RE: Driven: BBR Mazda MX-5 Anniversary Edition

[Tahiti]

The price of the BBR car sounds reasonable to me.

That said, the highlight of this topic has been that I've discovered people have fitted V8's to their 5's. Madness, and I love it.

[PublicDrifter]

I love the idea of this package but it does come in a bit pricey.

This makes a Woodsport converted Mk1 MR2 (be it a 2.0 turbo 3S-GTE, a 3L V6 1MZ or the mental 2GR Evora engine or even a celica 190 2ZZ) seem like a much more appealing proposition.

Woodsports work seems to be priced at £2000 plus engine and from experience is of high quality.

I've got a 3S-STE powered AW11 MR2 and it is simply brutal. 996 turbo / VX220 VXR performance for ~ £4000.

[hornetrider]

There's a very positive review of this BBR in this months Evo (with Stratos on the cover).

I for one am still waiting for reviews if the supercharged Mk3!!!

[youngsyr]

Perhaps the Evo wasn't the best example, but I still think people who believe £8K is reasonable for a c.20 year old car with a lick of paint, seat covers and a turbo bolted on need their head examined.

You can pick up a 5 year old S2000 for that kind of money, which is a hell of a lot more car than a 1990 MX5!

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2310408.htm

The £12k that the bells and whistles BBR MX-5 Mk 1 costs gets you in a 3.2 Boxter S:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2065180.htm

Edited by youngsyr on Tuesday 28th December 12:33

[magic torch]

youngsyr said:

You can pick up a 5 year old S2000 for that kind of money, which is a hell of a lot more car than a 1990 MX5!

I disagree

MX5 = One of, if not the best, cars I've ever owned.

S2000 = THE worst car I've ever owned.

I don't see the age of the cars as relevant. Eight grand of fun, or eight grand of misery....

[e21BMW]

I worked for Mazda UK and thrashed the development BBR car around Kent for many, many miles prior to their release. They were great fun and there was little in the way of competition back then. Nowadays however, there's way more choice.
I still have an MX5, a 1.8s which cost just £900. I'm sure I could get the whole makeover done for a lot less than £7k.

[Diesel Meister]

PublicDrifter said:

I love the idea of this package but it does come in a bit pricey.

This makes a Woodsport converted Mk1 MR2 (be it a 2.0 turbo 3S-GTE, a 3L V6 1MZ or the mental 2GR Evora engine or even a celica 190 2ZZ) seem like a much more appealing proposition.

Woodsports work seems to be priced at £2000 plus engine and from experience is of high quality.

I've got a 3S-STE powered AW11 MR2 and it is simply brutal. 996 turbo / VX220 VXR performance for ~ £4000.

AW11s FTW.

But a 2GR conversion will be similar to this BBR offering (albeit significantly rarer, faster and nicer sounding, if also slightly more dangerous) unless you're doing the work yourself

[the_smalls]

I think it's a great concept. The devil, as always, is in the detail - what does the warranty cover? What does fully stripped mean? etc etc

[zakelwe]

If you look at some of the German tuning houses the cost for getting big horsepower is quite a lot, but I saw this page recently for the Corvette ZR1

http://www.katechengines.com/street_performance/ve...

For the stage 3 that is about £5000 which is pretty good value for the final amount of bhp, which is approaching 800. The base car in the USA is about £70k at the moment so for about the same price as a 997 with some options you can have something rather ridiculous.

Andy

Edited by zakelwe on Saturday 1st January 11:16

[buccal]

So has anyone taken the plunge with a BBR car?

A good review in evo recently.

[chris watton]

I think the price for that kit is quite reasonable - but I would have thought that if your car is 10/20 years old, then surely you wouldn't trust the extra bhp using standard suspension, tired old bushes and brakes system?

I would have to get these handling and safety features addressed first (or should be a required option with the kit), along with a gearbox and clutch upgrade - a Quaife LSD would be good too, as these are as good as electronic traction control.

Having said that, if you love your car, I think it's worth it - these cars are made, after all, for driving and how they make you feel. If it is well sorted and all important parts upgraded, then age isn't an issue (although I do know that in the UK, the newer the car, the better it is, and the richer the owner is, in people's minds....)

[Kaizer]

I'm on my second MX5, one of the best handling car I have driven. Once I have enough spare cash, I will go with the BBR upgrade.

The turbo conversion alone is £5k fitted, or £4k if you want to DIY. Both with warranty, so not bad value IMO.

The car is so sample that other upgrade parts can be change by yourself, and do it when ever you wish, cheaper too.

[andy97]

A race prepared version would be good, if you could find a series that would take it?

[trashy]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread.

I've got one of these fantastic anniversary conversions on my '93 Eunos S-Limited and was wondering if anyone else on Pistonheads has one?

Mine is used for both road and track and despite "only" having the BBR Interceptor 2000 piggy-back ECU, the car starts, idles and drives at least as well as my previous Adaptronic/Megasquirt fitted MX5s.

[dickyf]

Did BBR sell many of these?? I would be curious if any are available to buy 2nd hand...