Seeking Impartial Advice..

[slowpoke]

Hello there 16BIT ! Your interesting comments have ignited my interest in supercharging my nb8a. My car is a 10ae, just turned 40000 km, is regularly serviced and in top cond. If I had a Rotrex s/c installed would the standard brakes be ok or would the braking system need upgrading ? Hotside ?? / coldside ?? What the heck is THIS, please ? How does one choose between them ? Is it a part of the s/c kit ? Or is it a separate, stand alone item ? My car already has free flow extractors and a Loc Stewart CAI. Would this CAI be compatible with the Rotrex or would I need a different style ? Would it be necessary to replace the original fuel pump with a ' high flow' type ? The price of a Rotrex mp62 plus ECU,from Bullet Cars, seems to be $7385. Would this be a 'fitted' price or is there a separate installation fee ?
I'm not a racer but I would like my car to have some real 'lift' instead of being simply a 'show pony'. With thanks and cheers from Slowpoke.

[Alex]

hotside or coldside refers to the placement of the supercharger in the engine bay, hotside is above the extractors, coldside is on the intake side if that makes sense.
I would go hotside for an intercooler, otherwise coldside.
You might be able to redo some piping and use parts of your current intake, depends on the supercharger you choose.
AFAIK the standard fuel pump should be find depending on how much power you are after, more often people seem to just change the injectors.

Looks like that price is for the hardware, ecu and a basic tune, so does not include installation.

[16bit]

you car is a perfect candidate for super or turbocharging. a nicely run in motor and a good 'seasoned' block.

If I had a Rotrex s/c installed would the standard brakes be ok or would the braking system need upgrading ?

For the road no - if you are not doing anything illegal anyway. You may want to upgrade pads at your next service with some motul rbf600 fluid but if you are using genuine mazda original equipment (akibono) then they are actually really good pads.

For the track yes. Because of the extra speed you may just go over the heat capacity of the stock setup but that would depend on the track. Within the heat limits of package they are fine but you will more then likely go over this if you get what I mean. I went way over the limits with bendix ultimates which are really good on the road.


Hotside ?? / coldside ?? What the heck is THIS, please ? How does one choose between them ? Is it a part of the s/c kit ? Or is it a separate, stand alone item ?

The rotrex kit is a hotside only kit. All it refers to is the actual side of the engine bay the supercharger is mounted. Hot being exhaust manifold side and cold being intake side. I prefer a hotside kit because it allows a tradition intercooler setup which is more reliable as there are no moving parts and also allows you to run more boost if needs be.


My car already has free flow extractors and a Loc Stewart CAI. Would this CAI be compatible with the Rotrex or would I need a different style ?

I would say without some really complicated and probably inefficient piping it will not work. You can still use the hole in the firewall to get air. I use this setup and will post some pics on the weekend as I am making a new air box atm. Extractors will work great.

Would it be necessary to replace the original fuel pump with a ' high flow' type ?

I would say not. It may be a good idea just as a realiability thing but the stock pump flows plenty of fuel. I am currently making about 210-220whp and its fine. The injectors are the things you will need to upgrade. If you do get the kit make sure that you specify the 5th injecctor to be a green top ford motorspord 440cc unit.

The price of a Rotrex mp62 plus ECU,from Bullet Cars, seems to be $7385. Would this be a 'fitted' price or is there a separate installation fee ?

Just to be picky the mp62 is a different type of supercharger. The rotrex you want is a C30-94. Make sure you get the 94 not the 84 as the 84 is more limited in total power output. It will cost no more to get the 84 or 94 and they are exatly the same on the outside so no different brackets. That cost would be supply only. You will need to either install yourself or get it installed. Not sure on that cost. Also take into account that you will be getting a base only map. Because the tune was done on my car which is an nb8a with 9.5 comp ratio I would take it straight to chiptorque or a local tuner that is comfortable with using the xede processor to get it retuned as you car being a 10AE has the newer 10 comp ratio motor in it. Also speak to them about how much power you want so you can get the correct supercharger pulley to make enough boost.

Hope this helps mate. Its a great system and can assure you that its plenty quick.

[CT]

I reckon a decent engineer would have a different opinion on brakes for the road car once you've upgraded the power. As the 10AE only has the same stoppers as the NA 1.8 and you are adding power to take it up to the level of an SE or SP - I would expect an engineer would expect brakes off the later model to be fitted at least. Larger diameter discs provide far more stopping power than upgraded pads alone will ever provide.

[Juffa]

I believe that Mossy has a cold side SC to suit the 1.8l engine for sale. Might be worth further investigation?

