Just bought an MX5 Mk3
Discussion
So!
Bog standard MX5, MK3 2.0 sport. I think I got a little bit of a bargain...
2005, 67k fsh 2 owners - £3.5k - HPI clear
I just spoke with BBR and booked the car in for a Stage 1 Turbo conversion and the spring and shock conversion, anything else to consider, like the rear silencer, brake pads or tyres?
I'll do about 3-4 track days a year, mostly though it will be road driving.
Quite excited!
Bog standard MX5, MK3 2.0 sport. I think I got a little bit of a bargain...
2005, 67k fsh 2 owners - £3.5k - HPI clear
I just spoke with BBR and booked the car in for a Stage 1 Turbo conversion and the spring and shock conversion, anything else to consider, like the rear silencer, brake pads or tyres?
I'll do about 3-4 track days a year, mostly though it will be road driving.
Quite excited!
hobobaggins said:
bbr can put their own exhaust tips on a standard backbox which looks better but doesn't make it louder so you might want to look at something aftermarket. Standard brakes are fine for track as long as they are in good condition, done a few track days in mine now and never had issues. keep us updated as it sounds like the start of a good car!
Thanks for the reply. I'll post up pics when I get her and some post modification pics!I'm hunting insurance now and its difficult with the mods!
Hello! For those interested!
So I picked up the car today - 2.0 Sport
2005, 67k and HPI clear, £3500!
First thoughts are good, nice bodywork apart from two dings, a scuff on the rear bumper, bonnet paint blistering, 3 places and this: (I'll get a quote from Chips Away)
The lady who I got it from bought the car from Mazda 3 years go and since then had it serviced locally, no record of course.
She had an oil change in January but as the car is now 11 years old what should be done to bring it up to date. I'm thinking:
Brake fluid
Renew coolant
Diff oil
Gearbox oil
Engine oil
Filters
Driving home, motorway, the tyres made an awful roar, mostly over the horrid concrete sections of road. The previous owner had new tyres put on, Maxxis Victra Sport so I'm going to take them off... I found Kwik Fit had a really good deal on Michelin Pilot Sport 4 at the mo, fitted at £430, so that's this Friday afternoon's job.
I really hope these cure the noise. I also found the wheel balancing off, there was noticeable speed wobble at around 70mph, balancing will help.
BBR is booked in 14th May they'll have the car for a couple of weeks; suspension, stage 1 turbo and hopefully the servicing.
Baaaahhh, Super Sport silencer of their Touring silencer or just stick with stock, the vid of the BBR MX Sport exhaust sounds good!
I took a B Road to home for a few miles and I can see this car's potential, really looking forward to the tweaks!
That's it for now!
EDIT: Quite a few have complained about the noise http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Maxxis/MA-Z1-Vic...
So I picked up the car today - 2.0 Sport
2005, 67k and HPI clear, £3500!
First thoughts are good, nice bodywork apart from two dings, a scuff on the rear bumper, bonnet paint blistering, 3 places and this: (I'll get a quote from Chips Away)
The lady who I got it from bought the car from Mazda 3 years go and since then had it serviced locally, no record of course.
She had an oil change in January but as the car is now 11 years old what should be done to bring it up to date. I'm thinking:
Brake fluid
Renew coolant
Diff oil
Gearbox oil
Engine oil
Filters
Driving home, motorway, the tyres made an awful roar, mostly over the horrid concrete sections of road. The previous owner had new tyres put on, Maxxis Victra Sport so I'm going to take them off... I found Kwik Fit had a really good deal on Michelin Pilot Sport 4 at the mo, fitted at £430, so that's this Friday afternoon's job.
I really hope these cure the noise. I also found the wheel balancing off, there was noticeable speed wobble at around 70mph, balancing will help.
BBR is booked in 14th May they'll have the car for a couple of weeks; suspension, stage 1 turbo and hopefully the servicing.
Baaaahhh, Super Sport silencer of their Touring silencer or just stick with stock, the vid of the BBR MX Sport exhaust sounds good!
I took a B Road to home for a few miles and I can see this car's potential, really looking forward to the tweaks!
That's it for now!
EDIT: Quite a few have complained about the noise http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Maxxis/MA-Z1-Vic...
Edited by knitware on Monday 25th April 22:48
Edited by knitware on Monday 25th April 23:29
£50, bargain!
Thanks' for the reply's on the back of which I rang BBR and spent more money.
I’m also steadily going through my list of parts needed to freshen the car up a little.
