Turbo v Supercharged v ITB: DRAG RACE
Thanks to BBR for lending us their cars:
- / bbr.gti
- bbrgti.com/
What’s the best way to tune a Mazda MX-5 Mk3? Well, we’ve got three different options joining us to find out!
Alongside the stock Mk3, we’ve got our hands on one with a turbocharger, one with a supercharger, and one with individual throttle bodies!
So let’s see how these cars compare. Starting with the stock MX-5, it’s packing a 2-litre naturally-aspirated 4 cylinder that can produce 160hp and 188Nm of torque. It tips the scales at 1,100kg.
Alongside it, we have the Mk3 with individual throttle bodies. As a result, this car is now housing a 2.5-litre 4-cylinder, and it also comes with a couple of other mods including new camshafts and a huge rear wing. As a result, this car can now put down 239hp and 285Nm, and it still weighs the same as the stock car, at 1,100kg.
Then we have the turbo and supercharged cars. They both come with the same 2-litre NA 4 cylinder, weighing 1,100kg. However, while the supercharged car can produce 248hp and 289Nm, the turbocharged Mk3 can produce 262hp and 306Nm.
So will the most powerful car snatch it? There’s only one way to find out… LET’S RACE!
Sell your car with carwow: bit.ly/Buy-Sell-WOW
Turbo v Supercharged v ITB: Which would you choose? VOTE below!
VOTE: Turbo!
VOTE: Supercharged!
VOTE: ITB!
@@carwowyo
Itb
The "hello Mat" at the brake test got me good 🤣
He did say hello mat 5times in a row 😂
Sure
😂😂 I was gonna say the same
@@purwantiallan5089Yeah but he was loosing in other ones and won in the last one thats why it was hilarious😂
Nick should have pulled out some binoculars as his secret weapon on keeping up. Thr stock cat did ratner well imo.
Nick is such a likeable dude. He's just happy to be there. Love seeing him on the drag races
Nick absolutely knows how to enjoy it for what it is .. Sam is great as well.
He's annoying as fk wheres manni now he's a proper dude
you must be white
Can't chuffing stand him.
Haha, this is about the most British response ever (Ps, I don't like him either) @@jimmymcgoo8641
Sam is a hell of a driver , first with no wheel spin in the drag races and SECOND in that brake test he was braking and downshifting so the car stops faster than all of the others , thats what driving knowledge and skills truly are !
Not really how that works. Downshifting doesn't magically provide you with more tyre grip. Even worse, dispite the abs the tyres are locking up for very small amounts of time during this braking test which would stall the engine upsetting the balance and reducing brake pressure. I am pretty sure he was downshifting out of habit but not actually engaging the clutch. His heel and toe was impressive tho.
😅😂😅😂
@@dutchdrifter8740he was searching for the grip limit not trusting the abs system. There is a delay between the brake release and re-engage so probably he was feathering the clutch to feel where the limit was.
@@dutchdrifter8740probably referring to engine braking, don't know the detail but it's an alternate way to slow down your vehicle and reduce the amount of wear and tear on your braking system.
Not to keep hitting you over the head, but you are incorrect as others have pointed out. The downshifting is not increasing the ability of the tires to stop.
Hello Nick! Also this goes to show what I've tried to explain for years. Big brakes DO NOT mean you will stop faster, as it's a limitation of the tyre. While yes they probably do provide extra stopping power, the tyres can't cope. Big brakes mainly just dissipate heat much better and will stop like this over and over, while stock would struggle with repeated stops.
You can see that Matt was the only one who did not use engine braking (downshifting) to help with slowing down. All the other three used the shifter to help with the braking.
Which means they effectively will stop shorter than stock brakes after the initial heat soak. People underestimate how little it takes to get hot brakes. One or two curves with hard braking is all you need to lose braking performance.
@@mediocreman2the safety norms requires that brakes have to withstand 100-0 stop with full force at least three times. And 99,999999999% you don't brake with full force. And if you do, you're driving like maniac on public roads. Thus you shouldn't even stand near any car... If you go on track days it's whole different story.
@@crocknyldcrock1931 yeah, probably a good chance it had something to do with brake bias (engine braking the rear wheels if they still have traction left after the front starts to lock up)
Exactly abs is doing the work every size brake is good enough to lock up the tires. What does help significantly with brakes is tires, because stickier tires they dont lock up as easy due to more grip so abs kicks in later. They shoulda really checked tires for this test, width, model, psi it makes a massive difference in all these test except the rolling race
The "Hello Nick" and "Hello Mat" were hilarious 😆
The breaking test was the best one ehehhe!
