Wednesday 24th January 2018

Flyin' Miata Twincharged MX-5 in development

What to do when a turbo'd MX-5 isn't enough? Add a supercharger too!

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Flyin' Miata is well known in MX-5 circles, indeed in fast car circles, for its work on Mazda's eponymous roadster. You can't drop Chevy crate V8s in 1,000kg convertibles and not expect people to notice!

Now the Colorado-based tuners are working on something new (and very exciting) for the MX-5: a twincharged car. Yep, like a Lancia Delta Integrale S4 - and the Mk5 Golf GT... but let's focus on the Lancia. So that means a supercharger and a turbocharger, promising all manner of mad forced induction gains. Remember a BBR turbo is already taking an MX-5 to comfortably over 200hp, with a commensurate increase in torque; Road & Track is saying that the turbo alone could be capable of 350hp, so with a supercharger added on...

Flyin' Miata is currently developing the twincharged set up, using its existing turbocharged car as a base. Images of the build have been posted on Instagram and the Miata.net forum, Keith Tanner from Flyin' Miata adding, "You know it had to happen." Good man, Keith. Amazingly, despite understandably being a busy engine bay, everything for the twincharged build does fit seemingly without modification.

It hasn't yet been confirmed whether Flyin' Miata will offer the package as one twincharged unit with all the associated ancillaries. However, for intrepid tuners the turbo and the supercharger are both available from its website now. Would make a good Readers' Cars thread...

Given this is apparently the world's first twincharged Mk4 MX-5, you would hope that the guys at Flyin' Miata pursue the build and offer a complete package. Then it could be driven. And there would be more coverage, hopefully from PH... 400hp should suit, right lads?

[Sources: Carscoops, Road&Track, Flyin' Miata]

[culpz]

I mean, it's great to have choice and options with tuning, but i am the only one that think this is a bit overkill? Getting an MX5 turbocharged or supercharged is one thing, and also a great thing, i might add. However, MX5 owners are not in it for outright speed and pace. If they do, they've got the above.

I can only imagine the overall cost of this conversion, too. I think what i'm saying is, for me, having one with forced induction would be more than enough. Fair enough, others may not be the same, but then again, if that's the case, wouldn't buying a completely different car be a better bet?

[culpz]

topless360 said:

I'm surprised there aren't more cars out there with Twincharging. Best of both worlds surely, instant response of the supercharger with big boost of the turbo.
What are the downsides?

Is it though? The MX5 is a light car so, even with a bit of turbo lag, it's never going to be slow or be very laggy. This is why i'm questioning the demand for twin-charged power in such a car.

The downsides in the past has been over-complication. VW are fully aware of this, as has already been stated by someone else. The twin-charged 1.4 TSI unit used in the Scirocco/Polo GTI is the main example.

Sometimes, twin-charging doesn't quite work the way it should. However, that's more hear-say. I remember a few reviews stating that the engine in the Scirocco didn't really feel like it was doing what it should on paper.