The BBR Mazda MX-5 Turbo Kit Will Give Your ND Miata A 5sec 0-60

UK tuner BBR GTI has revealed its new turbo kit for the ND MX-5, which will boost the roadster's 2.0-litre engine to a healthy 245bhp
The BBR Mazda MX-5 Turbo Kit Will Give Your ND Miata A 5sec 0-60

Last year, we popped down to see the lovely folk at Brackley-based BBR GTI. We drove the tuning company’s Super 190 MX-5, and while we enjoyed the N/A-tuned ND very much, we were a little more interested in what the team was secretly working on at the time: a new turbo kit for the current Miata.

After three years in development it’s now here, and it sounds incredibly promising. The ‘Stage I’ version of the kit consists of a twin-scroll turbocharger, a new exhaust manifold and downpipe, a new intercooler and a reworked ECU, among a few other bits and pieces. Have all that fitted, and the power from the 2.0-litre SkyActiv unit jumps from 158bhp to 245. Torque is at 236lb ft, meanwhile. Lovely.

The BBR Mazda MX-5 Turbo Kit Will Give Your ND Miata A 5sec 0-60

That’s enough poke to see the little Mazda charge from 0-60mph in five seconds dead, on to an electronically-limited 155mph top speed. It’s not even that expensive: BBR will fit the whole shebang for £4995 (plus VAT). The newfound poke will probably make investing in some suspension and brake upgrades worthwhile, though.

The reason for a turbo, over a supercharger? According to BBR’s Neil Mckay, a supercharger is not a good fit for the 2.0-litre SkyActiv unit. He said:

“Very early on during development it became clear that use of a supercharger, with its high parasitic losses, would work against the Mazda SkyActiv-G engine’s ultra-efficient ethos. Significant boost levels would be required to deliver considerable power gains with a supercharger, which would be incompatible with the SkyActiv-G engine’s high compression ratio.”

The BBR Mazda MX-5 Turbo Kit Will Give Your ND Miata A 5sec 0-60

If you live in the USA, you’ll be pleased to know you’re not left out. Colorado tuners Flyin’ Miata - the nutters who’ll shoehorn an LS3 under the bonnet of an ND for you - are US distributors. So that leaves us with an interesting question to ponder: would you have a V8-engined ND Miata, or a turbocharged one? Let us know in the comments…

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Comments

Raregliscor1

I’d have a supercharged one, wherever I could get it from.

04/21/2017 - 15:45 |
64 | 4
Tomislav Celić

I don’t think it will sell well
Most of their buyers don’t want to have messy hair

04/21/2017 - 15:54 |
18 | 8
Deoxide

Or you can just get a V6 so it is more reliable.

Patiently waiting for Phil V6

04/21/2017 - 15:57 |
96 | 2
Mark Mason

V8 ND would probably rock.

04/21/2017 - 15:59 |
18 | 0

Flyin’ Miata already do one of those

04/21/2017 - 16:35 |
12 | 0
lowie t

Asking me if which one i want, m8 i can’t even afford the stock nd…

04/21/2017 - 16:07 |
58 | 0
shoes357

Turbo charged a motor with a 14:1 compression ratio? Impressive

04/21/2017 - 16:09 |
18 | 2

The mx-5 runs 13:1 on 91 octane(95 RON) unlike the rest of the cars that are 14:1 on the same fuel. The US market motors run 13:1 on 87 octane(92 RON). Dave Coleman said they left a little bit of knock resistance on the table for the aftermarket and it looks like it was enough.

06/14/2017 - 05:14 |
2 | 0
Jack Gillick

Mid engined V12 for sure…

04/21/2017 - 16:57 |
164 | 2

I cry every time I see it ;-;

04/22/2017 - 03:33 |
6 | 2
Anonymous

A MX-5 RF with this kit and some beefed up brakes and suspension would be the one I’d have. First I need to source the required money for it all…

04/21/2017 - 16:57 |
12 | 0
[Flux]

“Miatas can’t be fast.”

04/21/2017 - 17:44 |
4 | 2
Bring a Caterham To MARS

In reply to by [Flux]

“Miatas will always be out accelerated by Camrys”.

(gets banned for “misquoting” for a little girl’s whining)

04/21/2017 - 18:18 |
6 | 2
Anonymous

But will the turbo kill the miata when going around the nurburgring?

04/21/2017 - 20:10 |
10 | 0