Review: Mazda MX-5 BBR Stage 1 Turbo

MX-5 tuning specialists BBR can zap your new-model 2.0-litre MX-5 up to 200bhp just by fitting a new ECU, cams and exhaust.

But when you think BBR you think ‘turbo’. Or you should at least, because this British outfit has been turbocharging MX-5s since they came out, which is getting on for thirty years ago now.

The basic Stage 1 kit for the ND MX-5 consists of a turbo unit, manifold, stainless downpipe, intercooler, K&N Typhoon induction kit, BBR Starchip EcuTek software update, pipes and fittings. That setup can be fitted to your ND MX-5 for a fiver under £5k, plus VAT, or you can buy all the gubbins and fit it yourself for £4,395 plus VAT. Or you could simply give BBR £29,995 and they’ll give you a complete car with a three-year warranty.

That might seem a lot for an MX-5 until you remember it’s about the same-sized price ticket on an Abarth 124 Spider, which has a mere 170bhp. This BBR has 250bhp, which is equivalent to 230bhp per tonne. A 300hp Porsche 718 Boxster has 213hp per tonne and costs £45k. Even the fruity Lotus Elise Sport 220 doesn’t top it by much at 243bhp per tonne, and that’s nearly £40k.

The best bit about BBR cars is that they don’t feel like ‘tuner cars’. They feel like factory cars. And this one feels like a very nice factory car indeed.

If you have an illogical hatred for turbocharged cars, this is the one that might convince you otherwise. Thanks to the use of a big turbo running low boost, there’s no real lag: just a fat swell of power from around 2000rpm and over 200lb ft of torque from 2750-6500rpm, against the standard 148lb ft.

That means you can overtake either by stirring the superb gearbox or, if you’re feeling lazy, by leaving it in an intermediate gear. The throttle is wonderfully crisp and the engine is more than happy to spin beyond 7000rpm.

None of the naturally-aspirated standard car’s character has been lost. It sounds amazing – and it goes like hell.

BBR's press car also has a (£495 fitted) spring kit and Wilwood brake upgrade (£595 for four-pot calipers or £895 for six-pots). The suspension kit retains the standard Sport model's Bilstein dampers but uses BBR's custom-wound progressive springs to drop things down a little. The result is like having curtains dramatically drawn back. Apart from transforming the MX-5’s stance and look (much for the better), it adds a degree of compliance that stops the standard car’s tendency to bounce and lurch over rough roads. This is well worth having as it lifts your confidence and encourages you to play around with the throttle and the standard Torsen limited-slip diff. Big slip angles are not just possible but ridiculously easy.