Post by Clem on Mar 23, 2016 13:50:54 GMT
So I test drove the Super200 demo car on a soggy weekday morning and despite this being the worst situation to assess the delights of extra power (naughty light comes on far too easily in these MX5s) I was still taken enough by the easy way the Super200 climbs the rev range compared to a standard MK3 and I decided to go ahead. I was not enamoured with the farty sound of the standard backbox on the demo car though so I opted for the Supersport one, which also give an extra few bhp, bonus.
A couple of weeks roll by and my car is going in for its conversion, I drop it off for the evening and grab a lift back to the station. Two very slow days roll by (1 and a half really ... But it felt like forever) and I get the frankly ridiculous public transport route back up. I could have got a lift back from the station if I'd asked but I thought I could manage. Don't do this, the bus from Bicester takes ages and only goes every 2 hours or something ridiculous. I arrive at BBR to find my car sat outside and ready to go, just the painful process of paying to go through ... To make it better I was shown the rolling road readout and I get to play with 207.2bhp which is good power for a MK3, almost matching the MK3.5 plot used on the site
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This is happy as I look when having my photo taken ...
BBR is in Brackley, I live in London, the route between these two is the M40, not exactly an inspiring first drive. Oh, and its damp again. Undeterred I played around with the car on the roundabouts between BBR and the M40. My initial impressions were pretty much right, the car feels a lot more free revving and the sound is immense. I stopped before the M40 to have the roof down despite the weather and put my foot down just to hear the noise. Its a deep rumble that rises and becomes sharper as you go through the revs, a lovely sound when out and about. It'll even give a lovely little pop on upshifts and every now and again. Inside the car the noise is noticable but not intrusive at all (though my previous car was an Elise ... Maybe I just dont mind exhaust noise). As I cruise back into the busy roads of London however, I started to feel a little self conscious of the boomy noise bouncing off buildings on either side. Since then I've gotten used to it and dont care anymore ... I'll just have to be careful coming home late at night but its worth bearing in mind.
The offending article ...
First drive done with and the sound has won me over but I've not had a chance to drive the thing properly. Time to find some Somerset countryside and give it a real try. Out on the lanes the car just comes alive. Once you are actively trying to press on rather than following traffic or just motorway cruising the extra low down torque really rewards your efforts. Keeping the car in the wide torque band from gearchange to gearchange is easy and I was quickly arriving at corners as fast as I did in my old Elise. Something I struggled to do so pre-conversion. Unfortunately its still the best part of 400kg heavier than that Elise and doesn't handle those corner speeds so elegantly! Whilst taking a spirited drive down the lanes with the roof off the sound of the supersport exhaust really adds to the sense of occasion rather than making me feel a bit self-conscious like it does in town at 20mph. Basically its no surprise to say that the Super200 is at its best off the beaten track.
So overall, would I recommend the Super 200 conversion? Definitely yes, the car feels like the next model up of MX5 with predictable power delivery and a good flat torque curve. It doesnt seem to have affected the efficiency with my post conversion reading being 27mpg, similar enough to my two readings of 32 and 26 pre-conversion. The exhaust backbox option might not appeal to everyone but its definitely worth a thought
I did a dB test and it came out at around 95dB which means it should be safe for track days.
Dem curves ...
A couple of weeks roll by and my car is going in for its conversion, I drop it off for the evening and grab a lift back to the station. Two very slow days roll by (1 and a half really ... But it felt like forever) and I get the frankly ridiculous public transport route back up. I could have got a lift back from the station if I'd asked but I thought I could manage. Don't do this, the bus from Bicester takes ages and only goes every 2 hours or something ridiculous. I arrive at BBR to find my car sat outside and ready to go, just the painful process of paying to go through ... To make it better I was shown the rolling road readout and I get to play with 207.2bhp which is good power for a MK3, almost matching the MK3.5 plot used on the site
This is happy as I look when having my photo taken ...
BBR is in Brackley, I live in London, the route between these two is the M40, not exactly an inspiring first drive. Oh, and its damp again. Undeterred I played around with the car on the roundabouts between BBR and the M40. My initial impressions were pretty much right, the car feels a lot more free revving and the sound is immense. I stopped before the M40 to have the roof down despite the weather and put my foot down just to hear the noise. Its a deep rumble that rises and becomes sharper as you go through the revs, a lovely sound when out and about. It'll even give a lovely little pop on upshifts and every now and again. Inside the car the noise is noticable but not intrusive at all (though my previous car was an Elise ... Maybe I just dont mind exhaust noise). As I cruise back into the busy roads of London however, I started to feel a little self conscious of the boomy noise bouncing off buildings on either side. Since then I've gotten used to it and dont care anymore ... I'll just have to be careful coming home late at night but its worth bearing in mind.
The offending article ...
First drive done with and the sound has won me over but I've not had a chance to drive the thing properly. Time to find some Somerset countryside and give it a real try. Out on the lanes the car just comes alive. Once you are actively trying to press on rather than following traffic or just motorway cruising the extra low down torque really rewards your efforts. Keeping the car in the wide torque band from gearchange to gearchange is easy and I was quickly arriving at corners as fast as I did in my old Elise. Something I struggled to do so pre-conversion. Unfortunately its still the best part of 400kg heavier than that Elise and doesn't handle those corner speeds so elegantly! Whilst taking a spirited drive down the lanes with the roof off the sound of the supersport exhaust really adds to the sense of occasion rather than making me feel a bit self-conscious like it does in town at 20mph. Basically its no surprise to say that the Super200 is at its best off the beaten track.
So overall, would I recommend the Super 200 conversion? Definitely yes, the car feels like the next model up of MX5 with predictable power delivery and a good flat torque curve. It doesnt seem to have affected the efficiency with my post conversion reading being 27mpg, similar enough to my two readings of 32 and 26 pre-conversion. The exhaust backbox option might not appeal to everyone but its definitely worth a thought
I did a dB test and it came out at around 95dB which means it should be safe for track days.Dem curves ...
le sigh