The Mazda MX-5 Thread

Foxhound5366 said:
I love this car but would never buy it until they go about putting a turbocharger into it. What a shame: we need more sporty mid-level convertibles.
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Hellno. Like most people you're missing the point of the MX-5. Apart from the fact that the new one has more than enough power for spirited driving there's also the need to keep the car as predictable/balanced as possible with linear throttle response, great fuel consumption etc. The improvements they've made to throttle response and gearing is waaay more enticing than a bloody turbo.

The other issues I personally have with turbo cars is longevity, reliability and complexity. I don't care what people say but the numbers speak for themselves, this obsession that cars makes have had over the last few years with strapping turbos on smaller and smaller engine have shown to be a failure. Mazda is one of the few companies who've decided not to go that route by sticking to bigger NA engines in most cases.
My old NB 2.5 is sitting at 12 years and 147K kilometres with no engine issues and uses almost no oil and I regularly drive the snot out of it without worrying about babying the engine with cool down periods etc., guaranteed that would not be the case if there was a turbo attached to it.
Keep it simple, Mazda.

The obession with always dumping more and more power into cars that almost no-one needs has to stop somewhere.
The MX-5 has always been one of the few cars who "gets it"... no need to spoil it with smallcock syndrome.
 
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RaptorSA said:
Hellno. Like most people you're missing the point of the MX-5. Apart from the fact that the new one has more than enough power for spirited driving there's also the need to keep the car as predictable/balanced as possible with linear throttle response, great fuel consumption etc. The improvements they've made to throttle response and gearing is waaay more enticing than a bloody turbo.

The other issues I personally have with turbo cars is longevity, reliability and complexity. I don't care what people say but the numbers speak for themselves, this obsession that cars makes have had over the last few years with strapping turbos on smaller and smaller engine have shown to be a failure. Mazda is one of the few companies who've decided not to go that route by sticking to bigger NA engines in most cases.
My old NB 2.5 is sitting at 12 years and 147K kilometres with no engine issues and uses almost no oil and I regularly drive the snot out of it without worrying about babying the engine with cool down periods etc., guaranteed that would not be the case if there was a turbo attached to it.
Keep it simple, Mazda.

The obession with always dumping more and more power into cars that almost no-one needs has to stop somewhere.
The MX-5 has always been one of the few cars who "gets it"... no need to spoil it with smallcock syndrome.
Click to expand...
It's never going to end. Was the same crap when the 86 was released, people comparing it with hot hatches saying it needs a turbo. They don't have a clue. If the people who buy these cars wanted to go fast in a straight line, they would have bought a car that goes fast in a straight line.

Also, a manufacturer is not just going to slap on a turbo on a car that took years to design to get the balance right, just because of a few moaners in Gauteng. 95% of the people who buy it in the rest of the world are at low altitude, where the power is more than enough...
 
RaptorSA said:
Hellno. Like most people you're missing the point of the MX-5. Apart from the fact that the new one has more than enough power for spirited driving there's also the need to keep the car as predictable/balanced as possible with linear throttle response, great fuel consumption etc. The improvements they've made to throttle response and gearing is waaay more enticing than a bloody turbo.

The other issues I personally have with turbo cars is longevity, reliability and complexity. I don't care what people say but the numbers speak for themselves, this obsession that cars makes have had over the last few years with strapping turbos on smaller and smaller engine have shown to be a failure. Mazda is one of the few companies who've decided not to go that route by sticking to bigger NA engines in most cases.
My old NB 2.5 is sitting at 12 years and 147K kilometres with no engine issues and uses almost no oil and I regularly drive the snot out of it without worrying about babying the engine with cool down periods etc., guaranteed that would not be the case if there was a turbo attached to it.
Keep it simple, Mazda.

The obession with always dumping more and more power into cars that almost no-one needs has to stop somewhere.
The MX-5 has always been one of the few cars who "gets it"... no need to spoil it with smallcock syndrome.
Click to expand...

Although I completely agree on the MX-5 not needing one I have to point out that your anti-turbo sentiments are a little misguided.

I also have a 9 year old car with 178000km on the clock and no engine issues. But it had a turbo. No special babying or anything like that.

There's no major problem with complexity or reliability or longevity.

Although a turbo car has some additional parts, getting the same power out of an NA car makes the design process more complex and potentially works the parts harder so those again need to be better.

The nett result for similar powered vehicles is much the same.

Obviously a turbo car vs an NA car of same capacity will have more parts...But it's hardly more complex.

