Miata Mailing List: March 1993, Message #44
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   From: (none)
Subject: Misc. ramblings... my visit
   Date: (none)

                      Misc. ramblings... my visit to BBR.
Hi,

I went to visit BBR last weekend; for those unfamiliar, they are the the folks
who created the turbo kit for the MX-5 in the UK, they are official sanctioned
by Mazda UK (i.e. with warrantee in tact). They are located in Brackley, near
Silverstone. THe area is such a hot bed for motorsports, most F1, F3000 teams
are located in the surrounding areas. The taxi driver turned out to be a racer
and instantly knew where BBR were.

Anyway, I came away pretty impressed with the shop, they do alot of work with
Cosworth motors, they have a 2 litre motor dyno'ed at 630 BHP. They turbo
charge many cars there, including Celicas, Geo Trackers, MX-6 and many Ford
products. They also have an electronic lab. for works on perf. chips etc...

As for Miatas, they have lower the price to $2750 for the basic kit. They have
a stage 2 with modified head, lower compression pistons etc.. which will get
the car to 230 BHP (vs 150 for the basic kit). These are figures measured at
the wheel.

A few facts about the basic kit: 

- It is legal in 50 states, yeah, including calif. I have the sticker with the
EPA number etc...
The reason for this is because their ECU will only take over from the stock ECU
when it senses turbo boost, otherwise, it runs on the factory ECU map.

- with regard to longevity, the kit runs on ~6 lbs of boost, which is less than
half of the boost on most turbo cars. Their car had 74k miles on the odometer
and showed no sign of ill health, it is still on the original clutch. This is
also the same motor  that went through some 150 hrs of dyno testing. The same
cannot be said of the damn car, lots of rattling etc...

- They also market an exhaust system, which sound slightly better than stock, a
limited slip diff. and the suspesion kits including shorter springs and Koni. I
think the suspension kit is discounted to MCA members at $350 (??) which I
think is a steal. I am going to get this, it transformed the car's handling
completely. THe stock shocks just suck.

- They are working with the Mazda US folks but I don't expect the sanction
anytime soon, there is too much liability at stake here in the US.

About my car, I have got about 6k miles on my BBR turbo and can only give it
the highest mark of approval. Power delivery is as smooth as anything I have
owned, lag is completely non-existent, this coming from a long time turbo
skeptic and a former 911 & GTV6 owner.
I got some engine spacers installed last week to get some needed clearance
between the turbo and the steering rack, this only happen with LHD cars
apparently.

My rear tire (Yoko A-509) is about half worn after 5k miles, I was hoping to
get more wear out of them than that but oh well, c'est la vie. I am extremely
happy with its performance however. Maybe, Toyo tires next.

Regarding Alan Dahl's msg. about stalling at stop while declutching, this
sounds like your idle throttle sensor is out of adjustment, this problem and
solution is well documented in the Miata club magazine (with pictures).

I am still pretty unhappy with the fact that the engine seems to be quite
sensitive to fuel quality, moisture, and carbon build-up. I can feel the
vibration through the clutch and steering etc.. which seems to go away after an
extended drive (a couple hundred miles on the highway). Techcron only help
marginally, but I had the same complaints with BMWs and 944 Turbos, too. For
contrast, my 67 Alfa twin cam Duetto revs flawlessly at high RPMs.

- Steve