MX-5 OC Forum

I'm thinking about supercharging my 5...just got a few questions I wonder if any of you kind people could answer for me... I have a 2002 mk2.5 1.6, I've only seen kits available for 1.8 mk2.5s - do/could they still fit or are they completely different? If theres no kits out there that fit, i.e. the Jackson Racing kit, how hard are the Mini Cooper S superchargers to fit/if they fit? It wouldn't be me doing the fitting - planning on finding a tame mechanic to do that bit for me! I'm not after huge power but just a bit more than at the minute...plus that supercharger whine - would I also need to uprate my clutch/anything else? Finally, how long do installs usually take and cost? Thanks for your help!

fitting the charger is the easy bit, setting it up and making it work now thats the hard bit......the easy way is to buy a car thats already been done....but there's no fun in that......alot of people have done the m45 mini charger route, i think they are saying about a grand, but i also think they are doing the work themselves.

A jackson racing kit is what nearly 3K! i've seen vertex chargers from the states for 1700 plus shipping they are across between a turbo and a supercharger.....

but the fact is how fast do you want to get to 120mph? getting more horse power will not make the car any faster, quicker yes faster no..

Thanks for the info!! I'm not bothered about increasing top speed - no point as I won't be able to achieve it anywhere! I'd just like the 5 to be a bit quicker. Buying one that's already done isn't an option - this is my first car so too special to sell! Plus, as you say, there's no fun in that either! Will the M45 Mini charger fit a 1.6 mk2.5 without too much problems then? Theres a Jackson Racing kit on the 'Bay but ends in 4 days & don't want to impulse purchase just yet!

 

Fitting a charger is easy...

fitting the piggyback ecu or power card is a little time consuming given the variety of wiring diagrams

(both add extra fuel + change timing) but you can read up on that your self.

 

The only difference between engines, is the mounting bracket that holds the charger as they attach to the exhaust mainfold..

T R lane do a kit and you can get a cheap charger from flea bay.

if you want some one to fit it all then look at £4-500 and £150 to rolling road tune  ...still on your car fro about 1.6K

 

Acceleration and top speed will both be affected but whats most noticible is the strong pull 5th at 40 Mph is an easy pull away!

You do have to watch the little right foot presses on the motorway as you gain speed very quickly.

190 BHP will give you Circa 0-60 in 6.?? and 0-100 in 17.?? top speed...Hmm lets say you run onto the pins at the bottom of the speedo at 125 and theres still plenty to go, id guess 140+

 

Alan

 

Thanks for this Alan - I'll definitely be getting someone else to do all the fitting & witchcraft/wizardry that goes with it. Where would I get any wiring diagrams from or would whoever fits it be able to do it without? Also, are the rolling road people likely to do the tuning? I'll have a look at the T R Lane kits. Sorry for all the questions but I'm a complete novice when it comes to working on cars & have a bad habit of saying "how hard can it be?..." far too soon. I was originally planning to have it done next year but I sense it may be sooner... :) Thanks again!! P.s. I'm sure I saw your supercharged 5 (Uma?) at Chatsworth last year - impressive & most definately planted the idea in my head!

 the order for things and why..

1) plan what you want and how powerfull, what your use, only road or some trackwork?

2) Try to get things cheaply Charger  ,ECU , Injectors etc and when you have it all inplace.

3) get it fitted by someone who knows 5's and get them to quote for it first.

4) drive it gently till you get it tuned and yes the tuners will do the fuel map whilst on the R.Road

5) start to grin every time you take it out.

 

Alan

Do you have ABS?  If so, it becomes a problem with the TR Lane kits as they don't fit when the car has ABS - a problem it took me while to discover.  I ended up selling the Mini Charger I'd bought.  There may be ways around it, but it proved too complicated for me.

I'm possibly going to be selling a full Jackson Racing MP45 SC kit for a NB 1.6, it would be everything you need plus I'll also be selling a brand new built Megasquirt which would sort out the mangement side.  I'll know after this weekend whether I'm sellling or not.  If you're interested let me know.

 Alan - Thanks for this. It'll be all the usual daily road use - don't plan on taking it on any track days. Have been looking on the 'Bay at chargers but not started bidding on anything yet. I plan on getting it fitted at 5-Speed in Hucknall - they seem to have a reasonable reputation with MX5s. I'm going to go there & have a look around soon and ask them many questions!

 

JQ - I have ABS so thanks for the heads up - I was planning on using the TR Lane kit! Re your Jackson Racing kit - you have PM.

 

Thanks again for your help guys.

