RE: BBR Mazda MX-5 Super 200: video review

RE: BBR Mazda MX-5 Super 200: video review

Saturday 1st October 2016

BBR Mazda MX-5 Super 200: video review

What's the point of aftermarket tuning? Dan argues a case from BBR's hopped up MX-5



Originality is rightly prized in the classic car world but, against that, many of us can't resist the temptation to make the odd modification here or there. That might be as modest as a loud exhaust to make it sound a little more exciting or plug-in 'chip tuning' to unleash a little more power via the ECU. From there, however, it can be a slippery slope into turbo conversions, wheel, suspension and brake upgrades or even engine transplants.

But manufacturers have raised their game along the way. Cars have got more complex, faster and more competent out of the box, arguably making many of the traditional tweaks many of us made to our cars now seem redundant.

Tuners have had to get smarter, more disciplined and more professional to prove the worth of their work and convince us it's worth putting additional money into our cars to get more back from them. Does it work? Here we go for a spin in BBR GTI's latest tuning package for the current Mazda MX-5 in an attempt to find out.

Watch the video here!

Photo: Chris Teagles

Author
Discussion

HeMightBeBanned

Original Poster:

617 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Am now looking at 2nd hand 2 litre ND MX5s as a base to go shopping at BBR...

Vocht

1,630 posts

163 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Really is a fantastic little car but £30k really is a lot of money. To point out the obvious, I'm sure a mk1 can provide you with 90% of the same thrills at 10% of the cost.

If it was my money I'd be looking for a super clean, rare (1/300) special edition mk1 'M2-1001 Cafe Racer' like this at 1/3rd of the cost.


Vroom101

828 posts

132 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
In the video Dan compares this with the base versions of an Audi TT, Merc SLC and BMW Z4 - just because they cost a similar amount of money. I really don't think that the BBR 200 would be on the radar of anyone considering those three cars. They are aimed at completely different customers.
At that level, the TT, SLC & Z4 are pretty much purely about the badge, and driving dynamics firmly takes a back seat (or at least would if there was one smile). I'm not knocking anyone for buying those three - if that floats your boat then go for it. But I think the MX5 is more likely to appeal to someone who would like the fun of an Elise but doesn't fancy the impracticality that comes with it. It's a car for driving, like the Lotus, but just easier to live with.

Sure, £8k is a fat lot of money to throw at modifying a car, but for a real enthusiast it's not such a hurdle. Especially if you've bought a used MX5 to start with. I work with a guy who's heavily into fishing, and the money that some of those guys spend on gear, just to catch a stupid, pot bellied carp only to then stick it back in the water again, make the BBR look like a positive bargain!



Edited by Vroom101 on Tuesday 27th September 12:32

Simon Owen

798 posts

133 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Dan, I think it is perhaps a little unfair on BBR to state that "it is not a sports car" ?

What attributes would you consider missing to tick that box, or did you just mean in the context of those that would never consider an MX5 to be a sports car ?

We bought it for the 'package' but I (half of the we !!) wanted a sports car hence the visit to Neil at BBR, from my experience to date BBR appear to have done a great job of creating a compact & lightweight modern interpretation of a traditional old school sports car.

I have often wondered if you gave say Renaultsport the platform to work on what would they come up with ?

tankplanker

2,479 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Did the £8k include the suspension replacement and brake, wheel and tyre upgrade? For mostly road use I can't see that they would be essential upgrades. The spring upgrade on the Sport models with the BBR 200 + full exhaust upgrade would be plenty for most, which is ~£4.5k if my math is right?

Its possible to pick up a pre reg 2l ND Sport Nav for £20k with metallic paint, add on the BBR upgrades and you've spent the same as the RRP for the same car new.

I was waiting to see what the BBR turbo kit offered for the ND but now I think I'm pretty settled on the full 200 kit as it just seems to fix the areas I don't like with the 2l.

Simon Owen

798 posts

133 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Vroom101 said:
But I think the MX5 is more likely to appeal to someone who would like the fun of an Elise but doesn't fancy the impracticality that comes with it. It's a car for driving, like the Lotus, but just easier to live with.