Hello Nick is always savage.😂
Karma says hello matt
The “hello Matt” at the end was the definition of comedy timing 😂
Coco Hayashi also says "Hello Mat" like 5 times.
Absolutely perfect.
Nick is the epitome of what an MX-5 experience is like. Just drive and be happy with the roof down.
Love my MK3 MX-5. Stock with a good set of tires, small brake upgrades, suspension and it’s an amazing car for back roads
Agree my NC3.5 with Yokohama’s on Oz Omnia’s with Meisterr Sportives, new calipers with braided hoses and Cobra back box is so much fun on B roads. Supercharger would be nice but can’t justify the £6000 spend
Thank you BBR for many decades of helping out car enthusiasts 🔥🔥🔥
BBR knows how to deliver all the goods.
So tempted to take my ND there
@@afc85 Treat yourself, put an even bigger smile on your face. You only live once.
do it@@afc85
@@afc85 just do it yourself way cheaper
That was a great back and forth between Mat and Nick. Especially the 'Hello Mat!" at the end.
True.😂
The hello Matt at the end was funny as hell 😅😅😅
Really?! Ehh I guess. Nick has been slowly getting more and more annoying.
one of the most enjoyable videos yet, everyone was great and the cars were cool. Nice to see what different modifications can do to the same platform. BRAVO!
This is amazing way to race and see the difference! Please do it with all car models and brands! Every car by it self, like this one! Great job ! 💯
I loved the "Hi Matt" at the end from Nick. Made me chuckle since he finally won at something with the stock car.
Always iconic.
Eh it was ok. It was ok the first couple times but after he started getting a little annoying.
That shot of all four MX5's in a diagonal line was epic!
Shame when I had my BBR ITB conversion BBR were very unhelpful when the car went into limp mode and said they didn't have a solution to fix the problem. Great customer service
I was told I didn't know what I was doing.
Everyone is definitely loving the new genius ideas or trends carwow is doing, it's so nice and admirable to see another Mazda in this channel, please more of these Mat!
Carwow just keeps on getting better.
not everyone, speak for yourself. i’m personally getting sick and tired of these unnecessary tuned drag races😒
@@MaSandii30I don't care either way but considering how few cars on the road actually get modified there's definitely too much YT content on the subject.
@@samuelgarrod8327a huge number of cars on UK roads are modified. The car tuning industry is worth a stupid amount of money in the UK alone
So much MX5 content on the tube lately, love it, what a great little car
MX-5 should get a new challenger now. The MX5 Touring Car.
Its overpriced unfortunately
Great to see this video, and seeing the love for these cars! My BBR Stage 2 Turbo MK3.5 MX5 is easily the best car I’ve ever owned.
How does it sound?
Love this type of video, perfect comparison of mods we all think of doing
Would've been good to see Sam swap into the turbo car for one of the drag races. With a better launch I think the turbo may be a lot closer to the supercharged
I had the same thought
I was hoping! Id bet he’d have a chance of winning!
Agreed, I think swapping the drivers would have been fairer, however the comparison between Turbo & Super is pretty much in line with what I'd expect. There's a reason why its called "Turbo lag".
@samrowlands7842 he isn't launching it right. He's pulling away with the revs droppings. He needs to launch with high revs. People need to learn how to drive a turbo car. Lag is not a thing if you know what you're doing.
@@rpw2003hmmm, not sure about that one!!!! People always get confused on this . There’s a difference between lag and boost threshold. Lag is the time it takes for the turbine to spin up and tbh, unless you have a HUGE turbo is pretty minimal. Boost threshold is the minimum rpm your setup will make boost. So yep, keeping the revs up keeps you above the threshold, but makes bugger all difference to lag.
My experience with forced induction is the supercharger feels like u r driving a much bigger engine like a v6 or v8. The torque is now! A turbo feels like a standard Miata engine until the boost hits and then runs like a scalded dog. Fast.
This type of supercharger (Rotrex) don't make torque down low, its more like a N/A on steroid. You get almost the same hp as a turbo setup but without the huge burst of torque..its linear. Less harsh on the rods and great for time attack, lapping, circuit. Turbo is better in straight line for sure (more power/torque) if you can put the power to the ground..! Different breed of animal. Btw I would love to see the ITB car with a 6 speed gearboxes instead of the 5 .