Is still available ==>> viewtopic.php?f=44&t=33490&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

J

[slowpoke]

ALEX, 16BIT, CT AND JUFFA, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CLEAR INPUTS.
I'M NOT A HARD PUNTER (ONLY IN MY DREAMS !) BUT I'LL INVESTIGATE MY BRAKE SITUATION. SEEMS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT MY LOC STEWART CAI WOULD NEED TO BE CHANGED ! (IT WAS FITTED BY GARRY STEWART IN 2005 AT 20316 KMS ALONG WITH THE EXTRACTORS). IT WOULD BE VERY GOOD THO' IF THE HOLE IN THE FIREWALL COULD BE FILLED WITH A SUITABLE ALTERNATIVE.. HOW DOES ONE KNOW HOW TO SELECT THE 'CORRECT' PULLEY ? AND FROM WHOM DOES ONE BUY IT ?
AND THEN THE INJECTORS?? I NEED MORE INFO PLEASE.
ALSO IS AN ENGINEER'S REPORT NECESSARY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR TRANSPORT IF A S/C OR T/C IS FITTED ?
AS IS OBVIOUS THIS IS A SUBJECT THAT I KNOW ZERO ABOUT AND FIND THAT A LOT OF THE LINGO USED TO DESCRIBE EXISTING 'SETUPS' INCOMPREHENSIBLE.
THANKS AGAIN, SLOWPOKE

[mx52nv]

Woah talk about getting your point across

Think you left caps lock on

[16bit]

HOW DOES ONE KNOW HOW TO SELECT THE 'CORRECT' PULLEY

You will need to speak to the people you buy the kit from about the power figure you are hoping to get. based on that they should be able to figure out the size of the pulley to acheive it. This is so because with a supercharger setup boost is regulated by the crank to blower pulley ratio. the smaller the blower pulley (the one on the supercharger) the more boost you will produce and the more power you will make. too big = not enough power. too small = too much boost.

AND THEN THE INJECTORS?? I NEED MORE INFO PLEASE.

Your fuel systems max power it can support is always (as with all systems) going to be determined by its weakest link. The mx5 fuel system is held back by the size of the injectors. In order to make good power you will need to upgrade them. Some systems will make use of a 5th or extra injector to increase the amount of fuel supplied to make more power or will replace all 4 of your standard injectors. the latter option is always going to be best but the extra injector setups are cheaper and have been done so often that they tend to work quite well.

ALSO IS AN ENGINEER'S REPORT NECESSARY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR TRANSPORT IF A S/C OR T/C IS FITTED

not in queensland

[Okibi]

Carco in Canberra have fitted a handful of superchargers on NBs, that's where i'd be going for advice if I was in ACT.

[slowpoke]

Hello 16bit..
Amongst your very helpful replies to my queries you mentioned that the 10AE had a higher compression ratio(10) than your 1998 NB. Was there a difference in C/R between the 98 NB and the 99 NB ?
I have two Mazda Specification leaflets pertaining to both NB8A ( published in June 1999) and 10AE (published February 1999). The engine specs. are identical for both. The C/R of 9.5 is the same for both also. Was the publisher in error, do you think ? Cheers from slowpoke.

[Sean]

I reckon a decent engineer would have a different opinion on brakes for the road car once you've upgraded the power. As the 10AE only has the same stoppers as the NA 1.8 and you are adding power to take it up to the level of an SE or SP - I would expect an engineer would expect brakes off the later model to be fitted at least. Larger diameter discs provide far more stopping power than upgraded pads alone will ever provide.

In my experience an engineer will easily pass a turbo/superhcarged mx5 with standard brakes. I know this having had two turbo MX5s engineered, one with bigger brakes and one with stock brakes. The engineer looked at the fact a turbo 4WD familia came stock with a 1.8 turbo and was heavier than the MX5 and had small (same size a NA 1.6 mx5) brakes. That doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend a brake upgrade.

I agree with what others have said that Carco are worth talking to, I've been over there a couple of times and it's easy to see they know thier stuff with MX5s.

I dont have personal experience in superhcarged MX5s, but have owned a turbo MX5s, and supercharged LSx engines so feel I am in a reasonable position to comment.

I too am in Canberra and happy to catch up fpor a chat some time..

[slowpoke]

G'day Sean,
Thanks for the offer of a chat, I'd like that. I'm in Narrabundah. Do I send you an email with my telephone number ? Cheers from slowpoke ( John )

[Sean]

Hey John,

I'm in Woden when I'm in town - Yeah shoot me a PM, happy to help however I can.