Mx5 Rocketeer V6 Conversion Project

[Lewis's Friend]

Bright Halo said:

Have you noticed any difference in the handling. Any change in terms of under steer or oversteer, roll etc?

No difference as far as I can tell (although I didn't have the car very long before the conversion - I'm not an Mx5 owner of long standing).

There is no weight penalty with the swap, and the suspension pickups on the front subframe are the same as a Mx5 NB I believe so there shouldn't be any difference at all. The biggest positive change for me in terms of handling was moving from 8" to 7" wide wheels, but that has nothing to do with the car or swap and just my poor initial choice of wheels!

Suspension-wise the only aftermarket bit on my car is the coilovers, which I'm keen to change to decent ones as soon as I can justify the cost. Everything else is new OE and I enjoy it. It certainly steers better than my old TVR S3, and the engine is actually more driveable too (which says a lot about the quality of either Rocketeer's tune or TVR's!).

[PushedDover]

I hear the 'sensitivities' to the hearing and feeling having built the car LF, do you think the Kit itself and indeed the Rocketeer guys would deliver a solid and doubt-free solution?

[Lewis's Friend]

PushedDover said:

I hear the 'sensitivities' to the hearing and feeling having built the car LF, do you think the Kit itself and indeed the Rocketeer guys would deliver a solid and doubt-free solution?

In fairness, the my sensitivities have all been for nothing - thus far there have been no issues! For me, I tend to be more critical of my own work. If I just bought the car I's assume all was well. As I made it, I worry until it's has proved there's no need to...

I have dealt with Rocketeer and Basset Down Balancing a fair bit and so far they've been good so I would assume they'd do a good job on the turn-key builds. They certainly looked nice in the workshop! They did the ECU change (and all associated work) on my car, and while it wasn't perfect after I collected it, they took it back and spent a lot of time getting it sorted after that at their own expense. They also were very helpful with me regarding handling and wheels etc, which is of course not a part of the swap - but they bent over backwards to help diagnose the problem with mine (the aforementioned wheel width as it turned out).

[Drive it fix it repeat]

Nice build OP. Im visiting basset down balancing soon to have my newly acquired eunos turbo inspected and confirm that the cam seals need doing. Only live a couple of miles from them so rude not to get to know them and have a nosey at what they have in the workshop. Be fun to have a PH mx5 meetup when this Corona buggers off.

[PushedDover]

my Olds live 10miles from Hungerford - Told Dad to call through.

I really do fancy this on my NA. It is a '96, that I have had since '97 - I figure it would be fitting to spend its next 25yrs with a Rocketeer conversion. I can almost man maths myself to maybe £7.5k upgrade, but I fear all done its twice that. My Manmathscalculator can make that sum fit on the screen

[Murpheous81]

Mazda MX5 Rocketeer for sale in Ireland. €13k...

For details see http://www.backroads.ie/forums/showthread.php?3121...

The conversion was covered on youtube.

Not linked in any way with the advert only that I like the rocketeer conversion and followed the series on youtube

[mercedeslimos]

Murpheous81 said:

Mazda MX5 Rocketeer for sale in Ireland. €13k...

For details see http://www.backroads.ie/forums/showthread.php?3121...

The conversion was covered on youtube.

Not linked in any way with the advert only that I like the rocketeer conversion and followed the series on youtube

I reckon he'll get that money too Adam, €56 tax doubles the price of anything these days!

[PushedDover]

Murpheous81 said:

Mazda MX5 Rocketeer for sale in Ireland. €13k...

For details see http://www.backroads.ie/forums/showthread.php?3121...

The conversion was covered on youtube.

Not linked in any way with the advert only that I like the rocketeer conversion and followed the series on youtube

Immense lurking !
Champion level.

[PushedDover]

Back to the Irish Rocket.... sadly whilst not capable myself to sully do the conversion (like the beauties shown here on the thread or linked) I feel that the Rocketeer needs to be applied to MY mx5, to rejuvinate, a fresh breath of life to her.....

not buy someone elses character car.

[Lewis's Friend]

I've seen two come up for sale so far - one unfinished (I think) and this one. It'll be interesting to see what it fetches.

Personally I wouldn't have wanted to buy a complete one, but I wanted to do the work myself. If that doesn't bother you, then it would be much easier to buy a pre-done one! That said, as with any heavily modified car you'd want your wits about you when buying to make sure it was all done to a standard you were happy with. Not attempting to throw shade on the white one for sale I hasten to add!