@@benjbsn2429 Good explanation, also you can probably size your turbo by knowing how to read A/R compressor maps to see where the turbo range is and properly size the turbo compressor and turbine to fit your needs. Smaller A/R on a the turbine side will give you more restriction but could help in spooling the turbo at lower rpm's with some sacrifice up high. Properly sized turbos can have some good grunt with decent boost pressure down low and still put out enough steam up top. I would think that is the main issue that a lot of people have with laggy turbo's that don't spool quick enough and only have lets say a 2500 rpm useable power band. Roots style superchargers make a crap ton of boost down low right off of idle which makes the engine feel like a bigger displacement and centrifugal superchargers build boost depending on rpm. Centrifugal superchargers will always move more air than a roots due to their more advanced compressor wheel design vs the old style three lobe rotors in a roots. There is the exception of the screw supercharger which can build far more boost due to the lobe screw design which has a more aggressive profile than a lobe design and the closer tolerances to the case.
roots or twin screw would be interesting. However this supercharger shows great compromise between a turbo and n/a. ❤
Yes, it was surprising there was no car with the Eaton M45 blower. I thought that was a common supercharger to install on those cars.
Would be interesting to compare all 3 common types of superchargers running same max psi target.
Just bought a mk3 MX5 a couple days ago! I’m absolutely loving it. It has truly smitten me. I will keep this car until it blows up
This is a lovely video idea testing turbos/Superchargers of which makes more power/sense to put on
True. What about a battle between Shioriko Mifune's Mazda 787B (Rotary Turbo) against the GT90 (Supercharged).
yeh agreed, a big reminder of power curves and delivery.... saying a hp number isnt the whole story
@@purwantiallan5089 bro there's like 1 787b in the world... idk how theyd get it here for a drag race
Those BBR cars are so nicely done. The supercharged car sounds superb.
also superchargers are better
@@harrygregory6227 oof arguable! But I’ll let it slide lol. Really a proper roots would be cool
Are you rooting for it?
@@harrygregory6227 you should be ashamed
I meant it as a pun. get it "roots"-ing for it?
That was genuinely interesting to see the same car tuned three different ways by the same company as well as the stock car for reference. Guess Nick drew the short straw on this one. Nick's "Hello Matt" at the end was comedy gold.
That individual throttle body just sounded and drove so well. It's my pick by far.
Kudos to Matt as I think this is the most informative in regards to what package for tuning in regards to the engine.
Thanks.
I’ve always loved the MX-5, they’re such fun to drive zipping around in town.
Turbo's have come a long way, I can remember a time when turbo charged cars would only work at high revs and had huge turbo lag.
Very interesting tuned MX5 .The 3 tuned MX 5 are very efficient . They get also a very nice sound. Nick do his best with the MX 5 from the stock. Thank you for the video.
We need more of these races!
That "hello mat" from nick at the end :D
Man those ideas for the videos are on point very informative fun and awsome to watch ur the man...all the best from Jerusalem TO you and the team u guys are awsome and deserve every credit
Nick seems very kind-hearted. Thanks for having him on these tests
That ITB miata sounds beautiful
Love this race, I've always wanted to get an mx5 and put some engine mods on it
It is a Great Car i owned a Mark 2 and sold it only for my Kids to get a Family Car.
@@lennartschmidt5385definitely.
@@lennartschmidt5385you were supposed to sell the kids
Great Video! we need more of these kind of races, super, turbo, n/a.
Such an awesome enjoyable match up an race, really fun to watch
Would love more videos like this. Modified cars professionally done.
BBR have been at the forefront of developing the MX5 platform for decades. They are constantly developing and making improvements throughout the MX5 range, absolute legends.
Thats cool.
I had a 2007 Mk3 just like the stock one (but with a custom exhaust) great car. Would have loved to have the supercharged version though! BBR have always done some great kits. 😀
Great video! I’m currently saving for a ND1 and will be eventually reaching out to the BBR guys for some goodies. Cheers from the NL
Drag race with old, tunned and manual trans. cars, this is what I love❤
I can't stop laughing 😂😂 Matt treats Nick like his lame little brother 😂😂 just raining on his parade at every chance 😂😂. I love how Nick is too happy to care ❤😂
Me too never stop laughing cuz of this.
