Mx5 mk2.5 1.8- which one to get?

[Loafers92]

Hi everyone,

After a long, long search for what car I should buy, to use on b-roads, and light track use, I've narrowed it down to a mk2 mx5, 1.8 liter.

I have two examples I'm interested in: one belongs to my colleagues family member, it's a silver Sports model (chassis bracing, bilsteins, big brake kit), and it has a Mazdaspeed front and rear bumper, IL Motorsports dual tip exhaust, and an incredibly awesome sounding intake (no idea what it is, but it makes it sound like ITB's, big plus). Suspension seemed nice,not tired, overall, I liked the car. The only problem is that it has a rust bubble on the rear of the sill, between the door and the wheel arch. It's protruding already, bubbling a bit, and there's also another patch just a couple of cm's off, on the bottom of the wheel arch. The seller says it's fixable for around 350 e but i'm not so sure- Rust is usually worst on the inside, and since it's a mk2 (I've seen and read about the horror stories).

I did put it up on a car lift and checked the front chassis rails, and all clear, no rust whatsoever, neither anywhere else on the car. It's really just this patch by the wheelarch and sill.

My other option is a car that's further away- Its a grey example, less mileage (5k miles less), but has kw v1 coilovers and yokohama sticky tires. Have had some pictures of the underbody and it looks clean, cleaner than the first example actually.









I'll go and test it soon, but so far, I'm a bit torn: Get the first example that has rust issues, and is being sold cheaper to account for the rust that I will have to repair in my own time (I'll pay someone to do it). I love the sound it makes, it's truly addictive, and even though I don't love the ride height or the bumpers, I could just fit lowering springs and spray the bumper at the same time as it's getting the rust repairs, and eventually change also change the stock wheels. It's also very close to me, and simpler to do the paper work.

The second example seems more track ready, and although it doesn't have the chassis bracing, or big brake kit like the first one, but it seems like it has no rust. I hear good things about the suspension kit it has installed, it has a nicer color, better tires too. It's just a bit of a faff to import it to where I live (I'm in Europe and I would be importing this car from the neighbour country), but doable.

So, what should I go for?

(Forgot to add: the first example with rust, has an upgraded radiator core and fans, plus some uprated ignition leads- it was meant to be turbo'd in the future, which I can definitely get behind of! Plus ebc green stuff pads and an exedy reinforced clutch)

Edited by Loafers92 on Wednesday 13th February 21:30

[Chimune]

I think you are going to find rust anyway, so just budget for it and deal with it as and when.

Questions are really how long you gonna keep it for, how much do you have to spend?

[Overall D]

It's easy to bolt some bits on later. It's a pain to sort out rust. The second one looks really clean in the pictures - if it's like that all over, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

[Loafers92]

I would like to keep it at least until the summer, depending on how I get along with the car, maybe sell it then or keep it for longer. I want the least trouble possible, and I've been traumatized by some photos I've seen of rusty mk2s, so I don't want to start fixing the rust on the first car and then find out it's actually way worse underneath and spend triple in the end, and be car less for some weeks.

Glad to know the second car is clean. It's not the whole car but it's a good sign I think. Will try to check for more spots on sunday!

Thanks fellas. I'll post pics of whichever I end up buying, but if things go well, probably the rust free example. I need to find out how to make it sound as nice as the first one though....

[Loafers92]

As for budget- around 8k euros, which makes it hard to find mk2.5 1.8s, pretty much anywhere around Europe.

[R8Steve]

Loafers92 said:

As for budget- around 8k euros, which makes it hard to find mk2.5 1.8s, pretty much anywhere around Europe.

Really? I’ve got a Mk 2.5 1.8 sport vvt fully prepped hillclimb car and I’d probably value it about 2k GBP.

Do you know what induction kit made the sound you describe? I’ve got a Jackson racing cold air intake and it’s pretty much silent, I’d be interested in one that’s as loud as you describe.

[Loafers92]

R8Steve said:

Really? I’ve got a Mk 2.5 1.8 sport vvt fully prepped hillclimb car and I’d probably value it about 2k GBP.

Do you know what induction kit made the sound you describe? I’ve got a Jackson racing cold air intake and it’s pretty much silent, I’d be interested in one that’s as loud as you describe.

I'll try finding out today what the whole setup is, but it sounds a lot like this video link, except the actual sound has more depth and quality to :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR-CIdn1ehw&t=...

As for prices, this is pretty much standard pricing for Europe,except Germany perhaps, where you can get the odd low miles low price car. Still a bit rare though.