Exactly why we bought the car, it will never be as focused as the Elise but adds a level of practicality and convenience way beyond the Lotus.


Edited by Simon Owen on Tuesday 27th September 13:50

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Not exactly practical though, is it really? It's bloody tiny!

HorneyMX5

5,308 posts

149 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Damn, that sounds soooooo good.

Dan, did you drive your MK1 straight after? Would make an interesting comparison.

I've just bought a MK3 to add to the Horne stable and there's a strong temptation to throw some cams at that. I've already got an exhaust and induction kit sorted and it's been remapped by Skuzzle Motorsport.

Cupramax

10,469 posts

251 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Nice review Dan, sounds like an angry wasp with that exhausthehe cant help but thinking doing that to a new car is financial suicide though, second hand a couple of years old and spend less than £20k total with mods then maybe.

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Vocht said:
Really is a fantastic little car but £30k really is a lot of money. To point out the obvious, I'm sure a mk1 can provide you with 90% of the same thrills at 10% of the cost.

If it was my money I'd be looking for a super clean, rare (1/300) special edition mk1 'M2-1001 Cafe Racer' like this at 1/3rd of the cost.
Buy their used one for £17k - http://www.bbrgti.com/2014-mazda-mx-5-25th-anniver...


snotrag

14,446 posts

210 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Podie said:
Not exactly practical though, is it really? It's bloody tiny!
The point of an MX-5 over an Elise is thus -

- The boot is bigger (not massive, but big enough for a trip away for two, or a weeks shopping etc).

- Cheap to inusre

- Safe

- Waterproof/doesn't fill up with water

- Much easier to do a daily slog in - good wipers, Climate, visibility, good headlights, good stereo etc


And all the rest - all the while being still the closest thing to give the majority of the driving thrill of the Elise/ANother lightweight special.


ETA - as an example, a mate of mine sold a Westfield for a Mk1 MX-5. The MX-5 gave 99% of the driving thrill, but the difference is with the Westfield you drove out from your house in a circle and came home. In the Mazda you can go to the seaside, park it, put the roof up, it wont fill with water or bird st, and if its raining on the way home just turn the heater up a little and put the radio on and cruise.

Gorbyrev

1,160 posts

153 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Just a note to the PH community where 4-pots are often looked down upon: what a great sounding little thing. Surely it is a sports car, it has a good 180bhp per tonne (that's Fiesta ST levels of power), has a great chassis and is a perfect size for B-road blatting which is so much of the game in the UK. As for the £8K, as has already been said, let someone else look after the steepest bit of the depreciation curve and the man maths start to make real sense. Lastly, the comment that a Mk1 is 10% of the money is not quite true. BBR fettled Mk1 MX-5s change hands for £5K unless they are really ropey (admittedly turbos but power is equivalent). Are they still running the buy back scheme?

Dan Trent

1,866 posts

167 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
HorneyMX5 said:
Dan, did you drive your MK1 straight after? Would make an interesting comparison.
Funnily enough...... laugh

OK, so mine is more rattly, flexy and not as fast but in *spirit* this was absolutely the modern evocation of what I love about my old one. Which is - in short - gratuitous noise, excessive gear shifting with extravagant blipping at every opportunity and generally enjoying making sensibly paced progress along back lanes with the roof down and a big grin on my face.

I'm going to steal my mum's 1.5 and drive it through Neil's workshop one of these days.......... evil

Dan

Dan Trent

1,866 posts

167 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
tankplanker said:
Did the £8k include the suspension replacement and brake, wheel and tyre upgrade? For mostly road use I can't see that they would be essential upgrades. The spring upgrade on the Sport models with the BBR 200 + full exhaust upgrade would be plenty for most, which is ~£4.5k if my math is right?
There's a more detailed breakdown of the spec of this car in our review but, basically, that £8K figure is what you'd need to spend on top of a stock car to get it looking and going like the one we tested. Super 200 kit on its own is c. £2,700+VAT fitted and, obviously, you can pick and choose what parts you want from the available exhaust, suspension, brake and wheel upgrades. Personally I'd want to do the spring/damper kit as a minimum if I was having the Super 200 upgrade; the car is so much more composed and enjoyable. And sits better too.