He has a character that needs fixing but ok
Absolutely love this comparison 👏 great video
Super fun and some good insights to boot... Good on BBR.
always enjoying the downshifts of racingdriver Sam in the breaktests
Idk if it's just habit but it definitely doesn't help in a break test
@@mitchellsteindlerit definitely does
@@Lewis1995 with weak brakes. In this case it interfered ABS`s job
@Lewis1995 all it does is put more load through the tires, which does nothing when you're already in abs.
@@mitchellsteindler no
Should have put Sam in the turbo mx5 for the drag to see if he could win
Put Sam into Roadster Touring Car.
Add Nick in all your videos. I enjoy videos that includes that guy! 😂❤
What the concept of race on this! more to come this type of drag race w/ other car brand/s!
Watched this in slow motion and i swear Matt is spinning his wheels before the arms go down... 🤔 Great content and great cars
I thought he jumped the start a few times too
@@monkey11477doesn't he do that every time he participates in a drag race? 😂
I think ITBs are more about the audio experience than straight out performance
It performes better than standard, but NA tuning is just a game of small expensive gains.
Really cool guest to provide a cross section of modified vehicles and a standard baseline. Hello was a great way to stay connected to standard vehicle
Love the comparisons! Makes me miss my NC.
What an awesome team carwow has - all the guys just seem to have a lot of fun and also do a fantastic job presenting and racing at the same time.
Definitely. It has double the fun.
Loving all the mazda's lately. Would love to see a 2010's hot hatch drag, feat the likes of Mazda 3 MPS, Ford Focus ST, Mk 6 GTI etc...
Mazda 3 mps wins all day long
Oh hell ya. I completely forgot about the Mazda Speed variants. They made awesome cars. And not just the Mazda speed Miatas but also the Mazda Speed 3. And even rarer and cooler are the Mazda Speed 6s. Do you remember them? They were awesome and rare. I almost never saw them even when they were new. Same as the 2004 and 2005 Volvo S60R and V70R with the awesome looking ball shifter and those amazing seats. I had an 06 Volvo S60 2.5t (which replaced the T5 and made around the same HP). Mine had the tiptronic auto. Either way, it was an awesome car and made cool sounds from the turbo.
@mesco8200 interesting opinion there buddy
BBR folks are top tier tuners, nice bunch too
Love BBR! The best decision i made was their Super200 conversion
11:38 This shot angle is just mesmerizing, with the cars getting in and out of shot
Yep. It is also epic
An ITB MX5 could be interesting for me. I didn't expect such a big boost in power and torque for around the same price as the other two cars. I bet that's a fun car to drive.
What about Mazda Roadster MX-5 TOURING CAR?
It's engine-swapped too, with a cammed 2.5.
Love it when Nick makes an appearance. Great show fellas!!
I had a go in a standard MK3 a while back and it's one of the most entertaining and fun cars ive ever driven.
I used to have one of those VW group 1.4 TSI engine cars (which was mega) and if I had to choose between the turbo or supercharger, I'd have gone supercharger everytime. Love the top end power of a turbo but the mid-range torque of a supercharger puts a smile on your face every time. Plus I personally love the sound of the supercharger whine.
Had one too, great little engine that didn't feel like such a small capacity at all. I get that production costs don't really make twincharger setups viable anymore but it was indeed the best of both worlds. All the mid range when both the sc and turbo were engaged and still pulled all the way to 7k rpm after decoupling the sc.
I have a 1.4 t-jet with 150hp and almost has the same snappiness as 1.4 twincharged tsi in midrange but feels sluggish at top-end
Well they got 3.0L Supercharged engine applied to it.
From a spectators point of view the last drag race has to be the funniest to watch😂 specially if you wasn’t knowing what’s going on. All tuning methods are great
That was fun, good test! 4 cars , four tunes! 🎉
I love BBR! Someday I plan to do their camshaft upgrade to my ND2! 8k rpm and over 200rwhp naturally aspirated?! Yes please!
For last race I'd guess the gearing is probably the reason for supercharged not beating it (6th vs 5th gear). Too bad we don't see the RPM
I think it's the driver. I think the turbo car is faster overall, but its being held back by bad launching as it wins everything but the first two races.
@@ii_dynasty Your comment has zero to do with what the OP said. He said nothing about the turbo car, he was only talking about the last race where driver was a non-factor and he is 100% right that the ITB car was faster than the supercharged car in top gear because of the different gearboxes.
I think the last race was also cos the ITB was a 2.5L so makes more power while nobody has boost
This mazda had a centrifugal supercharger. This type of supercharger doesen't make much power at low rpms, whilest turbos also have bad really low end torqe but but at around 2-3k rpm most turbos start building boost and reach full boost at around 3k rpm which gives them really good mid range torque whilest the centrifugal supercharger reaches peak boost only just before the rev limit.