This is the rust on the first example

Maybe It's easily treatable?

[fat80b]

Loafers92 said:

Maybe It's easily treatable?

On the surface, that looks pretty normal to me. You'll struggle to find one with zero evidence of rust

I'm more impressed by the first lot of pics you put up (the second car) - that looks like a pretty clean car and with approximately the right set of mods. as you say, the internal rails are far harder to fix than the sills.

It also has AD08 tyres which is my choice for track use.

If the price works for you, then I would say that looks pretty nice based on those pics.

[griffdude]

Unless I’m mistaken, some of the pics you show the car being jacked up on the sill seams- never do this. It causes damage which will ultimately rust.
Have got a 2.5 sport which is Supercharged & goes quite nicely. ACF50 keeps the rot at bay; I just regularly give a spray over the the vulnerable bits. Those Yoko tyres are great apart from when it’s cold & standing water.

[Loafers92]

fat80b said:

On the surface, that looks pretty normal to me. You'll struggle to find one with zero evidence of rust

I'm more impressed by the first lot of pics you put up (the second car) - that looks like a pretty clean car and with approximately the right set of mods. as you say, the internal rails are far harder to fix than the sills.

It also has AD08 tyres which is my choice for track use.

If the price works for you, then I would say that looks pretty nice based on those pics.

Great, it confirms how clean I thought it was. I don't have much experience with MX5s, so I thought it'd be best to share it with you guys. The price is great, and it does have some good upgades that I would be interested on adding later on. Just a bit more complicated to register where I live, but shouldn't be *too* complicated.



I went to a bodyshop to get a quote for the first car (rusty one) and they quoted minimum 600 if there's nothing else underneath, but maximum 1200 if they find more underneath. so I expect to spend between 600 to 1200, basically. I would be tempted to buy it if the owner could account for that, but I doubt he will, as he says he got a quote to fix it for 400 somewhere else. No idea of this persons quality of work though.


Overall, just very happy I'll be owning a Mk2.5 soon- Original plan was to buy a mk3 2.0, but fell into these instead and don't regret it at all, they are so much fun and quite fast enough on b-roads, and I'm sure fun enough on track too!

And it's a shame the owner of the first car jacked it up on the sills, I thought he would've known what he was doing as he's an amateur race driver/body shop repairer.

Would you be put off by buying a car that has been, I Imagine, used hard? That's the advantage of the first example with rust, the owner isn't a race driver!

Edited by Loafers92 on Thursday 14th February 16:58

[TVRees]

fat80b said:

On the surface, that looks pretty normal to me. You'll struggle to find one with zero evidence of rust

Mine looked a little like this on the outside and when I poked around a little, I found that the rust was coming from the inside. Someone had tried a "from the outside" repair and this will only be good for a short time.

The 3 steel body parts come together in this area of the car and the moisture just collects in-between and they rust from inside to outside. Althought not my picture, but it looked like this on the inside :


I fixed it myself with a bit of sheet cutting and forming and some welding, but it took a while to get it looking good.

[griffdude]

I wouldn’t have any problem buying a car from someone who was an enthusiastic driver; most often these people are very mechanically aware & tend to look after their vehicles.
Another good thing about the 2.5 is that a lot of the tuning bits made for mk1s fit the 2.5, the tyres are really cheap too.

[yellowstreak]

I would certainly choose the least rusty example you can find. You can bolt on as many modifications as you like to a clean car.

[Stan the Bat]

Loafers92 said:

R8Steve said:

Really? I’ve got a Mk 2.5 1.8 sport vvt fully prepped hillclimb car and I’d probably value it about 2k GBP.

Do you know what induction kit made the sound you describe? I’ve got a Jackson racing cold air intake and it’s pretty much silent, I’d be interested in one that’s as loud as you describe.

I'll try finding out today what the whole setup is, but it sounds a lot like this video link, except the actual sound has more depth and quality to :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR-CIdn1ehw&t=...

As for prices, this is pretty much standard pricing for Europe,except Germany perhaps, where you can get the odd low miles low price car. Still a bit rare though.

This is the rust on the first example

Maybe It's easily treatable?

I had mine done , both sides about two years ago for less than £400.

Looked worse than that pic as well.

