How I made my Mazda MX-5 a sub 5 sec 0-60mph monster!
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TechTranscript
00:00Hi everyone, Matt Watson here. So behind me is my very own
00:04Mazda MX-5 and in this video I'm going to talk you round the car.
00:07I'm going to point out some of the upgrades I've done to it to make it far more fun to drive
00:11and also show you some of the things that have gone wrong
00:15including vandalism. Awful. Anyway, for this video I'm going to switch over onto a POV camera.
00:20So let's go check out the car.
00:23Okay, let's kick off this video by talking about the model of MX-5 I've got.
00:27So it's a Mk2 as signified by those rather silly looking headlamps.
00:32Now the Mk1 had those famous pop-up headlamps which looked super cool
00:36but they were scrapped because of crash regulations.
00:39They tend to rip people's legs apart if you drive into them.
00:43This is better for pedestrians. Doesn't look so good though does it?
00:47Still, I went for this too because it's actually a slightly better car than the Mk1.
00:52It's basically the same underneath but
00:56it has some extra strengthening, some bigger brakes,
00:59the engine slightly tweaks for a bit more power
01:02and the interior is a bit more modern and more comfortable.
01:05It's a little less raw but it's pretty much just as good to drive
01:08but easier to live with every day.
01:10So my car cost me £2,000 but you can actually get a decent one of these for about a grand.
01:15You do have to watch out for a couple of things.
01:17The sills down here rot so this one's been refitted.
01:22So that cost about £150, not too expensive.
01:28Another thing you have to watch out for are the chassis legs.
01:30So it's the chassis bit that runs and holds the engine.
01:33They can actually rot from the inside out
01:35but those are the two main parts to watch out for on these cars because they can rot.
01:40Now I've been a bit unlucky with this car because it has been vandalised
01:43and I'll show you now what's been done.
01:46So someone kindly, after I bought it,
01:49managed to just dig their key in there into this massive scratch.
01:53Now I'm wondering if I can get that fixed just by a kind of specialist vehicle repair
01:57without having to have the whole back end resprayed.
02:00It'd be good, let me know in the comments below.
02:02Some more scratching here, it'd be nice to get that out.
02:04Another thing that I noticed once when I was driving along
02:06that it was quite windy when I had the roof up
02:08and that's because someone slashed the roof.
02:12Completely separate occasion but yeah, I managed to repair that myself with some rubberised glue.
02:18I actually did a really good job and it's held up for years.
02:20That has no problem at all.
02:23So there's the car in its entirety.
02:25Now it's looking lower to the ground but more on that later
02:27because I'm going to talk you through the upgrades on it.
02:30So I've fitted a new exhaust from MX-5 Parts.
02:34So that's a bit more free-flowing, it sounds a bit better than the standard exhaust.
02:38£150, not that expensive really.
02:41At the front, I've gone for the stick-on number plate but not very successfully.
02:47So normally the car has like a plinth there which just looks awful
02:50so I've fit this stick-on one.
02:52It actually covers some holes from where the plinth was mounted.
02:55Ideally, you want to put that up there because then you won't get these ripples.
02:58So if anyone knows how to fit one of these without the ripples, let me know yet again.
03:02And there's another thing I've fitted to it, a towing eye which you need if you want to go on track days.
03:08Other than that, it does look pretty standard.
03:11But some other things that I've done to it are this.
03:13Look, I've fitted upgraded brakes.
03:15So these are EBC performance rotors and EBC yellow stuff pads.
03:21Fit them at the front and at the back and some braided hoses as well for the braking,
03:25just for a sharper response.
03:27I have done something a bit wrong though.
03:28I've had the rotors fitted the wrong way round to my insistence because I got it wrong.
03:33Those should be facing that away to pick up more air and cool the brake rotor.
03:40You can actually get a bigger brake kit for this car.
03:42So the 2.5, the sport version had 16-inch rather than these 15-inch alloy wheels.
03:47And that had a bigger brake kit for better braking.
03:50So a lot of people do fit that to these cars.
03:53And actually, the 2.5 is a bit nicer looking, has a sharper nose.
03:57So rather than the rounded headlights, there's a bit more angle there,
04:00which just makes the car look a bit more edgy, more sporty and less kind of gormless to be fair.
04:07But you want the sport version because the sport version of the 2.5
04:11has a limited-slip differential.
04:13This is the IS of the 2 and that has a limited-slip differential as standard on the 1.8.
04:19So yeah, you've got a torsion limited-slip diff, which is great for this little car.
04:23The Mark 1s, the later 1.8, they had a limited-slip diff as well if you had the IS.
04:29But the 1.6s didn't.