[untakenname]

Haven't understood why rotary conversions on MX5's aren't more popular as the engine characteristics (light weight and high revving) suit it perfectly plus one of the reasons the MX5 handles so uniquely is due to the PPF design used linking the driveline, many conversions scrap this where as with a rotary conversion it pretty much bolts up with the existing PPF.

http://www.speedhunters.com/2019/12/brap-to-realit...

[PushedDover]

Id imagine longevity ?

Look at the NA' for example - mine is '96, with 110,000 miles.
How would a rota be after similar?

(not withstanding the V6 is probably better mpg ! )

[Lewis's Friend]

I remember seeing that car on speedhunters when the article was published, its pretty cool. It definitely doesn't look cheap though!

The Rocketeer conversion does keep the PPF setup. And while a revvy engine is great in terms of the character, I can't deny the extra torque is nice (and not overwhelming).

[V8RX7]

untakenname said:

Haven't understood why rotary conversions on MX5's aren't more popular as the engine characteristics (light weight and high revving) suit it perfectly plus one of the reasons the MX5 handles so uniquely is due to the PPF design used linking the driveline, many conversions scrap this where as with a rotary conversion it pretty much bolts up with the existing PPF.

http://www.speedhunters.com/2019/12/brap-to-realit...

Kiwis used to throw them in everything but over here it tends to be the other way around with RX7 and RX8 being prime candidates for V8 and 4-cylinder turbo conversions

[Krikkit]

Yeah if you were thinking of an engine swap that needed that kind of work then an LS makes more sense.

That said a 4-rotor MX5 would be heaven.

[mercedeslimos]

V8RX7 said:

Kiwis used to throw them in everything but over here it tends to be the other way around with RX7 and RX8 being prime candidates for V8 and 4-cylinder turbo conversions

Road tax is another reason here (That Speedhunters MX-5 is here in Ireland), road tax. 1.6 MX-5 is €514 a year. Rotary swap (classed as a 1.8 for some reason is €636 a year (if they used the actual 1308cc capacity it would only be €385). The V6 would be €1,494 a year to tax. Once a car hits 30 years old this is all €56 flat rate

[PushedDover]

mercedeslimos said:

The V6 would be €1,494 a year to tax. Once a car hits 30 years old this is all €56 flat rate

[mercedeslimos]

PushedDover said:

Anything pre-July 2008 went on a cc-based system. 3.1 and upwards (so basically 3001cc and up) is €1,809.

After that, it went to CO2-based. This killed the marked for R32 MK5 Golf, any Range Rover not registered as a crew-cab commercrial, as many of these were now in the €2,350 a year band...


https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/41c9cc-motor-tax...

Bananas

The tax was always strange. This is why things like 520d always sold better than E220CDi as 1997cc vs 2148cc was a difference of €241 a year.

Not a huge pile of difference when you are buying a €50k car new, but when you are running it as a 10-12-year-old daily runner, people view the "old" tax as too expensive (and so 2007 and older cars 1/3 to 1/2 the value of 2008 identical models) and that people went mad to pay the lowest tax. Everyone was in a BlueMotion or a GreenLine etc. Manufacturers also didn't even offer any models with high CO2 in the Irish market as they were uncompetitive as nobody wanted to pay the tax. MIL has a 1349cc petrol 2009 Mazda 3, €570 a year tax. The 1.6HDi version is €280. The 1.4 was a slow seller and killed off in 2009. For the people who benefit from a diesel (me, with a 2011 Mondeo TDCi and does 30-odd thousand miles a year) until WLTP the market was flooded with diesels, and many offered as diesel-only (Many French machines). MIL is looking for something a bit newer, but trying to find a 2011-2013 Golf-sized car with a decent reliable petrol engine that doesn't go bang as quick as you look at it is hard, something like 90% for sale are diesel and a DPF at 2 miles a day...

Rant over, you can tell it pisses me off a bit and had completely taken the fun out of motoring as everything is absolutely geared towards emissions and all that crap, and has taken the soul out of it.

[Bright Halo]

There is an article on a Rocketeer in this months (282) EVO mag.

[PushedDover]

The itch is still there for me.
Some FB groups suggest the early cars were slightly 'less ready' and the improvements have been steadily rolled out.
Anyone care to share on the 'reliability' aspect? Its looking like I would be a turnkey installation by the factory.

Warranty ?