I Secretly Tuned My Mother’s MX-5 And Now She Wants A Turbo Conversion

From responsible parent to go-faster granny - how my mum corrupted my taste in cars and I repaid the debt with some stealth mods to her Mazda
I Secretly Tuned My Mother’s MX-5 And Now She Wants A Turbo Conversion

Potty-mouthed poet Philip Larkin once said something very rude about how you inherit hang-ups from your parents. But in my case I’ve nothing but gratitude for the influence of my mum’s impulsive car-buying habits. It’s certainly seen some interesting and eclectic machinery pass through her hands and given me licence to pursue my own vehicular adventures without the usual parental tutting. After all, the mum who once took her Fiat Tipo in for a service and came back with a brand new Cinquecento Sporting can hardly scold you for blowing inherited money on an Eunos Roadster. Despite specific instructions not to.

I Secretly Tuned My Mother’s MX-5 And Now She Wants A Turbo Conversion

The Cinquecento remains a high point in her car-buying history though, my brothers and I owing a huge debt of gratitude to the salesman who convinced her she’d be better off with that than a new clutch in her Tipo. Many of us start our driving careers in our mums’ cars, the freedom of gaining a licence set against the indignity of bimbling about in a base-spec Corsa or similarly uninspiring shopping trolley. But my mum had a hot hatch. If she wonders why one of her sons turned car geekery into a career and another just blew a chunk of cash on an Evo IV, she only has herself to blame.

After an Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf that mysteriously came and went without me ever seeing it (I still don’t know what happened there), a bright yellow Punto Sporting, an NB MX-5 and a succession of smartly-specced modern Minis, she more recently celebrated retirement and becoming a grandmother in suitable style. Yes, faced with a new range of responsibilities including helping out with shuttling babies and toddlers she did the only sensible thing. And bought an ND MX-5 the day the car launched here in the UK.

I Secretly Tuned My Mother’s MX-5 And Now She Wants A Turbo Conversion

She’d had her order in for a while without telling any of us. And on the day of delivery I was actually in Japan, driving the new MX-5 in its first motorsport outing in the annual Mazda Roadster media race at Tsukuba. I was chuffed to be the first Westerner to race the ND MX-5. And then the picture appeared on my phone of my mum taking delivery of the same on the other side of the world. Suffice to say this went down very well with my Mazda hosts.

My Eunos is the four-wheeled expression of
My Eunos is the four-wheeled expression of

She even got the right spec, that being the revvier, lighter 1.5-litre version in signature Soul Red metallic and on the dinky 16-inch wheels. The fact this car weighs barely a passenger more than my own 25-year-old Eunos and has comparable power-to-weight is nothing short of remarkable and one of the many reasons I admire Mazda’s dedication to keeping it real. Saying that, there’s no harm in a bit more power, so when UK Mazda tuner BBR announced its Super 160 upgrade for the 1.5, my step dad and I hatched a plan.

2.0-litre performance in a lighter, revvier 1.5 - result!
2.0-litre performance in a lighter, revvier 1.5 - result!

With a few hundred quid and a simple plug-in remap the BBR StarChip upgrade takes the 129bhp of your 1.5 up to the same 158bhp as the 2.0-litre while – obviously – maintaining the lighter, revvier nature of the smaller engine. Win-win. My stepdad met me at BBR’s Brackley base, the update was installed and my mum had – unwittingly – entered the world of aftermarket tuning.

“My car feels perkier than ever!” she beamed in the weeks following, the rasp of her Mazda pulling away from outside my house sounding just that bit more purposeful and committed. Finally my stepdad and I confessed to what we’d done and the BBR sticker we’d been supplied was fitted.

Go on mum, you know it makes sense...
Go on mum, you know it makes sense...

She pretended she was cross. And then within five minutes was asking “do they do louder exhausts?” And now there’s a 210bhp turbocharged BBR conversion for the 1.5 too. Turbo granny? Now she’s got a taste for it I wouldn’t rule anything out.

Comments

Rahul 1

[DELETED]

03/17/2018 - 15:41 |
0 | 0
₩!Ź@ŔĐ Transit supervan

Lmao . You have a very cool family.

03/17/2018 - 15:47 |
258 | 2
Anonymous

I actually have my mom to blame for my love of cars as well. At 26 years old now, I’ve already owned 16 cars and planning on number 17 within a month lol

03/17/2018 - 15:58 |
2 | 0
Nishant Dash

Hahaha this is fantastic!

03/17/2018 - 16:02 |
6 | 6
MrLeo

Awesome!

Btw. Why do you say the 1.5 is the better option? Revvier? Isn’t the 2.0 better to fulfill those power needs?

03/17/2018 - 16:04 |
2 | 2
TheMindGarage

In reply to by MrLeo

It’s probably a matter of taste. But generally, the fewer CC per cylinder, the revvier the engine. A 1.5L engine making 160hp will be revving considerably higher than a 2.0L engine with the same power, assuming no forced induction.

03/17/2018 - 17:30 |
0 | 0
CarGuy 5

In reply to by MrLeo

It’s regarded by reviewers and owners for being better cause it’s nearly as powerful as the bigger engine but lighter and more fuel efficient whilst only being a remap away from the 2.0 power

03/17/2018 - 20:29 |
4 | 0
Owen Thompson

Oh I wish my mum was like this 😂

03/17/2018 - 16:44 |
18 | 0

same, but unfortunately I got stuck with a mom who only uses cars for getting from point A to B, owns an SUV with a third row that we barely use

03/19/2018 - 03:12 |
0 | 0
JenstheGTIfreak (pizza)

That’s awesome, my mom is also quite a speed freak. She once asked me what the light on the dashboard of my dad’s ex-Golf was when she set off. This turned out to be the light for the traction control 😂

03/17/2018 - 16:46 |
78 | 2

You’ve got nothing on my mum terrifying me in a Lotus Cortina… as a 5 year old!!

03/17/2018 - 19:56 |
16 | 0
Anonymous

Wouldn’t the crank from the 1.5 or 1.3 fit the 2.0?
Because all of the SkyActiv-G engines are undersquare(i.e. can’t rev, economy focused)
If a high-revving engine is what one is after, why not 2.5L block (89mm bore) and 1.3L crank(82mm stroke) for essentially a 2 liter engine that can potentially rev quite high.

03/17/2018 - 17:13 |
6 | 0
Régis

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Not so necessary, If pistons are light and rod long enough to lower piston acceleration and thus pin stress.
If your air speed at inlet is ok at high rpm no need to go short stroke

03/17/2018 - 20:54 |
4 | 0
LamboV10

That’s amazing! Now let’s just hope it won’t end up beign like a certain NA…

03/17/2018 - 17:33 |
56 | 0
Griffin Mackenzie

This is awesome!

03/17/2018 - 18:14 |
4 | 0

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