04:31Unless you imported them from Japan, then they did, but they were a viscous diff
04:35and they actually kind of don't work anymore.
04:37They just revert to an open diff after about 10 years,
04:41which all those cars will be older than 10 years now.
04:44So these brakes, they cost me about 100 quid for the rotors at the front,
04:49100 quid for the rotors at the back and 70 quid for the pads at the front,
04:5370 quid at the back.
04:55Notice I've got Yokohama ADOA-R tyres.
04:58So it's a very kind of track-focused tyre, stiff sidewall, not that much tread.
05:05They're all right in the wet, actually, but in the dry, these are super grippy.
05:08Lovely things to drive on.
05:10They're about 90 quid a corner, so not the cheapest.
05:14But let's move on to some more serious upgrades that I've done.
05:20I'll just pop the bonnet there and I have to reach behind here
05:28to get the bonnet strut.
05:32Reason being that I've had a bit of work done under here,
05:35which has taken up some space, so I can't really fit this where it should be anymore.
05:42So here is the engine and here's what's been done to it.
05:45The key thing is a Jackson M45 supercharger.
05:50So that's the supercharger there.
05:51It just bolts on with this bracket and then, obviously,
05:56you have to fit some pipes in to go from down here into,
05:59can you see there, there's an air-to-air intercooler.
06:01In fact, if I go under here, you will see it better.
06:04There it is, just in front of the radiator.
06:07So the radiator is a bigger radiator and I've also fitted twin fans
06:12because with a supercharger, you're getting a lot more heat,
06:15so you need to get rid of that heat.
06:17I've also got a blitz blower valve there, so that when you lift off the throttle,
06:21you get that pew sound as it releases compressed air in this chamber
06:25when the inlet manifold shuts up.
06:28So this is the 1.8 litre engine.
06:30So it normally has 140 horsepower or 110 horsepower at the wheels,
06:35as I've measured it.
06:36This supercharger, which also includes a mega square ECU,
06:41it also includes the kit that I've fitted to it,
06:43includes uprated injectors, so they're the RX-7 injectors,
06:48so they can squirt a lot more fuel in.
06:50We've also got a cone air filter as well.
06:55And the result is almost 200 horsepower at the wheels.
07:00And the good thing about the supercharger is it keeps the character of the 1.8 engine,
07:05so it doesn't alter it like a turbo does, which just gives you a load of torque.
07:08This just takes the normal graph and raises it up,
07:11so it feels like the same engine, just one that's probably a three litre.
07:15And I'll show you a graph of the performance upgrade now,
07:17which is pretty cool when you just see how it's just lifted the whole graph,
07:21but it's got the same shape.
07:23Now, you'll notice some other weird things here.
07:25So this is the reservoir for the screen wash,
07:29which I've had to relocate because this whole system does change things a bit.
07:33You might notice this as well.
07:35There's cutouts here, which don't look great, do they?
07:38But I've spoken to people at the MX-5 owners club, some expert technicians,
07:42and they say this isn't actually structural.
07:44The main bracing is underneath.
07:45You can probably just see it through there.
07:47So this is just a slam panel, really, for things to be hung off
07:50and to fit the bonnet down onto, so it's not major.
07:54Now, these are the chassis legs here that I was mentioning earlier.
07:56So you have to watch that because water can get in between the gaps there
07:59and they rot out.
08:00So if you're buying an MX-5, check that out,
08:01because if it's rotten, you do not want to buy it.
08:05So there we go.
08:06Excuse me, what are you doing?
08:09I'm filming something.
08:12Pardon?
08:12I'm filming something.
08:14You're what?
08:15I'm filming a little video for myself.
08:17Well, why do you have to do it here?
08:19Just go away.
08:20Don't come doing such things again.
08:23Well, do you know what?
08:23I'm here for now, and then when I'm done, I won't come back again.
08:26But I will finish here.
08:28And if you keep disturbing me, it's just going to take longer.
08:30It's your choice.
08:31I think you're very, very rude to do that.
08:34Yes, well, I don't particularly care what you think.
08:36Now, the work does look quite fun.
08:39And in total, the labour cost was about £1,000.
08:43And the parts, because I bought the supercharger,
08:45I bought the ECU, the blower valve, these pipes, the intercooler,
08:51all secondhand off eBay for £1,000.
08:54So that's two grand to do all the performance stuff, which isn't too bad.
08:58Now, other things that are fitted to the car are this.
09:00Look, we have Meister R, you can see that, adjustable coil overs.
09:06They're about 700 quid for a set for this particular car.
09:09Now, there's another weird thing here.
09:10Look at this.
09:11So this is a fabricated grace, which pushes against the master cylinder.
