can see detalis of the car

http://www.smartycars.com/calder/det...8&Dealer_ID=29

I think the car is expensive as advertised - for 3.5K more you can get a brand spanker UK 1.8i Sport.

Thanks in Advance

Ian

New To Scoob

Ian, do a search on Calders, there has been some discussions about them in the past, look in the dealers and third party section. I am just passing on some advice I'll let the previous threads do the arguing about the dealer so please don't flame me for this.

igratton

No flames

I don't want to drive from derby to scotland unless i am 100% sure I like the car, trust the dealer etc. I will try asking if they will trailor the car down to me and I'll pay for their petrol etc. would save me a long long trip - there would be nothing worse than getting there to find a shed.

14,500rpm

AFAIK the official Mazda turbo and the BBR kit are one and the same, I think you will be lucky to find one of either tho.

Other people make turbo kits for the MX5, most notably Greddy (1.6 only I think) and Flyin Miata in the US. The Flyin Miata ones seem quite popular in the US and certainly look to be well developed and comprehensive. The HKS kit this car has does indeed come without an intercooler but some people do plumb in their own (usually Saab ones). For the money it may be worth while investigating buying a UK car and adding the HKS turbo yourself (available from MX5 Parts).

Also check out the Miata forums for lots of useful info.

[Edited by 14,500rpm - 6/24/2003 1:53:08 PM]

mikelmr

I thought the only Mazda approved kit was the Sebring Supercharger kit ... not a turbo.

14,500rpm

no, a (very) few were made to celebrate Mazda's win at Le Mans 24hr - more here. They should be easy to spot as they are painted green and orage, as per the 787B.

mikelmr

You learn somthing new every day ... Never seen one of those before. I would have though they'd have done a special edition RX7 though.

mikelmr

after thinking that through, they were just winding up the 2nd gens at that point and bringing out the 3rd gens. So I suppose the MX5 was the only choice

[Edited by mikelmr - 6/24/2003 3:26:21 PM]

Paul_M

You won't be able to turn the boost up without an I/C - it would det like crazy! Seems to be skimping a bit having a turbo'd petrol car without an I/C, even at 7PSI I'd imagine the charge would get pretty hot on warm days.

New To Scoob

Another piece on the missing IC, I had a 309GTi turbo technics, that only ran 9psi of boost and that was fitted with an IC it also had the pistons machined at TT as part of the conversion so as to lower the compression ratio. Didn't BBR do a supercharger kit for the MX-5?
Must be chuking loads of fuel in there to try and cool things down and stop the detting, also remember it's a Jap import they used 100 or 102 ron fuel so I don't think it'll thank you for chucking 98ron at it at best.

[Edited by New To Scoob - 6/24/2003 5:29:01 PM]

R1916v

The BBR kit was the official mazda kit, a lady round the corner has a red one, very nice.

Her husband has a vaquish though lol, even better.

14,500rpm

The static CR on the MX5 is quite low to start with (a lot lower than the XU Pug engine) and as it is basically a turbo engine without the turbo so it should cope OK at this low boost level.

I don't think BBR ever did a s/charger, AFAIK the only widely available one is from Jackson Racing (which again goes without a standard intercooler).

Did the 309 TT not have the 5/10psi switch in the dash? My 205 did

New To Scoob

14,500, didn't know that the MX-5 ran a low comp ratio m8, learn something new everyday , my 309 actually ran a TT kit for the 1.6GTi so there was no switch in the dash for varying the boost it was just set at 9/10psi permanent. The reason for using the 1.6 kit was that there was no other kits left in the country at the time and the engine builder I used had this one sitting on the shelf it had been ordered for a guy a year previous (whilst TT were still making the last of the kits) he paid a deposit and never went back to get it fitted so I got it for a really good price including a total engine rebuild

14,500rpm

Yeah, I *think* it's based on a Mazda 323 turbo engine, all iron with oil sprays for the pistons and everything. Very undertuned as standard.

Sounds like that guys loos was your gain Most people (except me cos I'm tight) would probably have it on high boost all the time anyway. There was a notacable difference between 5psi and 10psi, but even on the low setting the difference between it and a standard 205 was quite noticable, mostly with regard to the feeling of 'gruntyness' it gave it.

ADL-ATR

company called pow-r on the web offer this conversion i think speak to them, bloke is really helpful.