Time To Move On

I have decided that I want to move on to a new project and it's time to sell. I plan to either purchase another Noble M12/M400 or to build an MNR Race car and to go racing. The car is for sale complete so unfortunately I'm not interested in splitting the car or selling the parts separately.

The car is offered for sale, If you are interested please contact me via email - eddie.coxon@gmail.com 

High specification road legal MNR Vortx Hayabusa Turbo, a real challenger to the Caterham 620r at a fraction of the cost. The car has recently been shown by MNR at Race Retro and is one of the most extensively specified and high quality built MNR’s in the country. The original build and all upgrades have been recorded via an online build blog. The car is ideal for a weekend toy or to compete in Hill Climbs or Sprints.

The car was built over 2013 and IVA’d for road registration in 2014, originally built as a normally aspirated Hayabusa and latterly upgraded to a new high spec turbo engine capable of 600hp in 2015, then in 2016 added a full ECU controlled Radical closed loop gear shift system for improved driving performance and speed of shift. The freshly built engine was fitted 250 miles ago, mapped by Rich Webb at RLM to 400whp with switchable boost of 250whp, 310whp and 400whp. The car has covered only 1024 miles from new and has been fastidiously maintained and upgraded from the original build. 

Engine:
1340cc Generation 1 Hayabusa 
Full rebuild with Genuine Suzuki parts
New bearings
Wiseco Turbo Pistons 9.5 - 1
Carrillio H Beam Turbo Con-Rods
Gen 2 Crank Balanced Crank & Generator
Balancer gear removed
APE Balancer dummy shaft
Ported/gas flowed Cylinder head - Stage 2 Extreme Engines
Adjustable cam Sprockets
APE cam chain
Extreme Engines Cam Chain Tensioner Spacer
Extreme Engines EXT-07R cams timed to 104/106
Extreme Engines heavy duty selector drum stop pin
APE High Tensile Cap Bolt Set, 12mm Cylinder head bolt conversion
Cometic Gaskets used throughout engine
AET Garrett GT28-76R Ball Bearing Turbo
Forge Motorsport Internal Wastage
3 inch Raceco Titanium Exhaust, meets all UK track day noise limits
Bosch 044 high pressure Fuel Pump
Lifter pump and swirl pot
Turbosmart Fuel Pressure Regulator
Siemens 690 Injectors
Turbosmart Race BOV
Rick’s Motorsport Electrics Hayabusa starter motor
SBD High Flow Fuel Rail
SBD Dry Sump System, Aeroquip hoses throughout
SBD Oil Tank
SBD High Speed Oil Gear
SBD Heavy Duty Oil Feed, head to block
Laminova Oil Cooler
Davies Craig High Flow Electronic Water pump
Radtec Radiator
5L Water Cooled Chargecooler system, Front mount radiator, Davis Craig waterpump

Electronics:
MBE 9A9 ECU, (Mapping performed by Rich Webb @ RLM Motorsport)
Race Technology Dash 2 display
Caterham High Quality Dashboard Switches
CAN Data link from Dash 2 to MBE ECU, Data logging compatible
Closed Loop Bosch Wideband Lambda
Race Technology DL1 MK2 Logger
SBD Switchable Boost Selector 3 settings 0.6Bar, 1.0Bar, 1.3Bar
SBD Boost Control Valve
SBD 3 Bar MAP Sensor
SBD Turbo Air Temp Sensor
Race Technology Oil Pressure Sensor
Race Technology Fuel Pressure Sensor
Race Technology Front Wheel Speed Sensors
Rick’s Motorsport Electrics 500W High Output Stator
Rick’s Motorsport Electrics 40A Mosfet Regulator

Gear Shifter System:
Radical Compressor and Accumulator 
Radical Bracket and Shift Actuator
Radical Dual Output Gear Position Sensor
SBD Solenoid Block
SBD Throttle Blipper Actuator
Shiftec Paddles
Wheel Mounted Neutral Selector Button
Adjustable Air Regulator set to 6Bar

Drivetrain:
Hayabusa Gen 1 Gearbox Undercut Gears
Extreme Engines HD Billet Output Shaft
Extreme Engines Billet Clutch Basket
Extreme Engines Billet Selector Shafts
Extreme Engines Heavy Duty Gear Change Spring
Genuine Suzuki clutch plates
MTC Multi Stage Lockup Clutch
MTC Billet clutch cover
APE Turbo clutch springs           
SBD Hydraulic clutch slave cylinder
TRT Propshaft
Sierra 7in 3.14 Differential
Quaife Helical LSD QDF15Z
MNR Billet Hub Bearing Carriers
Team Dynamics 15” wheels
Toyo 888 tyres
Compomitive 13” CXR wheels
Michelin Pilot Slicks 

Suspension/Steering:
Inboard, Pushrod Front Suspension
Protech Double adjustable shocks, valved and balanced.
Fully Rosejointed wishbones
MOMO Steering wheel
Works Bell Rapfix quick release hub.