09:15Because when you press the brake, that actually
09:18moves the first travel through the brake pedal.
09:21It's actually the movement of that.
09:22So if you stop that moving, you get a more responsive brake pedal,
09:25better feel to it, which is obviously great when you're driving.
09:29The car just feels a bit more in tune to your inputs.
09:32So there we go.
09:33That's the main upgrade.
09:34Really, really cool.
09:37Some other things that have been done to the car as well, though.
09:39Because of the extra performance, I've had
09:42to fit an upgraded clutch, which can take the added torque.
09:46I've also fitted a light and flywheel, so it revs a bit quicker.
09:49And in total, that was about 600 pounds.
09:51And I got those from Fly Miata in the US.
09:54It's a really, really good site to get some parts for your Mazda MX-5.
09:58Because obviously, in America, the MX-5 was called the Miata.
10:02Now then, let's take the car for a drive.
10:07So one of the things I absolutely love about the MX-5 is this look.
10:13Taking the roof down is this simple.
10:17And it's great on a day like today, because it's roasting.
10:22That's the wind deflector.
10:23You can just pop it up.
10:25So let's see if it starts.
10:30There we go.
10:30OK.
10:31So first thing I want to show you is acceleration on this thing.
10:33So here we go.
10:37Look at that.
10:39That's 60 like that.
10:42And that's too quick now.
10:45You can see the supercharger really gives you loads of power.
10:55And even in fifth gear, look.
10:57Put your foot down, and it just picks up.
11:00Picks up so well.
11:04The brakes are good as well.
11:05So those pads, the bigger rotors, vented discs, the braided hoses,
11:13that tweak to the master cylinder just means there's a real nice,
11:17firm feel to that pedal.
11:20Lovely.
11:21Steering, it's nice and sharp.
11:24It's light most of the time because of the power assistance.
11:27One thing I do wish this car had done is polybrushes.
11:33It will probably get rid of some of the slop.
11:36The diff means that you can just put that power down
11:41when you go around a corner.
11:43It's so good.
11:45I don't know if I'm lacking anti-roll bars.
11:48It's a bit gravelly here, so better watch out.
11:53But you can really tell steer this car on the throttle.
11:57It's so good.
11:58I have to be careful down here.
12:00And occasionally, use the horn just to alert people
12:04if they're coming the other way and driving like me.
12:07Yeah, it's good, good fun.
12:11It's generally quite comfy.
12:13I've got the suspension actually set in quite a soft setting
12:15for the damper.
12:16The springs are firm, but the damper's slackened off.
12:21Now, if I really want to keep it nice and flat,
12:23then I can twist the dials on the top of the damper.
12:26It's very easy to get to to make it stiffer,
12:28and it'll corner flatter.
12:29And it's definitely worth doing if you're going out on track
12:32and wanting to put in decent track times.
12:36But just for cruising around, you cannot beat an MX-5.
12:40And it's all the better for being supercharged.
12:44It's very hard to get a car that's as fun to drive as this and as cheap.
12:49So all in, with the price of the car and all the mods,
12:52you're looking about six grand for this one.
12:54But like I said, you can get the car for about a grand.
12:57So it's possible to do all this for about 5,000 pounds.
13:01And I can't think of many cars for 5,000 pounds
13:05that are as fun as this little MX-5.
13:07And you might be able to see there, look.
13:10The light flywheel does help with it just revving up and down.
13:16And here we go again.
13:19So much power.
13:21Woo!
13:23And we're coming into a 30 in the brakes.
13:25Full emergency stop.
13:26ABS still works.
13:28One of the advantages of the Mk2 over the Mk1, ABS.
13:33And look, you've got a steering wheel with a airbag, which is good.
13:37I also like this nardy steering wheel, which
13:39you get on the IS version, this particular model.
13:42Otherwise, you get like a polyurethane wheel,
13:45which is just horrible.
13:48Regardless of the model, though, the gearshift is lush.
13:51MX-5 gearshift is just brilliant.
13:54Pedals are well-placed as well for heel and toeing if you need to.
13:58So it's quite easy to just brake and get the revs matched.
14:06The Mk2.5 Sport version has a six-speed gearbox,
14:09which is equally as nice to use.
14:11But they're a bit more fragile.
14:15They are known to occasionally explode.
14:19But this is what an MX-5 is all about, tootling around,
14:22enjoying the sunshine.
14:24What a great, great little car.
14:29I love it.
14:30One of my favourite cars ever.
14:32Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
14:33And it's given you a little bit of an insight
14:35into what it's like to own a Mazda MX-5.
14:37And it's pointed out some of the key upgrades
14:39you can do if you buy one of these things
14:40to make it just far more fun to drive.
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