Tim Lane should have his supercharger demonstrator up & running next week, might be worth a call initially, come to our open day at Tims on September 25th & see what it's all about (info on "meets" section) !, Paul H.

MX5adball:

 Alan - Thanks for this. It'll be all the usual daily road use - don't plan on taking it on any track days. Have been looking on the 'Bay at chargers but not started bidding on anything yet. I plan on getting it fitted at 5-Speed in Hucknall - they seem to have a reasonable reputation with MX5s. I'm going to go there & have a look around soon and ask them many questions!

 

JQ - I have ABS so thanks for the heads up - I was planning on using the TR Lane kit! Re your Jackson Racing kit - you have PM.

 

Thanks again for your help guys.

I'd consider Paul Roddison in sheffield or Carl at CBS in Lancs. That's where Alan had his done.

 As you have a 110bhp 1.6 a s/c will add about 30% - 40% so you will end up with 143bhp maybe 155bhp max!!

SELL it and buy a 1.8 with 140bhp is the sensible thing to do

Do you really need to supercharge , I have a 1.6 that has a machined head (Tim Lane work) & 4 branch & am getting 141 BHP on the dyno, had planned to go the s/c route with a Tim Lane set up but am more than happy with the increase in power from the set up, just my two pennyworth !, Paul H.

Thanks for the feedback again people but the supercharger idea has been laid to rest (at least for now...) Couldn't find anywhere to fit at a reasonable price & would send my insurance well back into 4 figures & I'm only just out of that bracket! Decided to take the sensible option & add to the house deposit fund. Selling was never an option - it's my first car so I'm quite attached! Plus, a 1.8 may have the same power but it doesn't make the same noise as a supercharger or look as pretty under the bonnet! Will definately be looking into again in the future though:)

Ive done 5 track days now at Blyton Park and am starting to feel frustrated with the traffic. Seems I an now getting  to "grips" with the cornering and continually catch cars into and out of the bends but haven't got enough straight line speed for them to move over and let me past. This means I'm backing of a lot into the bends and breaking much earlier than I need to to avoid getting agressively up the rear of the cars in front. So I'm thinking forced induction, problem is I've a 1.8 Mk1 and sourcing a good quality manifold and down pipe with a turbo match is seemingly impossible without selling the family silver. I have read your supercharging posts and am starting to think this may be more doable. The part I'm nervous about is the ECU, but I guess I need to do more research on the topic. I see you've got an Emanage Blue, the wiring loom puzzles me. It looks like you need some serious soldering skills to make a loom to connect to the existing ECU. My thinking is install the ECU first, get that working and then move onto the charger. Sort of get one thing working at a time so if it goes wrong I have an idea where to look. I've followed a black supercharged MX5 around Blyton in Feb and wow it was fast in a straight line, though the whine  took a bit of getting used to. I have searched the net for 6 months now and can't find a "parts list" from any MX5 guys who have installed the supercharger or turbod. If I get this done I promise to do a list for anyone whose interested. The TR Lane brackets etc look like a safe bet with the eaton mini M45, but agian is there only one type of these, could I buy the wrong one? Like the sound of bigger injectors to touch 190bhp, but what size? Inter cooler, any recommendations? Any help from anyone would be much appreciated, I am starting my shopping list :) hope to see some of you guys at the MOT @ Blyton.

The Mini charger conversion is a tried and tested conversion and there is plenty of information available. You may want to go goa plug and play ECU so no need to worry about wirirng it to the harness. Megasquirt is popular and you can buy it as kit or ready built with a base map for your car. Yes any charger off a Mini Copper S will mount to the brackets supplied by TRLane. You will need a blow off valave from the Mini Cooper (Mini dealers) and a MK1 1.6 throttle body. Bigger injector are a good idea to project your engine as fuel starvation at higher boost levels can damage the engine. RX7 injectors are a popular replacement and it is also plug and play. There are newer injector designs too if you are after more serious horse power.

Universal Intercooler http://www.universal-intercoolers.co.uk/ sell a kit for the MX5 with hoses for a supercharger conversion (there is a group buy going on for these on MX5Nutz at the moment). If you are going to run higher boost buy changing the SC pulley then an intercooler is a definately a good idea.

Other than silicon hoses, hose clips to connect everything together, a IAT sensor if you are removing the MAF, a belt for the SC, throttle cable to hook up the second throttle body and a cone airfilter, that is pretty much it.

If you have a deeper pocket, you can but an off the shelf kit with everything you need (though much inferior fueling control, less power and no IC in the standard package) from Moss http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=3366