Brakes:
OBP Race Pro Floor Mounted Pedalbox
Willwood Master cylinders
Adjustable brake bias control on dashboard
Braided Brake lines throughout car
Willwood Powerlite front calipers, Polymatyrix A pads. 
Willwood Powerlite handbrake rear calipers, Mintex 1144 Pads

Bodywork:
MNR double thickness Orange Fiberglass bodywork
Wrap around fiberglass front cycle wings
Wide fiberglass Rear Arches
Rear fiberglass Diffuser
Led rear lights

Safety:
MNR Full Roll Cage W/Arm Bars
Fully Plumbed in FIA Approved Fire Extinguisher system, Internal pull handle
FIA approved isolator
Scroth 4 Point ASM/HANS Harnesses

Current Performance:
Switchable Boost 0.6Bar - 250whp, 1.0Bar - 310whp, 1.3Bar - 400whp 
400whp @  9478rpm
224Ft/Lb @ 8260rpm
Power Measured on Dyno Developments @ RLM Racing
0-60 – 2.8sec
0.100 – 6.9sec

Closed Loop Air Shifter

Found that with the turbo engine, the original MNR push pull cable gearshift was a little slow and was difficult to use accurately at speed.

I always had a gear shift system in mind since I upgraded my ecu to the MBE 9A9, the ecu has the full capability to control the gearbox with great accuracy and speed. It uses electronic paddles and an actuator to change gear. 

After quite a lot of research I chose a closed loop air system from Meteor Motorsport with shiftec paddles, Radical air accumulator, Radical gear shift actuator, Radical gear position sensor, SBD solenoids and SBD throttle blipper.  I did look at air bottles and various electronic systems, but each had a level of compromise.

The radical set up is identical to those fitted to the hayabusa engined Radical SR3's with closed loop shifting.  The radical bracket and actuator are extremely will made and are far better quality than the other actuators I have seen on the market. The compressor runs to 9.8 Bar with no problem at all and is regulated to 6 Bar to provide consistent actuation. The whole system is wired to the MBE ecu and runs full clutchless changes up and down the box after the initial start in 1st with the clutch. 

The system has a clutch switch wired in which senses in the clutch is pressed and allows you to select a gear. There is also a button on the steering wheel that will change to neutral from 1st or 2nd when at standstill. The up and down shifts are via the shiftec electronic paddles. These are high quality with a good feel, these are used in many professional rally and race cars.

To allow the ECU to know exactly where the shifter barrel is during the changes, I needed to fit a fully analogue gear sensor that is fitted to the Radical cars, this meant that I needed to remove the engine to install as it goes behind the clutch basket and replaces the standard resistor switch. The sensor now gives a reading to tell the ECU exactly where it is in the gear change, the ECU then knows exactly how much to move the actuator on the shift. 

I mounted the accumulator in the boot area on an aluminium plate and fixed to the frame. I then wired it back to a fused relay switched from the ECU, I also wired the pressure sensor yo the dash and ECU to monitor and control the mini compressor.

Steve Broughton at SBD set up the gearbox control maps for me with the latest setting he is running on the race and hill climb cars.

Carbon Fibre Back Panel

I really liked the look of Chris Forster's Carbon boot lid and have had it on my todo list for a long time. I finally got around to ordering a sheet of 0.7mm wet lay carbon, the size is 1200mm x 1000mm, so there was plenty to make a new back panel and boot lid to replace the plastic faux carbon ones that came from MNR.

The sheet came from Fibre-Lyte and was 650gm 2x2 single ply and 0.7mm thick, if I had of bought 400gm this would have been less than 0.5mm.

I used my original parts as a template and cut with scissors and a sharp Stanley knife. Fitted in place with some new Velcro. Will cut out the boot lid next.

24v Starter Circuit Part 2

Decided to move the battery from the passenger footwell to underneath the scuttle. I managed to find a smaller battery which is the standard fit for a Hayabusa. Made a simple battery box form aluminium sheet and tiger sealed together. 

I then fitted a second battery isolator and connected the cable to the starter motor that was previously on the starter solenoid. This will offer a method of isolation, then the other side of the isolator to the new battery and the other battery lead to the starter solenoid.  

I added a separate connection to the battery to allow charging from the trickle charger.

24v Starter Circuit

The Brise starter works fine while the battery is fully charged, however when the battery drops to around 12 volts the cranking speed drops and makes the engine difficult to start. 

After talking to Rich at RLM he suggested changing to a 24v starter circuit and wiring in an additional battery. The new battery is wired in series after the output from the start solenoid before the starter motor. As I had a spare battery I decided to give it a go and mounted the battery in the passenger footwell. 

The engine now cranks faster than ever and starts a lot more consistently. I am currently still using the Brise starter but I may swap back to the standard hayabusa starter at a later date.

Brake Upgrade

With the extra power I decided to upgrade the brakes. I have not really been happy with the brakes since I built the car.

MNR now provide light weight discs and billet bearing carriers. I decided to upgrade to these and also fit a pair of rear wildwood calipers for the rear to replace the Sierra items. As these catch on my 13 inch Compomotives there is an added bonus with the wildwood's that they wouldn't catch.

The only downside was that I needed the rear hubs machined to fit the new discs, I sent them to MNR to get this done, Marc machined them down to size within a couple of days. 

The kit was a straight swap and fitted well, when fitting the new bearing carriers I took the opportunity to fit new rear bearings. 

I took time to bleed the brakes, after I bled the rear calipers from the bottom and then from the top, the brake pedal became extremely solid with good feel. I think that the rear calipers may have been a problem all along.

Rear LED Lights

With the old clear Perei lights I had a couple of occasions that the driver behind couldn't see me braking. This is something that I have been thinking about for a while and thinking of an LED upgrade.

I managed to find some LED rear lights that fit the existing back boxes. Ideally I would have liked them to be clear but I couldn't find any, that were the same size. 

I swapped the lights and fitted a new electronic flasher relay, I'm really quite pleased with the results, the lights are now a lot brighter.