Discussion
I've been told I have to write some kind of review of the new toy(/weapon), so having clocked up nearly 1500km since picking it up on Saturday afternoon, here goes...
I'll take some photos soon and get them up on here, until then here's one from the trademe ad:
So first things first - its fast, loud, low, and remarkably economical.
Speed:
I haven't timed anything but yes, it certainly gets up and goes. The speedo pegs itself at the place where jap speedos usually do, but the revs keep winding out quite enthusiastically - it feels like it should have no trouble finding the rev-limit in 5th gear (only on a racetrack of course occifer), which a rough calculation would put at ~2.15 metric leptons (henceforth ML). Acceleration is a bit hard to assess subjectively but I'd put it well into rally-rep territory anyway.
I have to admit I haven't even turned it up to the 15psi its tuned to yet! But it outpaced a mates Jag S-type V8 quite convincingly to around 1.6 ML on 13psi with (as I discovered afterwards) a very loose downpipe due to some stretched bolts - now rectified with upgraded hardware and running much smoother.
Its a very smooth, progressive, responsive and easily controlled power delivery too - more so than I expected really. There is some turbo-lag but its not bad, certainly none of the wait...wait...
effect that you can get with some turbo setups. Seems to be pretty well mapped with only some slight surging on neutral throttle to wonder about. Light flywheel helps with throttle response I'm sure, though smooth gearshifts require a little more precision than the standard car.
Noise:
The sound is quite fantastic really - a bit like Darth Vader gargling nails (though less of the nails now that I tightened up the aforementioned downpipe). The engine note isn't overpowered by boost noise and while it has a blow-off valve its not one of those obnoxious PPSSHHHHHH items, sounds more akin to the wastegate of a Group-N rally car. Couple that with entertaining burbles/crackles on the overrun and a slightly lumpy idle and the result is a car that encourage you to play with the throttle just to enjoy the noises it makes. Tunnels have become my friend!
It is a bit louder than ideal for relaxed cruising but hey, you can't win 'em all! Earplugs are a simple solution when you want a break from it on long trips.
I'll take some photos soon and get them up on here, until then here's one from the trademe ad:
So first things first - its fast, loud, low, and remarkably economical.
Speed:
I haven't timed anything but yes, it certainly gets up and goes. The speedo pegs itself at the place where jap speedos usually do, but the revs keep winding out quite enthusiastically - it feels like it should have no trouble finding the rev-limit in 5th gear (only on a racetrack of course occifer), which a rough calculation would put at ~2.15 metric leptons (henceforth ML). Acceleration is a bit hard to assess subjectively but I'd put it well into rally-rep territory anyway.
I have to admit I haven't even turned it up to the 15psi its tuned to yet! But it outpaced a mates Jag S-type V8 quite convincingly to around 1.6 ML on 13psi with (as I discovered afterwards) a very loose downpipe due to some stretched bolts - now rectified with upgraded hardware and running much smoother.
Its a very smooth, progressive, responsive and easily controlled power delivery too - more so than I expected really. There is some turbo-lag but its not bad, certainly none of the wait...wait...
effect that you can get with some turbo setups. Seems to be pretty well mapped with only some slight surging on neutral throttle to wonder about. Light flywheel helps with throttle response I'm sure, though smooth gearshifts require a little more precision than the standard car.Noise:
The sound is quite fantastic really - a bit like Darth Vader gargling nails (though less of the nails now that I tightened up the aforementioned downpipe). The engine note isn't overpowered by boost noise and while it has a blow-off valve its not one of those obnoxious PPSSHHHHHH items, sounds more akin to the wastegate of a Group-N rally car. Couple that with entertaining burbles/crackles on the overrun and a slightly lumpy idle and the result is a car that encourage you to play with the throttle just to enjoy the noises it makes. Tunnels have become my friend!
It is a bit louder than ideal for relaxed cruising but hey, you can't win 'em all! Earplugs are a simple solution when you want a break from it on long trips.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 24th March 12:05
Handling
This is the first area where I'll be making some changes ASAP - its just too low, especially in the rear. Both in practical and handling terms, even taking care its easy to scrape various bits of undercarriage and a look under the rear shows the wishbones at a rather suboptimal angle. If bumps on SH1 can cause it to bottom out at the legal speed limit you know its too low!
On smooth roads its great, well planted but progressive and easily adjustable. Much better traction than I expected, the LSD makes a big difference over my previous MX5. Driven smoothly its fast, fun and efficient, while casual power oversteer is available when desired in 2nd gear, and with a little more effort in 3rd. Catch it with a flick of the wrist or keep the boot in and hold it a bit longer, its all up to the driver. None of that nasty 'clutch-kick' business the drifty-boys get up to mind you, I just can't bring myself to treat a car like that.
Throw some bumps into the equation however and its hard and crashy in the front (expected to a degree, the nose still stays stuck) but very unresolved in the rear end, a couple of bumps in succession can start it pogo-ing quite disconcertingly and a single big one under acceleration saw me lighting up 3rd gear (briefly) at ~1.1 ML mid-overtake.
