Mx5 No.2 - Supercharged

[Euan94]

You, sir, are doing well

I think I'm doing well to resist the JDM yO! Urge.

I've gone for Wilwoods in the end by the way. I couldn't resist the showy calipers

 

[Goodj]

ooft, top stuff.
Wilwoods are full of good

 

[Euan94]

Rest of the bits arrived today, having them fitted next Tuesday. Then the brakes should be as good as I'll ever need. Wilwood 4 pots with ds2500 pads up front, rear discs from the sport mx5 model with mintex pads and braided lines all round.

Just awaiting spacers now

 

[Gus]

Rest of the bits arrived today, having them fitted next Tuesday. Then the brakes should be as good as I'll ever need. Wilwood 4 pots with ds2500 pads up front, rear discs from the sport mx5 model with mintex pads and braided lines all round. View attachment 131979
Just awaiting spacers now

Wow, just wow. Those Wilwoods look incredible dont they and with the DS2500 you will have crazy stopping power. Are the discs larger than the ones you had before. You will have to take me out in your car once its done.

My car probably wont be finished for 7-8 weeks, its going to clioturbo on saturday. Will miss not having it and will have to come to CSS using diesel power now .

 

[JoeyD]

Just be aware you'll get a lot of vibration/noise with the DS2500's when they're up to temp. Feels weird at first! Good effort on doing it properly though.

 

[Philip.]

Brakes look epic!
Need some good ones on mine tbh.

 

[Euan94]

Cheers for the heads up on the ds2500's, I wasn't sure what pads to go for as I haven't really got much experience with them. They seem to be quite a personal thing as to what people like so I just bought I'd give them a try as they seem quite popular.

I did plan to do the brakes in stages but then I realised the money from selling my old car would pay for the brakes and it sort of spiralled. Only problem being that I haven't sold the old car yet!

 

[Goodj]

Was it just the rear discs you needed from a 2.5 sport? I thought you'd have needed the calipers too?

 

[Euan94]

I only need the discs as I've bought some brackets to sit my 1.8 calipers further out to fit the discs. I think if you went the whole hog you'd change the calipers to the sport ones but I don't think I need that. Hopefully not anyway!

I'm still debating a proper proportioning valve as well so I can adjust the bias but I decided to try the brakes first to decide if I need one.

 

[Goodj]

Yours isn't ABS is it? If so then you wont need valving, it'll balance itself.
If not, then....well, see how you get along on the track, if you're locking up on the rear then, well, you know better than I how to tweak such things.
I have no idea on that stuff though, all mine have been ABS.

As for the callipers....again, see how it goes, unless you panic-brake mid-corner then you shouldn't have any problems as, again, those front rotors will suck up everything you throw at them. Remember, Flyin Miata was using them on their V8 conversions (which aren't much heavier than your set-up, but at 525hp....yeah, they can get a workout)...
....actually, I've seen V8 Conversion Mk.1s using the MK2.5 Sport brakes, just with "fancy" pads, good fluid, braided lines and solid, vented discs. The supercharged Mk2.5 at Hunstanton was definitely just running stock callipers and he said it took many laps of Cadwell to give him any problems

 

[Euan94]

Yeah I haven't got ABS, I probably won't need to adjust the bias at all but it's an option if I need to at some point.

I'm under no illusion the wilwoods are overkill for the amount of time I actually spend on track, but I just see it as future proofing for when I want more power

Plus they look good. I didn't really do things properly on the old car so I'm trying to make this one the best it can be

 

[Tim.]

Looking good Euan, making some good progress with this.

So much so that MX5 ownership has intrigued me - what are the best forums for me to gen up on the variants etc?

 

[Euan94]

There are two main forums really, mx5nutz is the one I frequent. Caters for stance orientated cars through to track orientated cars. A lot of modified cars on nutz but quite a good core of knowledge. A younger crowd than the owners club.

Then there is mx5oc, which caters to the other end of the spectrum. A lot of people on there like chrome tat all over the car and tend to keep things a bit more OEM.

Both have good knowledge bases though to be fair.

 

[Goodj]

As above

Nutz for wel sik JDM y0! niche parts at vastly overinflated scene-biased prices. Plenty of info on how to make your MX-5 handle woefully. And some useful stuff. Perfect for the 17-23yr old crowd

MX5OC for if you're more for a "British" version of an MX-5. Lots of "how to keep your MX-5 box-fresh" tips. More for the mid-30's+ crowd.

As for specs. There's 2 to look for:-
Pop-up lights with a 1.6 engine
Fixed headlights, with front fog lights and a 1.8

But since so many have been through the mod-mill, finding an OEM one gets harder by the day (much like a 172, really).

 

[Euan94]

Did my first track time with this car at CSS ( the whole of which was awesome fun) last weekend.

The new brakes were fitted and almost bed in, I finished that off in my first outing on the track which seemed to do the trick.
I'm really impressed with the Wilwoods, very confidence inspiring, not a hint of any fade all afternoon, although I wasn't pushing too hard. They just stop really bloody well.

The spacers are spot on as well IMO not quite flush with the arches but any further out would give me rubbing on the arches I'm pretty sure, I had the tiniest bit on one spot on the track anyway, and i dont want to raise the car up if i can help it

Quick couple of photos courtesy of @Paul.M , cheers!

IMG_6233 by Paul Morgan, on Flickr

IMG_6258 by Paul Morgan, on Flickr

 

[Euan94]

Plus some terrible phone pictures.