People make it sound like turbos are this magical hocus pocus dark art. It's just another bolt-on part.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
It's never going to end. Was the same crap when the 86 was released, people comparing it with hot hatches saying it needs a turbo. They don't have a clue. If the people who buy these cars wanted to go fast in a straight line, they would have bought a car that goes fast in a straight line.

Also, a manufacturer is not just going to slap on a turbo on a car that took years to design to get the balance right, just because of a few moaners in Gauteng. 95% of the people who buy it in the rest of the world are at low altitude, where the power is more than enough...
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Yeah not mention that anyone who thinks 0-100 in 5.8s (in a 2.0l NA with just 155hp) is slow is out of his mind! I'd kill to have those numbers on my old MX-5.
Even everyone's darling, the high strung 2l S2000 (that's a complete dog at low speed) posts times between 5.4 and 5.7.

Also, and this is a big one, if someone wants a turbo, GET ONE.... seriously, while this is obviously not something that's feasible in this craphole, the amount of after market support for these cars overseas is insane and Mazda does about as much as any company can to support the aftermarket on these cars. You're literally better off buying one of the litany of custom designed kits done by companies who only do that for a living than sticking to OEM upgrades.
Not to mention if you didn't want to over budget you could just buy a second hand low mileage MX-5 (and know that the engine etc. is still bulletproof) then slap a turbo/supercharger kit onto it.
Not a fan of doing that myself... but there you go... best of both worlds.
 
Mazda MX-5 vs Fiat 124 Spider

https://youtu.be/jbDNEZilJr0

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Saw the new MX-5 in pearl white today on our way to Franschhoek. It is the one car that can drop my wife's panties - despite the fact she is in a 407 coupe. :whistle: Have to admit the new MX-5 is super sexy and I would really approve of her trading in the Astra H on a car like that.
 
Tuner adds turbo to boost Mazda MX-5 to 185 kW...

The Mazda MX-5 has held the title of the world’s most popular sports car for the past 25 years. But some critics say that the latest generation lightweight Japanese sports car could do with a bit more power to exploit its well-sorted chassis.

And now BBR, a well-known Northamptonshire-based Mazda tuning specialist, has released details about its new power-hiking package.

The tuner has developed a Stage 1 twin-scroll turbocharger upgrade for the 2,0-litre model, taking the SkyActiv-G engine’s peak power from the stock 118 kW @ 6000 r/min to a meatier 185 kW @ 7150 r/min. Maximum torque, meanwhile, climbs from 200 N.m to 320 N.m, available at 3250 r/min.

According to Mazda, the standard roadster is capable of reaching 100 km/h from standstill in 7,3 seconds (during our own testing back December 2015, we managed a best of 7,59 seconds). And the turbocharged BBR MX-5?

Well, the tuner claims that the obligatory sprint time falls to a smidgen more than 5,0 seconds, with a claimed power-to-weight ratio of 174 kW per tonne and a electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h.

BBR says it began development and testing back in 2014, using a Mazda3 as the mule. The tuner concluded that a twin-scroll turbocharger was a better bet than a supercharger (which would require “significant boost levels”) due to the high compression ratio of the SkyActiv-G engine.

Along with the turbocharger, this MX-5 features a high-flow K&N induction system, a stainless steel downpipe and a carbon-fibre turbocharger heat shield. An upgraded ECU software package is also included.

The Mazda MX-5 Stage 1 turbo package is priced at £4 995 (about R84 100), including installation, and comes with a 12- to 36-month extendable warranty.

Need yet more power? Well, BBR’s Neil Mckay says that “with internal upgrades to the Mazda engine, we know that considerable more power is available – the BBR technical team is already developing future stages to exploit this”.

http://www.carmag.co.za/news_post/tuner-adds-turbo-to-boost-mazda-mx-5-to-185-kw/

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FiestaST said:
A neat Gen 1 NA model is considering a classic by those in the know. The others not yet.
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"Neat" in this sense specified as "not ruined by being a frankenstein of aftermarket parts bin effluvia".

Anyone actually got one of the RFs yet? I see they're on the Mazda site, but haven't seen any on the road.
 
Leitmotif said:
"Neat" in this sense specified as "not ruined by being a frankenstein of aftermarket parts bin effluvia".

Anyone actually got one of the RFs yet? I see they're on the Mazda site, but haven't seen any on the road.
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Correct. Neat in that sense. If I have to be a bit vulger than an unmolested NA MX-5. Close to a stock as possible.

And nope not seen an RF yet. Surprised that Car Mag still has not got one yet.
 
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