Floor mats, OE gear knob and other bits of new trim plus wipers.
I visited ChipsAway with a list of minor touch-ups, rear bumper, tiny front bumper scratch, door and front wing dent and to fix the rear wheel inner arches. I have blistering on the bonnet which being aluminium won’t repair very well, according to ChipsAway. So the quote…£985, yup, really, I was thinking £500 but in hindsight I’m not sure why.
I’ve ordered paint and I’ll do the arches myself and I’ll take off the door panel and push out the dent. I’ll fill in the front scratch and see what I can do with the rear. The car has swirls and light scratches on most panels but I have a dual action polishes and all the right polishes and pads so I’m looking forward to making this car sparkle.
After a thought and looking at BBR’s website and weighing up exhaust options I rang them to ask for a full oil and fluid change, diff, gearbox, coolant etc. I then asked about the Stage 2 Turbo conversion and with little persuasion I opted to have that fitted. Neil of BBR suggested the clutch is quite aggressive but I would soon get used to it. I’m not sure what that means, does anyone have an uprated clutch on anything?
Thanks’ for your offer RenesisEvo, have you had anything else done or is the rest of the car stock?
I’ll take pics of changes as we all like pics!
Thanks' for the reply's on the back of which I rang BBR and spent more money.
I’m also steadily going through my list of parts needed to freshen the car up a little.
Floor mats, OE gear knob and other bits of new trim plus wipers.
I visited ChipsAway with a list of minor touch-ups, rear bumper, tiny front bumper scratch, door and front wing dent and to fix the rear wheel inner arches. I have blistering on the bonnet which being aluminium won’t repair very well, according to ChipsAway. So the quote…£985, yup, really, I was thinking £500 but in hindsight I’m not sure why.
I’ve ordered paint and I’ll do the arches myself and I’ll take off the door panel and push out the dent. I’ll fill in the front scratch and see what I can do with the rear. The car has swirls and light scratches on most panels but I have a dual action polishes and all the right polishes and pads so I’m looking forward to making this car sparkle.
After a thought and looking at BBR’s website and weighing up exhaust options I rang them to ask for a full oil and fluid change, diff, gearbox, coolant etc. I then asked about the Stage 2 Turbo conversion and with little persuasion I opted to have that fitted. Neil of BBR suggested the clutch is quite aggressive but I would soon get used to it. I’m not sure what that means, does anyone have an uprated clutch on anything?
Thanks’ for your offer RenesisEvo, have you had anything else done or is the rest of the car stock?
I’ll take pics of changes as we all like pics!
Gandahar said:
The above is also with BBR turbo so it is a good like for like. The Touring version of the back box would be too close to stock in my view and add weight.
I have the racing beat 4 kg exhaust, which with the turbo, in the video above is not that much more noisy, but if you want something between the BBR and that then they do this
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-P...
50% heavier due to more baffling. They do a stock to single and then race to street half way through
Problem with all these youtube vids it all depends on your speakers and also what they video it on of course .....
If you are doing trackdays though I don't think anyone of these gets near the limits with a turbo.
Hi, I have the racing beat 4 kg exhaust, which with the turbo, in the video above is not that much more noisy, but if you want something between the BBR and that then they do this
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-P...
50% heavier due to more baffling. They do a stock to single and then race to street half way through
Problem with all these youtube vids it all depends on your speakers and also what they video it on of course .....
If you are doing trackdays though I don't think anyone of these gets near the limits with a turbo.
Edited by Gandahar on Wednesday 27th April 13:27
I just wanted to ask about your experience with the MX after the turbo was fitted. I can only imagine it’s like having a new car, is totally different? I’m not too fussed about 0-60, with 300 bhp for the Stage 2 I’m guessing less than 5 seconds? I’m more interested in the shove out of corners, say 30/40/50mph onwards.
Rich196 said:
I know Neil from BBR, was lucky enough for me to have a go in the factor car at bedford. Its like an MX5.............. but everything happens quicker, first few laps I thought the brakes were rubbish, nope they werent just approaching the corner a lot faster than was in my 188bhp MK3 track car. Real OEM plus feel, maintains the cars character. Drives like a big displacement car, not a tuner turbo.
Be careful regarding noise limits and backboxes. Decatting the system, and running a OEM backbox will probably produce better power and noise levels.
You will love it. I loved my NC track car. I only sold it as I had the chance to buy a well sorted supercharged 86.
Hi!Be careful regarding noise limits and backboxes. Decatting the system, and running a OEM backbox will probably produce better power and noise levels.
