I've Really Killed My MX-5 This Time, So This Is The New Grand Plan
If you’ve been following the popular Project MX-5 series on our YouTube channel, you’ll know that Phil, my trusty, turbocharged steed has had a tough time of it in recent months. After getting turbocharged and gaining almost double the power, a lot of extra strain has been put through the old 1.8-litre BP-ZE engine, which resulted in blown oil seals while at the Nurburgring and general rough running.
After rescuing Phil from the ‘Ring and getting the seals replaced, boost pressure was then upped (see video above) and I drove away (with a very angry-sounding clutch) with over 250bhp at the crank. ‘Great’, I thought, ‘this is now one of the fastest MX-5s in the country’. (Not the fastest by any stretch of the imagination, but still damn quick).
Well, after trying to start little old Phil up the week before last, I heard a loud bang coming from under the bonnet, which sounded as though a heavy piece of metal had fallen to the ground and through my heart like a Hummer-punch that inextricably imploded my world, tied me up and buried me underground with 100kgs of TNT, a lighter and 10 crocodiles that hadn’t eaten for 1000 years…
The engine cut out immediately, and since then, Phil has been in hibernation. Again.
Until my buddy Gareth and I strip the engine and take a look, I won’t know what the damage is, to either the engine or the turbo. But one thing’s for sure: Phil is/was/will be again my daily and I’m all through with him being less than reliable. So there’s only one thing for it…an engine swap!
So then, what are my options? Well, V8 swaps are popular, but I don’t fancy going down that road, partly because of our insane fuel prices (did you know that we pay approximately $9 per gallon in the UK?!), coupled with the fact that the MX-5’s fuel tank is pretty small, meaning more regular fill-ups, and ain’t nobody got time for that!
You guys are also crying out for me to look into a rotary swap, which would keep the car Mazda pure, but again, it’s not something that grabs me because reliability and smooth running is very important to me.
What does really appeal to me is a six cylinder engine. Naturally, a BMW M52 2.8-litre engine is right up my street, but without cutting into the firewall and massive fabrication, it’s not feasible on a budget.
After some digging on the internet and conversations with MX-5 friends, I’ve discovered that a Mazda-sourced V6 would work very nicely indeed. The 2.5-litre KL engine as fitted to the Mazda MX-6 and Ford Probe GT would also keep the car in the Mazda bloodline, and would provide great power (around 200hp), reliability, and an engine and exhaust note sweet enough to do really bad things to.
Here’s a short video of one such car that already has the V6 swap, to give you a little taster of what may be coming to the Project MX-5 series in the next few months…
So to all of you who ask me how Phil is and what the plan is, this is your answer. Obviously, however, it’s very early days, but I’m excited at the prospect of maybe having a V6 MX-5 as a daily.
What are your thoughts, and what other options should I consider?
Comments
What about 2zz i4 engine from the corolla/celica 190? These cars are cheap so i assume their engines are Too, 190 hp NA and decente fuel economy, theyve been put in mr2, but i dont know how the swap would go on the front
Have you not thought about the b234/B204 Saab motors. Standard internals are known to take an absolute pounding and if it does go bang its a cheap replacement (I bought a whole saab 93 for £320). The engine itself will have to be bolted up to an omega gearbox though or BMW. The gearbox is the biggest worry due to torque ratings, but if you want to make it super reliable there are some people out there that did make an adapter plate to use the BMW 320D gearbox. Apparently the engine can also run off of the ECU presets and can be run by 4 wires.
The Mazda V6 you’re looking at it a KL-ZE, which weighs 474 pounds. The 1.8l BP-ZE weighs 320 pounds (someone fact check me if I’m wrong). That’s a lot of weight up front, not even counting the transmissions. That’s a good deal of weight up front. I’d say look at modern 4 cylinder engines, extra weight is never good. I’d suggest looking into a K24 or F20/22c if you don’t mind going from Mazda. Or you could import a JDM BP-ZE because those blocks have really low mileage (like 60-70k miles) and would be the cheapest way to fix Phil.
A rotary from a rx8 would be perfect. People assume there unreliable because they dont know how to look after the engine…..it’s in the handbook!!!, A few guys at work have ones on over 120k on all original engine parts.
Alex have a serious look in to the rx8 engine again.
I’d either put an STI engine him or it would be cool if a Powerstroke or Cummins diesel would fit in him
Nononono.
Rob Dahm will hook you up. You NEED a rotary
Theyre not reliable if you take care of them and feed them plenty of oil.
Kmiata makes a swap kit to install Honda’s k series engine. Reliable 200-220hp, can be turbo, lots of aftermarket(way more then a klze)…
Ecotec is also a great option, engines are cheap and plentiful!
Theres the 2l V6 from the mazda lantis you could slap in it, very smooth engine with great power delivery I think somebody did the swap down here in new zealand once! Have a look into it Alex I think you’ll be surprised about how good of an engine it is and they sound awesome too :)
Those little jewel-like 1.8 V6 from the MX-3 would probably be very logical, too. I don’t know what they have for power and unless you get significant weight and power it probably isn’t ideal. But the sound at 7000 is wonderful. Now, try to help F1 get onboard. Their cars sound like my 4.0 Ranger P/U with two yards of dirt aboard.
Alex Kersten Put a rotary in it that way the engine won’t be much heavier if at all and you can push that power figure up quite easily. A 13B Turbo would do very well ;)