[Loafers92]

Well, I test drove both: the grey one that was unbelievably clean- Drove very well. Put down a deposit, but there were some strange issues with the v5 equivalent of this cars country, and the seller wanted it all in cash in a time frame I couldn't match, so I lost that car. So I am buying the silver car, with the rust issues. Quoted around 1000 pounds to get it all done, as the other sill also needs a bit of doing. It will be done by a very experienced person that has worked on all sorts of classic machinery (ongoing 356 restoration) and has done at least one mx5. The seller for this car lowered the price to accomodate for the rust repairs, which works by me. Car sounds phenomenal- BEgi intake, plus some IL motorsports exhaust and sports cat. Can't wait to change some small things here and there once I get it.

Now, on to upgrades: It has the original bilsteins, but it sits too high. I'd like to lower it for now, and see how it handles. What are the best choice for lowering springs on these original bilstein dampers? Or should I just get some coilovers later down the line?

And the car has ebc green stuff pads, but they don't seem *that* great. Perhaps its related to the fluid? Not that much initial bite, would like for it to be more firm.

[CousinDupree]

Loafers92 said:

Well, I test drove both: the grey one that was unbelievably clean- Drove very well. Put down a deposit, but there were some strange issues with the v5 equivalent of this cars country, and the seller wanted it all in cash in a time frame I couldn't match, so I lost that car. So I am buying the silver car, with the rust issues. Quoted around 1000 pounds to get it all done, as the other sill also needs a bit of doing. It will be done by a very experienced person that has worked on all sorts of classic machinery (ongoing 356 restoration) and has done at least one mx5. The seller for this car lowered the price to accomodate for the rust repairs, which works by me. Car sounds phenomenal- BEgi intake, plus some IL motorsports exhaust and sports cat. Can't wait to change some small things here and there once I get it.

Now, on to upgrades: It has the original bilsteins, but it sits too high. I'd like to lower it for now, and see how it handles. What are the best choice for lowering springs on these original bilstein dampers? Or should I just get some coilovers later down the line?

And the car has ebc green stuff pads, but they don't seem *that* great. Perhaps its related to the fluid? Not that much initial bite, would like for it to be more firm.

Congrats on the purchase. Don't fit lowering springs to the stock worn Bilsteins. A friend did this and they didn't cope at all well on road and were awful on track.

If you are going to fit track orientated tyres (I wouldn't, it makes them feel underpowered on track and less adjustable), you need stiffer spring rates and damping anyway, if you want to be able to use the extra grip.

[anonymous-user]

Loafers92 said:

Well, I test drove both: the grey one that was unbelievably clean- Drove very well. Put down a deposit, but there were some strange issues with the v5 equivalent of this cars country, and the seller wanted it all in cash in a time frame I couldn't match, so I lost that car. So I am buying the silver car, with the rust issues. Quoted around 1000 pounds to get it all done, as the other sill also needs a bit of doing. It will be done by a very experienced person that has worked on all sorts of classic machinery (ongoing 356 restoration) and has done at least one mx5. The seller for this car lowered the price to accomodate for the rust repairs, which works by me. Car sounds phenomenal- BEgi intake, plus some IL motorsports exhaust and sports cat. Can't wait to change some small things here and there once I get it.

Now, on to upgrades: It has the original bilsteins, but it sits too high. I'd like to lower it for now, and see how it handles. What are the best choice for lowering springs on these original bilstein dampers? Or should I just get some coilovers later down the line?

And the car has ebc green stuff pads, but they don't seem *that* great. Perhaps its related to the fluid? Not that much initial bite, would like for it to be more firm.

Try Axxis Ultimate ceramic pads , my mk1 has these and they were superb on-track and seem great for road use also. I assume you can get them for a mk2.

[Loafers92]

I see, the springs do seem ok at first but they do feel a bit worn. Any tips on good coilovers to get on track? I want to still take it on track as is, with just a change to the pads and perhaps fluid, for now, and change to coilovers and diferent tires later.

And I'll look into Axxis pads, so far from what I've read they seem quite good. What about EBC red stuff? Any other upgrades I should look into, like brake fluid?

[CousinDupree]

Loafers92 said:

I see, the springs do seem ok at first but they do feel a bit worn. Any tips on good coilovers to get on track? I want to still take it on track as is, with just a change to the pads and perhaps fluid, for now, and change to coilovers and diferent tires later.

And I'll look into Axxis pads, so far from what I've read they seem quite good. What about EBC red stuff? Any other upgrades I should look into, like brake fluid?

Have a look at what the Max 5 guys are running. Lots of good options out there

[R8Steve]

I’ve got gaz golds on mine, carbon loraine pads and run castrol srf brake fluid, no complaints about the handling and the braking is exceptional.