And Simon - apologies for the 'not a sports car' comment too; the second part of that line was a reference to Harris when he said he considered it a 'roadster rather than a sports car' in his video he did on the Mk1 a while back. I don't think that's an entirely unfair summary really but it didn't make the final cut of the vid for some reason.

Cheers,

Dan

Gorbyrev

1,160 posts

153 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Dan Trent said:
tankplanker said:
Did the £8k include the suspension replacement and brake, wheel and tyre upgrade? For mostly road use I can't see that they would be essential upgrades. The spring upgrade on the Sport models with the BBR 200 + full exhaust upgrade would be plenty for most, which is ~£4.5k if my math is right?
There's a more detailed breakdown of the spec of this car in our review but, basically, that £8K figure is what you'd need to spend on top of a stock car to get it looking and going like the one we tested. Super 200 kit on its own is c. £2,700+VAT fitted and, obviously, you can pick and choose what parts you want from the available exhaust, suspension, brake and wheel upgrades. Personally I'd want to do the spring/damper kit as a minimum if I was having the Super 200 upgrade; the car is so much more composed and enjoyable. And sits better too.

And Simon - apologies for the 'not a sports car' comment too; the second part of that line was a reference to Harris when he said he considered it a 'roadster rather than a sports car' in his video he did on the Mk1 a while back. I don't think that's an entirely unfair summary really but it didn't make the final cut of the vid for some reason.

Cheers,

Dan
Interesting regarding the Chris Harris comment. It definitely is a sports in my book but you need to subscribe to the momentum preservation society if you want to make keen progress. Tell us more about your mum's 1.5. In some ways getting the most power out of the lighter package is extremely appealing and there is something magical about a sub tonne car in a world of lardy bloaters. How much power is available from the 1.5, anything beyond the 180hp indicated in the video?

tankplanker

2,479 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Dan Trent said:
There's a more detailed breakdown of the spec of this car in our review but, basically, that £8K figure is what you'd need to spend on top of a stock car to get it looking and going like the one we tested. Super 200 kit on its own is c. £2,700+VAT fitted and, obviously, you can pick and choose what parts you want from the available exhaust, suspension, brake and wheel upgrades. Personally I'd want to do the spring/damper kit as a minimum if I was having the Super 200 upgrade; the car is so much more composed and enjoyable. And sits better too.

And Simon - apologies for the 'not a sports car' comment too; the second part of that line was a reference to Harris when he said he considered it a 'roadster rather than a sports car' in his video he did on the Mk1 a while back. I don't think that's an entirely unfair summary really but it didn't make the final cut of the vid for some reason.

Cheers,

Dan
I'd be interested if you tried the sport's stock Bilstein dampers with the BBR spring kit as that is what I was planning on using? As its ~£1200 for the Koni dampers and springs vs ~£500 for the uprated springs for the Bilsteins, both fitted with an alignment.

So I'm looking at: Super 200 kit £3,354; BBR exhaust centre section £594; BBR Super Sport back box £474; BBR Sport Springs £495 = £4917

I think that is quite reasonable as it turns a ~160 BHP per ton car into a ~210 BHP per ton car, lets it rev more freely, sorts the handling out and improves the noise.

Matt p

1,036 posts

207 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Save your money and look at the Turblown kits from Elliot in the states smile

DaveGB

1,670 posts

180 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
quotequote all
Credit where credits due.....well presented Dan, enjoyed that.

samoht

5,633 posts

145 months

Wednesday 28th September 2016
quotequote all
Never mind TTs and the like. With about 200 hp per tonne, this is now on a par with a base Boxster 981. Setting price aside, which is more fun to drive? It feels like it should be amazing with that power, lack of weight, and balance - does it achieve the potential?

BlueAgave

1 posts

90 months

Wednesday 28th September 2016
quotequote all
I went for the Super 200 upgrade along with the Koni suspension kit , anti-roll bars and full exhaust system and its transformed the car. The engine is very eager to rev and the suspension, although a little firmer is excellent. A very worthwhile conversion in my view.