Its fitted with Cusco adjustable platform suspension, so Saturday's first job will be jacking it up for a look and hopefully winding the ride height to a more sensible level - its my first experience with that manner of suspension adjustability though so I won't be wiggling things around too quickly until I've had a decent look at how it works. If that fails to address the bouncy ass then I'll be looking into different springs or dampers at some stage too. Its possible that the previous owner deliberately set up a soft rear end for better traction and just never took it on bumpy roads.
This is the first area where I'll be making some changes ASAP - its just too low, especially in the rear. Both in practical and handling terms, even taking care its easy to scrape various bits of undercarriage and a look under the rear shows the wishbones at a rather suboptimal angle. If bumps on SH1 can cause it to bottom out at the legal speed limit you know its too low!
On smooth roads its great, well planted but progressive and easily adjustable. Much better traction than I expected, the LSD makes a big difference over my previous MX5. Driven smoothly its fast, fun and efficient, while casual power oversteer is available when desired in 2nd gear, and with a little more effort in 3rd. Catch it with a flick of the wrist or keep the boot in and hold it a bit longer, its all up to the driver. None of that nasty 'clutch-kick' business the drifty-boys get up to mind you, I just can't bring myself to treat a car like that.
Throw some bumps into the equation however and its hard and crashy in the front (expected to a degree, the nose still stays stuck) but very unresolved in the rear end, a couple of bumps in succession can start it pogo-ing quite disconcertingly and a single big one under acceleration saw me lighting up 3rd gear (briefly) at ~1.1 ML mid-overtake.
Its fitted with Cusco adjustable platform suspension, so Saturday's first job will be jacking it up for a look and hopefully winding the ride height to a more sensible level - its my first experience with that manner of suspension adjustability though so I won't be wiggling things around too quickly until I've had a decent look at how it works. If that fails to address the bouncy ass then I'll be looking into different springs or dampers at some stage too. Its possible that the previous owner deliberately set up a soft rear end for better traction and just never took it on bumpy roads.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 24th March 12:00
Thirst
I've been very impressed by this aspect - in normal to enthusiastic driving its proving noticeably more frugal than the standard MX5 so far, averaging around 8.4 L/100km (34mpg) despite numerous bouts of enthusiasm and detours like Paekakiriki Hill (fun but bumpy, got held up by sportbike) and Dyers Pass (amazingly traffic-free, fantastic piece of road). Going seriously hammer-down will see it drink much faster of course, but its fast enough that you can't do that safely for very long on public roads anyway.
Future Plans
As mentioned above the suspension is priority #1, I also plan to fit some heat shielding between the turbo and intake soon as the intake duct feels quite warm after boosting and we all know that lower intake temps are a good thing.
Longer term I'm looking forward to a decent rollbar / half cage and getting it out on track. Buckets/harnesses and sticky tyres would be nice down the track as well!
The great thing is that it doesn't lose any of the playful, forgiving MX5 character, it just compounds it with a whole extra load of distilled awesomeness.
I've been very impressed by this aspect - in normal to enthusiastic driving its proving noticeably more frugal than the standard MX5 so far, averaging around 8.4 L/100km (34mpg) despite numerous bouts of enthusiasm and detours like Paekakiriki Hill (fun but bumpy, got held up by sportbike) and Dyers Pass (amazingly traffic-free, fantastic piece of road). Going seriously hammer-down will see it drink much faster of course, but its fast enough that you can't do that safely for very long on public roads anyway.
Future Plans
As mentioned above the suspension is priority #1, I also plan to fit some heat shielding between the turbo and intake soon as the intake duct feels quite warm after boosting and we all know that lower intake temps are a good thing.
Longer term I'm looking forward to a decent rollbar / half cage and getting it out on track. Buckets/harnesses and sticky tyres would be nice down the track as well!
The great thing is that it doesn't lose any of the playful, forgiving MX5 character, it just compounds it with a whole extra load of distilled awesomeness.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 24th March 19:14
Yeah this one is too low and stiff for a gravel car so I'll be treating it nicely in that regard!
Haven't had a lot of wet roads to use it on so far but when I have its seemed as friendly as it does in the dry - obviously if you have a clumsy right foot and boot it everywhere you could get yourself into trouble though. Its much more stable and predictable in the wet than the old MX5 with worn-out old kingstars on the back anyway!
It probably helps that (as with most turbos) going from light to heavy throttle does have a slight delay as boost builds before you get full torque. If you were on the power earlier or already on boost when you poke it it might react differently... I'll research this and let you know.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 24th March 23:05
Got the suspension sorted today - raised the rear end by 20mm. So much friendlier over bumps now, made a huge difference! Little bit more body roll and feels slightly less planted in the rear but I think thats mostly just a change in camber with the ride height, so an alignment should fix that if I don't want to be a tail-happy loon. 
Update: Decided it was still too low so did some more research and raised it all round to bring it up to the most common road/track MX5 ride height. Now has a similar feel over bumps to a standard MX5 (which my kidneys and passengers are thankful for), much of the bounciness has gone and traction has improved as well - previous owner had set both front and rear as low as they could possibly go, its much better with suspension travel!
Still haven't got round to that photo session yet, keep getting distracted...
Still haven't got round to that photo session yet, keep getting distracted...
Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 20th April 10:57
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