Freefaller was kind enough to drop by yesterday afternoon to show me his Q car MX5.
The only giveaway that it's not standard is the intercooler, which can be spotted within the front grill, and that's probably only noticeable if you know what to look for. Even the interior is unchanged. Personally I like the understated look (big wings are NOT my thing), so thumbs up for that.
Have to say that the installation looks VERY tidy, plenty of well laid in pipes and bits, with lots of airflow around them.
On the road, it's actually slightly quieter off throttle than a standard one (a good thing in my opinion), but when you gun it, has a very distinctive roar to it, that is pretty captivating, and the straightline urge is stonking (bear in mind the car weighs around 1070kg, and is around 300kg lighter than say a Golf GTi).
Worth the money? Now that's a big one.
Strikes me that you could buy a different car with the extra expenditure.
I've been in an S2000, and think that I'd actually prefer the turbo MX5. The fact that you don't need to run it into oblivion to get some action would sway it for me, along with the fact that the MX is still cheaper, and probably 200kg lighter. The only other competition would be something like a Chimera, which is the same weight, and has 220-280hp depending upon version. Having said that, it also has much worse fuel economy, and is not likely to be quite as reliable (though as it uses the Rover v8, is going to be miles better than most TVRs).
The other option is to go on holiday a lot with the dosh. I'm not sure I'd really make use of the extra straightline performance that much, so it's a close call.
Either way, was great meeting up with Will and chatting about stuff from cars, the forums, stereo kit to options on Chinese girls. Look forward to meeting him again at the RR day.
The only giveaway that it's not standard is the intercooler, which can be spotted within the front grill, and that's probably only noticeable if you know what to look for. Even the interior is unchanged. Personally I like the understated look (big wings are NOT my thing), so thumbs up for that.
Have to say that the installation looks VERY tidy, plenty of well laid in pipes and bits, with lots of airflow around them.
On the road, it's actually slightly quieter off throttle than a standard one (a good thing in my opinion), but when you gun it, has a very distinctive roar to it, that is pretty captivating, and the straightline urge is stonking (bear in mind the car weighs around 1070kg, and is around 300kg lighter than say a Golf GTi).
Worth the money? Now that's a big one.
Strikes me that you could buy a different car with the extra expenditure.
I've been in an S2000, and think that I'd actually prefer the turbo MX5. The fact that you don't need to run it into oblivion to get some action would sway it for me, along with the fact that the MX is still cheaper, and probably 200kg lighter. The only other competition would be something like a Chimera, which is the same weight, and has 220-280hp depending upon version. Having said that, it also has much worse fuel economy, and is not likely to be quite as reliable (though as it uses the Rover v8, is going to be miles better than most TVRs).
The other option is to go on holiday a lot with the dosh. I'm not sure I'd really make use of the extra straightline performance that much, so it's a close call.
Either way, was great meeting up with Will and chatting about stuff from cars, the forums, stereo kit to options on Chinese girls. Look forward to meeting him again at the RR day.
It's only 1 years worth of holidays, and you can sell some of your "generic cd players" (
) to cover the cost if needs be 
Even better when you get the grill, no one will be able to tell its a turbo, just the way i like it.