Rocketeer V6 & Honda K24

[baronbennyt]

The stormy blue NC 3.75 will be getting the Honda K24 2.4L developed and prepared by Performance Link in Tewksbury for c. 290-300bhp, and the copper red NC 3.75 will be getting the Jaguar AJ30 3.0L V6 developed and prepared by Rocketeer Cars near Andover for 310-320bhp.

The blue K24 car is already in for its engine build with Performance Link and the red V6 car is expected to be in engine build with Rocketeer early next year, after the rest of the car has been prepared.

I know these builds won t be for everyone and there will no doubt be plenty of critics and naysayers, which social media has a habit of throwing up, but I hope many of you MX5 enthusiasts will take interest and pleasure in following my journey with these two very special projects.

I ve worked very hard for many years to get to this point and this is where I ve decided to place my hard earned, supporting two wonderfully creative and technically brilliant British companies who, like all of us, have a passion for MX5s. In this case we re just turning the dial to eleven!

Moderator edit: no social media promotion

[John D.]

Friend of mine has a K24 Turbo in his MX5 from Performance Link. It had a few teething issues, but I think it's sorted now. Cool, but I think the Rocketeer stuff is more my style.

You must like MX5s!

[baronbennyt]

John D. said:

Friend of mine has a K24 Turbo in his MX5 from Performance Link. It had a few teething issues, but I think it's sorted now. Cool, but I think the Rocketeer stuff is more my style.

You must like MX5s!

I love 'em! I do about 25-30 track days a year and having driven most performance and sports cars on the road and on the track, including Porsche, Lotus, BMW and McLaren, I’ve come to the conclusion you can’t beat an MX5 for sheer fun. So, I need a stable that can cope with the number of track days I’m doing. Having fallen for the MX5 I thought two very different engines would make them different enough to justify having both of them! Let’s see how next year goes. I’m not very good at holding onto cars for long. I hope these two break the trend..

[Sway]

Awesome.

Are you going for similar chassis setups for both, or thinking that's another area you could create some variety?

[itcaptainslow]

Those Rocketeer conversions look absolutely mega!

[baronbennyt]

Sway said:

Awesome.

Are you going for similar chassis setups for both, or thinking that's another area you could create some variety?

Thanks. There will be many similarities but differences too. Obviously both will have very different drivetrains. They will also have different suspension: the blue one is on Supermiata Xida coilovers and the red one will run Ohlins Road & Track coilovers. Also, the blue car has a Wilwood big brake kit and the red one has a EBC big brake kit. However, they will both run the same wheels, tyres, roll bar, and bucket seats, for example. The idea is to make the blue one the ultimate arrive and drive track day weapon whereas the red one will be more of a sports tourer though capable of doing the odd track day too.

[baronbennyt]

itcaptainslow said:

Those Rocketeer conversions look absolutely mega!

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to my Rocketeer build after test driving one of their cars. Bruce and Duncan are wonderful to deal with, although I'm not sure my bank manager feels the same way!

[itcaptainslow]

baronbennyt said:

itcaptainslow said:

Those Rocketeer conversions look absolutely mega!

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to my Rocketeer build after test driving one of their cars. Bruce and Duncan are wonderful to deal with, although I'm not sure my bank manager feels the same way!

My partner has an MX5 and I keep trying to persuade her it’s an excellent idea

(Not sure she agrees, in fact she wants to sell it…)

[DaveK-S1]

Watching with interest.

My sons Track Nc is currently at PL for some mapping work, and i'm building a high compression 2.5 motor for my road car. so not quite as extreme as your builds.

I did look at the V6 conversion and have got a aj30 sat under the bench, if they decide to make a diy kit

[John D.]

DaveK-S1 said:

Watching with interest.

My sons Track Nc is currently at PL for some mapping work, and i'm building a high compression 2.5 motor for my road car. so not quite as extreme as your builds.

I did look at the V6 conversion and have got a aj30 sat under the bench, if they decide to make a diy kit

They do offer a self build kit, so you have no excuse.

[DaveK-S1]

John D. said:

They do offer a self build kit, so you have no excuse.

Not for the NC kit , its turnkey only at the moment due to mods required to the engine iirc

[baronbennyt]

The Copper Red MX5 NC was superb fun at Castle Combe circuit the other week. The new EBC Apollo front brakes and EBC Yellowstuff brake pads performed really well, kept cool by the Performance Delta front fog light brake cooling kit.

The Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tyres (225|45|17), however, overheated quite badly in the dry but came into their own later when it rained. I’ll move to Yokohama A052s next.

The car is running OZ Racing I-TECH Alleggerita HLT alloy wheels in star silver I 8X17 inch | 5X114.3 | Offset 48.

The next stage in the build will be to fit Ohlins Road & Track coilovers, Whiteline adjustable anti roll bars, and a Kaaz 1.5 Way Super Q LSD. I’ll also upgrade the brake pads to Carbotech XP8s since the modifications described should result in greater performance.

After this I’ll be looking at the interior - bucket seats, harnesses, roll bar etc.

The Rocketeer V6 engine conversion will be the last piece in the project build.

[spoolio]

baronbennyt said:

The Copper Red MX5 NC was superb fun at Castle Combe circuit the other week. The new EBC Apollo front brakes and EBC Yellowstuff brake pads performed really well, kept cool by the Performance Delta front fog light brake cooling kit.

The Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tyres (225|45|17), however, overheated quite badly in the dry but came into their own later when it rained. I ll move to Yokohama A052s next.

The car is running OZ Racing I-TECH Alleggerita HLT alloy wheels in star silver I 8X17 inch | 5X114.3 | Offset 48.

The next stage in the build will be to fit Ohlins Road & Track coilovers, Whiteline adjustable anti roll bars, and a Kaaz 1.5 Way Super Q LSD. I ll also upgrade the brake pads to Carbotech XP8s since the modifications described should result in greater performance.

After this I ll be looking at the interior - bucket seats, harnesses, roll bar etc.

The Rocketeer V6 engine conversion will be the last piece in the project build.

Sir, that looks absolutely mega. I bought a 987 Boxster S earlier this year to scratch an itch but honestly, it's too much car for my local roads. And as it's quite leggy I don't trust it to do a trackday with it, so naturally I keep looking at NCs. I've had 2 NAs and an NB 20 years ago so I've always had a soft spot and a lot of respect of the MX5. Posts like this are doing nothing to dissuade me.