Forged Performance. Our approach to the ND MX5

[MXkal]

So i might as well start by introducing myself.

My name is Kalen, managing director of Forged Performance Australia.
We at Forged are an engineering firm specialising in late model vehicle development consisting of NA intakes & exhausts, forced induction kits as well as plug and play fuel systems including flex fuel applications.

After designing products for the GT86s for the last 3 years we wanted to continue our development of efficiently boosting high compression motors (86s run 12.5:1 comp), We have been pulling some great numbers in the GT86s (upwards of 350kw on stock motors) we thought we would develop a turbo package for the ND MX5 and see what these Skyactiv
motors are actually capable of.

So back in October 2015 i went to the local Mazda dealership and threw a couple of orders down for some shiny new cars, one being our new 2L ND that arrived on new years eve.

[MXkal]

Firstly what we did was get it home and start all the 3D scanning. Nearly everything we could think of was removed from the car, scanned and then re-installed, giving us a bunch of OEM files to be used when needed.
Having these files will allow us to manufacture new components then reference them virtually in CAD sofware to approve the design without needing to pull the car apart again.

Whilst the front bar was off to scan behind i took the opportunity to grab one of our billet intercoolers we supply in our GT86 turbo kit and see if it fit on the ND.

As you can see, it actually fits better in the ND than it does in the GT86 (what the intercooler was designed for).

After removing the aluminium extruded collision bar it was a simple bolt in job using the brackets that come welded onto the intercoolers.

Whilst we were behind the front bar, we also took the oppotunity to do some measuring for a NA intake kit, relocating a pod filter up behind the front bar, feeding the filter with a high pressure cold air as well as deleting the bulky airbox located in the engine bay (the airbox sucks from behind the front bar anyway via a small restrictive snorkel).

[SE]

A managing director I'm impressed

[Lokiel]

While I applaud your efforts in getting on board so quickly with ND modz, I do wonder if there's a customer base yet?

ie. Many new car buyers will be too hesitant to void their warranty with many of the modz you'll be developing (as opposed to some of the cosmetic upgrades available now).

I'm a tragic modder but even I'd be hesitant to do too much for the first year or two with a new car.

PS: I hope I'm completely mistaken in this.

[luzinit]

Being new didn't stop brz or 86 owners from turboing and other mods. Keep us updated!

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[davekmoore]

The ND is attracting a higher proportion of buyers in a younger age group than the NC. Several of them have asked me how to get extra power.

[Roadrunner]

I know of plenty of people who drove their 86s straight off the lot and into workshops saying: "make it go faster" and the aftermarket support for that is huge now. Someone's got to start somewhere.

I see a market for ND go fast mods and like what's happening here.

Will you be looking into designing similar upgrades for the 1.5L too?

[oztrackdays]

ie you modify brakes then the Engine is still under warranty.

If you modify your engine, then the engine is no longer under warranty, but rest of car is
that being said it's such a cheap engine and nasty OEM engine why wouldn't you.

I think a drive in drive out package will be very popular with the kiddies and the oldies.

[MXkal]

You would be suprised how many people will be modifying the ND.
Not only do we use this car as development, but we also use it as a promotional vehicle, the amount of people that have bought an 86 because they're easy to get power from is amazing.
If we promote it well enough it will create more buyers for the ND as they know for X amount of dollars they can have a car that will out-handle anything else on the road as well as pull 3 car lengths on an Evo 9.

Most of our products are sent to USA and the UAE with Australia only being a small percentage of our market.
Our plan is to get products on the market as soon as possible as obviously there is a lot less competition early on, we expect to see a spike in sales once all the NDs start to run out of warranty (same as the 86s) but its amazing how many people are following our work and waiting until we release the first batch of intakes and headers.

[MXkal]

As you can see the intercooler is tucked inside nicely behind the front bar. The closest clearance is 16.5mm to any of the bodywork so that is good news, these cores are the same cores Hypertune use in the World time attack cars and we have seen close to 400rwkw with these exact units.

[MXkal]

When re-installing all the oem gear i took the oppotunity to get a few of our bolt dress-up kits off the shelf, we used to sell these when we first started but took them off our store about 12 months ago to make way for more performance orientated products. We literally have thousands of them left in nearly every color under the sun so i thought I'd throw them on.

[MXkal]

Removing the exhaust was a bit of a task due to the amount of bracing the NDs have, we took it off and got it onto a file but decided to re-install it with a quick little muffler delete / track pipe kind of thing that i knocked up at 9pm at night from some material we had in stock.
I was kind of regretting the decision the next morning as i forgot i was booked in for the 1000km service and didnt have time to throw the oem muffler back on, there was a bit of praise from the mechanics at Mazda due to the car being a week old.

[smy0003]

Exhaust looks great. Sound clips?
The more people offering power ups for the ND the better.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

[Dan]

^ Yeh I agree, it's especially good to see a local company making turbo kits since it will guarantee them being RHD friendly and help with support.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Vat]

...didnt have time to throw the oem muffler back on, there was a bit of praise from the mechanics at Mazda due to the car being a week old.

Gold.

First time I've seen a detailed shot of the underneath of the ND. Thanks for the detailed shots, it's good not only to see the mod path but also to get a proper look at the ND's chassis. Look forward to following this.