RE: Rocketeer Mazda MX-5 V6 | PH Review

[bennno]

I just bought a 20 y/o 2.5 Boxster which has a six pot as standard, steers, rides and accelerates beautifully for £4K......

[PushedDover]

Sounds great.
Done the Pork thing. And bills get punchy, easily.
I would have another but would want deeper pockets.

Also this is ‘my’ MX5- owned since 1997, with memories galore linked to it.
I could buy something else like a Boxster, but I’ll never sell ‘my’ MX5

[simonrockman]

My Mk2.5 has done 33k and is close to mint. Rocketeer is very tempting.

[PushedDover]

simonrockman said:

My Mk2.5 has done 33k and is close to mint. Rocketeer is very tempting.

Try the demo. It will confirm what it transforms the car in to, yet ‘feels stock’ not a Max Power or cobbles solution.

[Sway]

PushedDover said:

simonrockman said:

My Mk2.5 has done 33k and is close to mint. Rocketeer is very tempting.

Try the demo. It will confirm what it transforms the car in to, yet ‘feels stock’ not a Max Power or cobbles solution.

Much the same is said for the Flyin Miata V8 conversions, it's a shame they're not viable here.

If you haven't seen it, check out Project Thunderbolt on YouTube. 525bhp, surprisingly small increase in overall weight.

[PushedDover]

Sway said:

PushedDover said:

simonrockman said:

My Mk2.5 has done 33k and is close to mint. Rocketeer is very tempting.

Try the demo. It will confirm what it transforms the car in to, yet ‘feels stock’ not a Max Power or cobbles solution.

Much the same is said for the Flyin Miata V8 conversions, it's a shame they're not viable here.

If you haven't seen it, check out Project Thunderbolt on YouTube. 525bhp, surprisingly small increase in overall weight.

I remember ooogling them years ago. Think the extra weight, grunt is required ? The V6 looked great in the engine bay. No bashing bulkheads etc.

The test car I drove seemed to have plent of ooomph. same power to weight as a new / modern Boxster S for heavens sake.

[Bryans69]

bennno said:

I just bought a 20 y/o 2.5 Boxster which has a six pot as standard, steers, rides and accelerates beautifully for £4K......

But that's kind off missing the point of one of these. The Boxster is very capable, but also a bit bland. I liked mine, but never fell in love with it. These are a different thing entirely. You do it because you like a light weight, front engine sports car that has a decent lump, but more importantly, is pretty unique, and therefor way more special to you than something that is two a penny.

If you balk at the cost, you are not the right customer. Nothing wrong with that though.

[Sway]

PushedDover said:

Sway said:

PushedDover said:

simonrockman said:

My Mk2.5 has done 33k and is close to mint. Rocketeer is very tempting.

Try the demo. It will confirm what it transforms the car in to, yet ‘feels stock’ not a Max Power or cobbles solution.

Much the same is said for the Flyin Miata V8 conversions, it's a shame they're not viable here.

If you haven't seen it, check out Project Thunderbolt on YouTube. 525bhp, surprisingly small increase in overall weight.

I remember ooogling them years ago. Think the extra weight, grunt is required ? The V6 looked great in the engine bay. No bashing bulkheads etc.

The test car I drove seemed to have plent of ooomph. same power to weight as a new / modern Boxster S for heavens sake.

They're the pioneers of a proper 'productionised' engine swap for MX5s, the quality of the conversion just oozes (as it does now for Rocketeer).

Is it required to have 525bhp in under 110kgs? God no!

For me, the V6 turns the MX5 into a 'proper' sports car, the V8 turns it into a hot rod that handles. Personally, I'd go V6 - but if I were in the states it'd be the FM LFX V6 kit, with no bulkhead mods... Stupid idea over here though.

[simonrockman]

HasRocketeer looked at adding forced induction?

[PushedDover]

When I asked he said no- the cost to do it right versus gains.

Although speaking to some of the members of the FB self build group, it’s being looked at as essentially the engine and induction package of a Noble (they said not I)

Imagine that.

[samoht]

simonrockman said:

HasRocketeer looked at adding forced induction?