@@Bally46 It does make some power at low rpm where the others are not on boost, true. But the point is they would be comfortably on boost if they had the 5-speed gearbox like the ITB car. They mentioned the 6-speed cars were at 1800 rpm at 50 mph. The 5-speed would be above 2500 rpm (I have one). If they were all 6-speed then maaaybe the ITB would still very slightly edge the sc. If they were all 5-speed, the sc would leave it the dust like in the 2 previous races. The turbo wins every roll race hands down, no change here.
Love BBR so much! This is so cool. They can also do regular mazda’s as well and it’s not a popular thing to do but think it’s so cool that they can essentially build a mazda 3 skyactive G
Agree. Wish Mazdaspeed3 also has that.
Great video! More of this please
That Silver Miata is gonna fly with a turbo on top. It’s impressive it can keep up with the turbo and supercharger mid range. Now I am tempted😂
Lol The chemistry between Matt and Nick. Luv it
I like the team. Sam, Nick and Yanni with Matt. Love it! My favorite show on KZhead.
Awesome comparison!
A dyno comparison video of these would be sweet! good to compare the power rev ranges 👀👀
12:04 I was expecting that Nick will say Hello Mat if he loses the break test 😂
Would be nice to see dyno results of those bbr upgraded cars.
I always laugh when Mat says "Hello Nick" and laugh out loud when Nick says "Hello Mat" at the end of the challenge, peak comedy 😂
The ITB car also had 20% greater displacement, using a 2.5l engine instead of the factory 2.0l. And with a 5 speed instead of a 6 speed, and unknown rear end gearing for each car, they will all behave differently in different tests. The ITB car would best best on track with no boost spikes to deal with. Surprised it took the longest to stop, but maybe has a more track focused brake pad that needs some heat before it stops good. A better test would be a lap around a small track, all by the same driver.
Great video. The Turbo has the greatest spread of torque through the rev range, making it fastest.
All about the torque.
I really grew to love carwow and the presenters. Nick is just an awesome dude. I really like racing driver Sam, he's so chill but cool at the same time. Yanni is really funny especially with Matt. Great team with a great channel 😁
And also epic.
The most interesting outcome was reasling just how much racing drivers hate losing; the look on Sam's face at not coming in at first place was epic. And the test itself was pretty informative.
I love this video concept. Maybe some more technical detail on the 4 car profils would be appreciated 👍👌
Great test very interesting results, id personally take the supercharged one
We definitely need to see BBR to release an ITB kit for the ND!
Agree.
Naturally aspirated might not be the cheapest way to make power but its definitely worth it
Such an awesome platform! 🔥🔥
Those exhaust sounds were something 😍
I'd love a 2.5L supercharged one!
We should have more turbo vs supercharger in same cars races. That is very interesting.
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
"ahead of the turbo again haha well that was short lived" Nick is funny 😂😂😂😂😂
Great comparison between them all. I would love a set of ITBs on my 2.5L 😏
Wish Citroen C4 WRC also had 2.5L.
Brake bias from larger front Calipers is interesting in that brake test!
Well definitely.
I'd say there may be a problem with suppling brake pump with pressure because of the ITB's
One of the most interesting tests I've seen.
I'd love to see a circuit comparison between these cars.
Never been a mx5 fan, but you guys make the car look fun 😅 Maybe I should get a mx5 🤔
Trust me cheapest bang for buck and upgrades r reasonably cheap
They are surprisingly fun and are extremely involving. But everyone is different
ITB is my favorite: No parasitic losses and no lag, pure engine to make a excellent time attack car. 👌 Probably would be even better with an more aggressive camshaft...
Parasitic loss is not a problem so long as it's a net gain
@@post-leftludditeit can be a problem because there is more wear, the engine needing to exceed the power and torque at the crank by a lot.
I wonder what the difference between a 2.0 and 2.5with itbs is because 240bhp Is only 20 more than than the off the shelf Bbr 220, all that extra must come from the 2.5 block
Bro. Supercharger to no parasitic losses. Fast acc and reliability. Turbo suck
@@post-leftluddite You can see the parasitic loss here: 9:35 The engine is suffering to rev, just like a heavy flywheel.
I enjoyed this comparison type video
Matt this was a awesome race...super happy to see Sam win a drag race !!!