You will love it. I loved my NC track car. I only sold it as I had the chance to buy a well sorted supercharged 86.
Sounds great! I'm really looking forward to getting the work done! I've muted the cost by going for the Stage 1 Turbo. I had a bit of noise concern with the Stage 2 plus it's £2k more and the bits I'm adding are eating into this, alloys, service items, some replacement trim, tyres, paint etc
I will be getting the shock and springs changed at BBR too, it could do with lowering a little.
roddo said:
Be careful with the BBR turbo on track, BBR will not cover any track use warranty.
Also meisterR suspension will be far superior on track & road..... I have 2 customers just removed BBR suspension for something better.
Hi Roddo.Also meisterR suspension will be far superior on track & road..... I have 2 customers just removed BBR suspension for something better.
I have read and researched various options before deciding on the BBR conversion, there really isn’t anything bad to find about it, most owners love the product and regard the quality of work highly. Warranty isn’t covered for track, and I guess whilst most of their promotion shows their modified cars on track it is a little ridiculous warranty is void, however I’m fine with this.
I think after the standard suspension set up I’m going to find BBR’s great! There are alternatives, some better some not so, but sometimes geography plays a part, BBR is an hour from me, saying that he has customers travelling from Europe so BBR must be doing something good.
I'll feed back into this thread, with pics and video and try to give a candid review.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
hey if you use an iPhone 6 I've got a secure mount for one to use as a HD Video cam, pm me if you're interested 
Hi. I've got a dash cam to go in, and I don't use Apple products, but thanks for the offer.Not much progress at the moment. Bought a lovely rear can from Gandahar and had a spin in his BBR turbo MX5, lovely car, the torque is sublime, it's a fantastic product that BBR supply, anyway the exhaust is off the car for now.
I've bought trim items, some service bits, EBC brakes and pads and other stuff but waiting until the turbo and suspension is fitted before the car gets a good going over.
So off she goes this Saturday for a couple of weeks!
I'm pondering a lighter flywheel and unrated clutch but going to wait to see.
Hoping the EBC Yellow Stuff avoids this:
BMW standard pads after a few laps of Silverstone...
Edited by knitware on Thursday 12th May 00:47
Ninja59 said:
Just watch that arch corrosion as it looks pretty advanced, I would make sure you take it back to metal and get it treated properly, unfortunately this is one of the main points of corrosion on the MK3.
Also check behind the indicators in the front wings for corrosion and bubbling, as well as around the spot welds on the boot lid (specifically around the rear reg lights.
Have you had a good nose underneath for any corrosion? I personally would get it done after the BBR changes.
I would also clean up the calipers whilst you are tidying everything else up.
In relation to the voiding warranty on the track it is down to the manifold failing and distorting, primarily because there is so few studs for it to bolt to, a very well known issue on MX5 Nutz in relation to BBR Turbo versions (the US versions have worked around this problem much better than BBR).
The coolant will need changing (due every 11 years for change), but make sure you get FL22, MX5 parts sell it for about £15 pre-mixed as it has an unusual strength mix of 55/45. You will probably need two bottles of it.
Hi,Also check behind the indicators in the front wings for corrosion and bubbling, as well as around the spot welds on the boot lid (specifically around the rear reg lights.
Have you had a good nose underneath for any corrosion? I personally would get it done after the BBR changes.
I would also clean up the calipers whilst you are tidying everything else up.
In relation to the voiding warranty on the track it is down to the manifold failing and distorting, primarily because there is so few studs for it to bolt to, a very well known issue on MX5 Nutz in relation to BBR Turbo versions (the US versions have worked around this problem much better than BBR).
The coolant will need changing (due every 11 years for change), but make sure you get FL22, MX5 parts sell it for about £15 pre-mixed as it has an unusual strength mix of 55/45. You will probably need two bottles of it.
Edited by Ninja59 on Friday 13th May 09:04
The first thing i'm going to do is to fix the rear arch, it's not too bad so should be an easy fix. The front wing indicators are really good, I swapped out the yellow repeaters, the boot is great too. I had the carpet and covers out and the rear plate is fine.
I've had a good look underneath and apart from surface rust all seems sold, i'll treat that to a covering of thick sht.
Just the arches! Will be as good as new soon. I have already bought brake cleaner for the calipers and i'll give those a lick of paint.
BBR will swap the coolant and other fluids.
Nothing much else to report. I've cleaned a little of the interior and sound insulated the boot and the inner doors, I did the doors to get the speaker clarity better.