To me, a part of the appeal of this conversion is a straightforward naturally aspirated engine, and a power/torque delivery that's matched to the chassis. Turbo MX-5s can suffer from heat build-up, with a V6 turbo that would be even more so I'd have thought, plus extra weight for turbocharger, intercooler and extra air/water/oil lines.

If you really wanted even more performance, personally I'd either go for a Flyin Miata V8 swap, or get an RX-7 which Mazda designed to take more power from the outset, and can be wound up to 400-500hp with a single turbo setup.

[jamieduff1981]

I've noticed several times during this thread that people have decided it's a bad deal because it's £12k into a car worth £5k at the end.

Says who?

The market is hardly awash with Rocketeer V6 conversions for sale to be able to benchmark their resale value. Now I don't have one and perhaps those who do may wish to splash realism on me, but I rather think that if I did have one I'd probably also be rather keen on the car. If some dough ball came and offered me £5k because that's what he reckoned it was worth I'd piss myself laughing at him.

Question to those on this thread who do have one then - would you let yours go for £5k because someone couldn't decide between your Rocketeer MX-5 or a clapped out 2.5 Boxster?

[CABC]

jamieduff1981 said:

I've noticed several times during this thread that people have decided it's a bad deal because it's £12k into a car worth £5k at the end.

Says who?

The market is hardly awash with Rocketeer V6 conversions for sale to be able to benchmark their resale value. Now I don't have one and perhaps those who do may wish to splash realism on me, but I rather think that if I did have one I'd probably also be rather keen on the car. If some dough ball came and offered me £5k because that's what he reckoned it was worth I'd piss myself laughing at him.

Question to those on this thread who do have one then - would you let yours go for £5k because someone couldn't decide between your Rocketeer MX-5 or a clapped out 2.5 Boxster?

The MX5 would probably also need some other refreshing too tbf. That said, it would be a more focused sports car afterwards. Anyone know prices for rocketeer resale?

[PushedDover]

jamieduff1981 said:

Rocketeer MX-5 or a clapped out 2.5 Boxster?

Good point not dwelled on- the ‘factory’ Rocketeer has a fully rebuild, as good as new, dyno’d V6 (I’ll be honest ‘carbon fibre plenum a had me )

The non factory Rocketeers being home done are likely, but not always, a Jag V6 pulled from an old smoker used to run around in for a few mo this to check it’s not a dud and then repurposed.


A £5k Boxster - what state is that engine ?
And how well would you sleep at night - this is coming from a previous ownership of a 997.1. Constant fear of a bill north of £1k was commonplace. The Big Bang / bore scoring would mean scrapping a £5k Boxster.
So a new bomb proof V6 with 275hp ish (iirc) sounds a little more palatable?

[hairykrishna]

The thing is, you're probably looking at 15k or so all in if you fully refresh the V6 and the MX5. So you could buy a 3.2s boxster for 7k, spend 8k on it. You'd end up with an amazing car. Or for 15k you're just about into 911 territory. Or any number of tidy TVRs

It's a fun thing but it's competing with a lot of serious cars. 5k is an underestimate for resale. A decent supercharged/turbo goes for that. I think more than 10 would be unlikely though.

[jamieduff1981]

hairykrishna said:

The thing is, you're probably looking at 15k or so all in if you fully refresh the V6 and the MX5. So you could buy a 3.2s boxster for 7k, spend 8k on it. You'd end up with an amazing car. Or for 15k you're just about into 911 territory. Or any number of tidy TVRs

It's a fun thing but it's competing with a lot of serious cars. 5k is an underestimate for resale. A decent supercharged/turbo goes for that. I think more than 10 would be unlikely though.

You won't be touching the 3.2S Boxster engine much if you want any change out of your notional £8k. £15k no longer buys much of a TVR either - a 4.0 / 200bhp Chimaera or less popular. As for just squeezing a 911 - yeah, you could, but you've just purchased a whole world of hurt which seems at odds with the ethos of padding out the cost of the Rocketeer conversion to include an overhauled engine and renewal of most of the running gear, isn't it?

It's pretty much in the "You could buy a worn out M5 for the cost of this new hatchback" paradox is it not?