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MX-5 Cosworth Supercharger


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It is finished. It is not running great at the moment due to mapping issues. Cosworth sold the kits but the mapping isn't ready. The instructions say to download the original map and send it to Cosworth and they will e-mail you the new one. Problem was the whole thing was installed on the car and then Cosworth said they are not happy with their mapping and wouldn't be able to supply me with a map for another week or two! :trigger:

 

I needed the car running so I contacted SpinerTuning (otherwise known as DeltaForce) as they are the guys who supplied Cosworth with the flashing unit and software. They sent me a modified map to use but I am not very happy with it. I am still running 220bhp but there is more to it that just that. It is safe to use as the mixture is a little rich and there is no knocking but there is much more improvements to be had.

 

Litchfield are the only other place in the UK that have the software and the program to do a full custom map so I am off there to get a map done very soon. I don't want to comment on performance until I have got it running properly and gave it a good test.

 

The installation was the first done outside of the development of Cosworth UK and Litchfield as far as I know. It was done by a local garage ho specialise in this sort of thing. I bought a RHD hose kit from Litchfield and the Cosworth Supercharger kit. There were no instructions supplied so was a little difficult. I managed to get hold of a instruction guide from the US but this was for a LHD car.

 

The main differences are the inter cooler expansion bottle. Litchfield mounted theirs on the drives side, the same side as the US car but further forward in front of the washer bottle. Cosworth seem to have rerouted the original LHD hoses and mounted the bottle on the other side of the car next to the supercharger. I decided to use the Litchfield method and mount it at the front of the car. You can not get the lid off without moving the washer bottle first (not a bog job) but a panel beater could sort something so the lid was accessible.

 

The only other problem with the kit is that it fouled on one of the bars from my after market strut brace. The hose to the bypass valve foulds on the brace which may cause it to rub through with vibration as it is where the metal nipple ends inside the hose. I will sort this out by adjusting the brace but can always replace the original for now.

 

Here are some photos:

 

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Stunning B) ..... Typical Cosworth styling no doubt followed by performance..... I'm really looking forward to seeing this car.

 

You do know i insist on a 10 mile test drive don't you :lmaosmiley:

 

With you driving!! ;)

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With the current mapping the car feels slower than the original so I can't let you drive it sorry Tony. I would be too ashamed! I am going to get it sorted on Monday afternoon but that will be on my way home from seeing you.

 

I don't really drive the cars mate, i was pulling your bell :)

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With the current mapping the car feels slower than the original so I can't let you drive it sorry Tony. I would be too ashamed! I am going to get it sorted on Monday afternoon but that will be on my way home from seeing you.

 

I don't really drive the cars mate, i was pulling your bell :o

 

Unless it's a lambo eh! :)

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With the current mapping the car feels slower than the original so I can't let you drive it sorry Tony. I would be too ashamed! I am going to get it sorted on Monday afternoon but that will be on my way home from seeing you.

 

I don't really drive the cars mate, i was pulling your bell :)

 

Unless it's a lambo eh! :o

 

Or the F430 today..... Paddle gear change and i managed 2nd before i ran out of park :)

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With the current mapping the car feels slower than the original so I can't let you drive it sorry Tony. I would be too ashamed! I am going to get it sorted on Monday afternoon but that will be on my way home from seeing you.

 

I don't really drive the cars mate, i was pulling your bell :thumbsup_anim:

 

Unless it's a lambo eh! :D

 

Tamiya have just released a remote control Countach, with LED front lights as well. So Tony could drive his own Lambo, albeit a bit smaller than the real thing.

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Well the Shark (my MX-5) had a long day on Monday! Starting at 4am and returning at 10pm with 12 hours driving and over 700 miles! The round trip included a trip to Wheels In Motion for a Geometry setup and then a visit to Litchfield and then on to Powerstation.

 

Personally I think the install on my car is neater than that on the Litchfield demonstrator but that is running a prototype where the machining and moulding of the components are not fully finished. Anyway I am still very happy witht he hose routings on my car although it means many of the RHD hose kit went to waste. If I was to do it again I would not have bought the RHD hose kit although 4 of the 10 or so hoses were used. Litchfield are still looking into the kit so anyone thinking about it should hang fire until things have ironed out. It will save you £300 in hoses anyway.

 

This is what was left over:

 

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At Powerstation we started on a full custom map. Very complex deal with different files, roms, versions of ECUs etc etc. It was fortunate that m ECU was one of the 3 out of 20 that ECUTEK had cracked into. This meant we could program my ECU. We swapped over the same data that was used on the Litchfield car but with no joy. The car ran terrible. Looks like the air box on the prototype is different to mine so that the MAF mapping is totally different. We went about it from scratch with dyno runs again and again as we went. We run out of tie and software licence by 6pm after 5 hours at Powerstation! We managed to map safely up to 5500 rpm but it is still very rich and the ignition timing is still out after 5500 so it a no go area at the moment. Even so I am producing over 225bhp and 203 lbf.ft at 5500 with a very smooth delivery. I will be back sometime as soon as I can to get it finished off.

 

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Bumper got a little hot too! Those exhaust tips really need extending!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just thought I would keep you up to date of what has been going on.

 

Here is a little video I made yesterday whilst I had the front bumper off. Just thought I would do a tour of the engine bay to let you see what was going on in there:

 

 

Also a few new photos. I have put the original brace on too until I know what I am going to do with the bypass valve pipe. Its still not great even with the standard brace but a longer hose would sort that no problem:

 

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Here is a photo of the heat exchanger, piping and Bosch water pump (also eye spy a Nautilus horn too):

 

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Cosworth are close to finishing off the mapping for their car. It is finished but they are doing some high speed testing in Germany to ensure the CAT isn't damaged by the heat etc etc. Then they will officially release the kit and I will get my hands on their map. I will load this in and then when back at Powerstation will be able to compare the Cosworth map and my Custom map back to back on the same dyno to compare the differences.

 

Looks like my pulley is a little smaller than what they are using so I am running a little more boost. This may explain why I am getting better bhp figures than them. I am going to measure mine and Cosworth will send me the other one so I can choose which I am going to use. I might go for the larger one just to be on the safe side as I don't want to run too much boost on a high compression engine.

 

I will let you know of any further development.

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mx5parts have the same brace as me on their show car with the Cosworth fitted and have the same issue. They have an engineering company looking into making some spacers up to lift the brace slightly. I will let them do the development work and then hopefully have them supply me with the same spacers.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little more mapping and a little more power.

The car can produce 260 bhp under yesterdays conditions:

 

260bhprun.jpg

 

The ignition timing is on the limit though so the ECU was often stepping in to retard it to avoid pre detonation. The timing was reduced until the ECU didn't need to step in. It lost some torque but at least it has a safety factor. With some safety factor with the fuelling so it didn't run lean we also lost a few bhp but it is still a 250bhp car.

 

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There was 2 people in the car on this run which added to the wheel drag but the calculations should still be correct for the engine power.

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