New ND 184 ?

[ian2144]

Looking at replacing the other half’s Polo GTI 1.8T with a new 184 version.
Is there any issues I should be concerned with on the ND model in general and once we get beyond the factory warranty?

[Glug69]

Not really, some early cars had gearbox issues, but other than that they are pretty reliable.

[johnnymiller]

front edge of the roof fouling the rear roll hoops, particularly if the roof is lowered from inside the car, wore a hole in my 2015 car, thought it would be fixed by now, but my new 30th anniversary does it as well unless you close the roof from outside the car and push the roof down at the rear. only issue I had on mine. did read about gearbox issues, but not sure if they are still relevant on the ND2/184 versions

[ian2144]

Thanks for the input guys...…Is there a facebook page worth joining?

[Glug69]

I don't know about facebook, but the American miata.net forum is a generally friendly place with lots of helpful technical advice, it also seems to be busier than the UK based forum.

[cymro]

ian2144 said:

Thanks for the input guys...…Is there a facebook page worth joining?

Try MX5 - MK4 ND owners UK
on Facebook, it’s quite active and some knowledgable and helpful owners on there.
The hood issue is a major problem. It was replaced under warranty on my 184 but it is still very close to the rear of the headrest when down. I still need to put the hood down from outside the car and press down on the rear edge of it to keep it from rubbing. There are a number of other more minor issues they are susceptible to but should be fixed under warranty. Mazda dealers and Mazda UK are not the best at dealing with warranty issues in my experience.
I changed from a 160 to 184 in January of this year and would say don’t settle for the 160 when buying.

[clarki]

We came at ND ownership from a different angle - car was delivered on Tuesday.

We thought we would go and get a new 184. Decision made. Then you go and try one and price one, holly cow!! £31k+

So we then thought about an earlier car, a 160 and found a 2,500 mile, 1 owner, launch edition car at nearly £15k cheaper!!

The 184 does rev a bit better than the 160 i'll admit, particularly the last 1,000 rpm but with a whole 3lbft of torque extra once on the move and through the gears I couldn't tell any real performance difference. We will maybe spend 3 of the 15k at BBR on their super200 kit if we feel we need to improve things but i'm not so sure that'll be necessary. Time will tell.

Understand i'm not comparing apples with apples but just our recent experience. Over £30k for an MX-5 was just a bit too rich for us.

Picture, just cos I can now.

[fido]

IMO The ND doesn't seem to be as turbo friendly - the cranks/rods and 'box will not cope with 300lf ft of torque unlike the NC. To that extent, it makes more sense to go for an earlier version and spend on modifications, unless you're happy with a fresh new one as it is.