Gandahar said:
How much do you weigh? 4/10ths of a second as measured by racelogic vbox!
Let us know how you get on with the conversion.
I'm 4/10ths of a second! I'll have to fix that, lol!Let us know how you get on with the conversion.
I'll keep up to date with developments, only just dropped the car off today.
To further other comments. I saw a cast manifold at BBR, it was sat in reception, it big, heavy and substantial hopefully it's enough! I also saw someones MX3 NC on the dyno with 330 bhp...
Sound insulation!
I used this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silent-Coat-187x265mm-Dea...
I should have took pics, i'll get images when the car is back! I fitted these tiles in the boot and behind the doors, you'll need about 30 tiles. I only took the car out once since doing it and it's better but not perfect so next I need to put some more under the floor carpet. I think i'm going to get some insulating linerhttp://www.deadening.co.uk/collections/ccf-closed-cell-foam?gclid=CNvbgaDE2swCFSQW0wodBKQBdw
I have these arriving soon though so should help a little more:
http://www.carbonmiata.com/shop/mazda-mx-5/floor-m...
I asked about right hand manual drive version so they are making me a right hand drive set and a quilted liner for the boot.
It will never be silent, i'm just aiming to lower the road tyre roar on some surfaces.
Just a note, besides the thread between a certain garage owner and others regarding BBR manifold I haven't found any other negative reviews. Seeing the garage today and a couple of installs all I can say is that the work seems excellent.
I was also shown an Aston Martin (i think Virage)? with 800 bhp
Hello!
Just a couple today after a few mods fitted. This is pre polish and tarting up so not too bad as a starter.
Major changes from original; BBR suspension, BBR Turbo at 260 bhp and EBC discs, yello pads with Sparco wheels.
A really quick review:
Very quick in line, quick though the corners and quick out of corners, simply too much fun! The TC light likes to light up!
Just a couple today after a few mods fitted. This is pre polish and tarting up so not too bad as a starter.
Major changes from original; BBR suspension, BBR Turbo at 260 bhp and EBC discs, yello pads with Sparco wheels.
A really quick review:
Very quick in line, quick though the corners and quick out of corners, simply too much fun! The TC light likes to light up!
Edited by knitware on Saturday 4th June 19:01
A 1 minute vid. Nothing too exciting but there to show acceleration from around 4k to 6k. I have had it to 7k and changed up where it continues to gather speed at a silly rate. Overtaking is a doddle.
https://youtu.be/1_njOf3S07w
The BBR suspension is a revelation, it goes through the bends so flat with so much control and feedback. The EBC brakes and yellow stuff pads are fantastic too, stopping makes your brain squish to the front of your skull.
I'm picking up the newly covered steering wheel this Saturday I then need to tackle the carpets and spray the rear arches.
https://youtu.be/1_njOf3S07w
The BBR suspension is a revelation, it goes through the bends so flat with so much control and feedback. The EBC brakes and yellow stuff pads are fantastic too, stopping makes your brain squish to the front of your skull.
I'm picking up the newly covered steering wheel this Saturday I then need to tackle the carpets and spray the rear arches.
I managed to get an OE Mazda front air dam from Germany. It fits beautifully with no faffing and manhandling, very easy to fit.
Going to Royal Steering Wheels tomorrow to fit the newly bound wheel! Interior mods have been done, apart from the CarbonMiata mats to hide the ripped carpet, then just the rear arch spraying to do, and try to pop out a dent in the wing...
Better pis tomorrow!
Going to Royal Steering Wheels tomorrow to fit the newly bound wheel! Interior mods have been done, apart from the CarbonMiata mats to hide the ripped carpet, then just the rear arch spraying to do, and try to pop out a dent in the wing...
Better pis tomorrow!
Pints said:
Would like to hear if the front air dam makes a difference. The front end on my NC feels rather light when it gets near 100.
Although I suppose a lowered suspension could also help remedy this.
I've only been up to 70 mph but presuming I have gone quicker then I can report that there is no difference to the weighting feel of the car with the dam fitted. However, before the suspension change the car did feel light at the front (quite horrid), at certain speeds, but not anymore, now it's really composed.Although I suppose a lowered suspension could also help remedy this.
Royal Steering Wheels, go visit his site and buy one! He will recover a wheel he has, you can visit him when done and he will swap it over, so from this:
To this:
I also has the aircon recharged but it still doesn't blow cold. It did for a few minutes. The machine did a vacuum check so it is sealed but could there be something else to look for? The engine revs change when the aircon is on.
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