What to get to replace BARMY

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Tue Oct 06, 2020 8:30 pm

Me? I'd go with the ponies ...

You? If the both of them have had a close examination for the tinworm, I'd be tempted by the NB, but end up with the NC.

Being real for a moment, if you find it hard to make a choice, stay with the Merc until you find something you do love.

:mrgreen:

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 12:51 am

davekmoore wrote:it’s a choice between the high mileage NC PRHT with 200hp or the low mileage turbo NB with 250hp at around the same price. Both are properly sorted as quick road cars and drive perfectly. What would you do?

davekmoore wrote:NB with ... a BBR250 turbo conversion. I’d wind it down to 225 to preserve the rods.

So ultimately only 25hp diff & you've done the turbo NB thing with BARMY, so may be time for an NC2, unless you can't live without an NB turbo.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:39 am

93_Clubman wrote:
davekmoore wrote:it’s a choice between the high mileage NC PRHT with 200hp or the low mileage turbo NB with 250hp at around the same price. Both are properly sorted as quick road cars and drive perfectly. What would you do?

davekmoore wrote:NB with ... a BBR250 turbo conversion. I’d wind it down to 225 to preserve the rods.

So ultimately only 25hp diff & you've done the turbo NB thing with BARMY, so may be time for an NC2, unless you can't live without an NB turbo.

I can live without an NB. Compared to the NC, it felt like a much older chassis, with a lot of pitching fore and aft, and lots of crashing over mild road bumps.

And I can live without turbo, when n/a gets 208hp. The turbo was very quick, but is more than is needed on the road, and made every imaginable turbo noise, loudly. It was way louder than BARMY.

So I’ve bought the NC. Even if the motor goes bang, having spent less money on it, I can afford to have a 2.5 swapped in. And I’ve got a more comfortable car, with more safety and convenience, and the electric roof.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:41 pm

NB is old and old tech. PRHT would be very nice and handy in the land of Blighty (where it constantly rains).

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Thu Oct 08, 2020 12:49 am

Congrats, WTG Dave.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:15 am

F5F92CAC-89CC-4399-9990-D2A7C9C84F44.jpeg

Didn’t like the bronze wheels so sold them.
BBR badges may also need to go?
Calipers need to be a different colour?
Might need a little rear spoiler?
Ally coolant expansion tank on its way.
Otherwise ready to go.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sat Dec 18, 2021 11:59 am

Stumbled across this thread while looking for a dyno map to send to BARMY's present owner. So here's a quick update.

Bought the BBR200 last year. Loved it. It was how Mazda should have built the NC. Got the chance to buy a 10AE and a special Neo Green NA, so sold the BBR200. A collector from Singapore then offered so much for the 10AE that it had to go. The extra money allowed me to make the NA even specialer, including adding a supercharger and NB brakes and many other things. No intercooler and only 8psi. Feels like 155-160hp, which is just nice in a car with no ABS.

Also bought a BBR300 stage 2 turbo recently which is wicked, even though it only runs 7psi. If you were slightly hard of hearing you'd never know it was a turbo until you looked at the horizon and realised you'd already gone over the top of it. Such a pleasure to just get into a car that was already fully developed by BBR and didn't take up 8 years of my life to get it like that! Did have one hiccup when I took it on the track and 3rd gear went walkabout. Apparently the boxes don't like the heat from the downpipe on turbo NCs. Used NC1 box cost £400. Broken NC3.75 box cost £125 to repair and strengthen and is now worth £750. So not all bad news. This car will be the road car because .....

BARMY Mk2 is nearly complete. 90% a track car, silver again (my 5th) NB8B with just a TD04, forged rods, a mild 210hp and 245lb/ft, very good suspension and Brembos from a Renault Clio 235. It should be a good car in which to do some tuition as it won't kill anyone and should be able to keep out of the way of all those Clios which turn up at track days here with extra power and very stiff suspension and slicks.

That will mean I have three MXs, which is one too many, and I'll have to decide which has to go. This will be a painful decision.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Sun Dec 19, 2021 1:19 am

Crikey Dave you have been busy!

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Sun Dec 19, 2021 8:51 pm

What to get to replace Barmy? Looks like you are having fun deciding, just keep buying MX5s until you get there, but remember that the journey is the important (fun) part of the search!! :lol:

Good to see you staying in touch - take care over there, stay healthy, we don't want you to catch covid and have to scupper the search ... :wink: