ND thoughts / questions
Discussion
Morning all. I’ve owned my 2010 2.0 Sport Tech for almost 13 years and have covered 80,000 very enjoyable miles in the car. I am considering replacing it with a nearly new ND next year and have a few questions / thoughts.
Colour – Not a great choice in the UK in my opinion. Current favourite is Deep Crystal Blue Mica, followed by Machine Grey Mica. Not keen on the white, Aero grey, or black. Soul Red looks lovely but concerned about durability over time and the chance of getting a good colour match if a panel is resprayed in the future. How easily does the paint chip? My current MX-5 has very few stone chips, surprisingly.
Rear hub carriers – I’ve heard that these can need replaced at relatively low mileages. Is it possible to replace the individual bushes rather than having to replace the whole hub carrier?
Are the mechanical changes to the diff and steering from the ND2 noticeable and worth paying the extra for an ND3.
How good is the chassis rust proofing on ND’s?
I’ve seen quite a few ND’s with deformed drivers seat squab. My current NC2 does not suffer from this and the seat squab still looks great. Is the deterioration of the drivers seat squab common in ND’s?
Thanks in advance.
There is a wide choice of aftermarket solutions for the rear bush issue, starting from about £150 for all four, it’s a pretty straight forward job to do yourself if you so wish.
The paint is thin so they do chip easily although I’m not sure it’s any thinner than a mk3.
Rust proofing is pretty terrible.
Seats aren’t particularly susceptible to getting squashed, I can only assume they just don’t stand up to larger people that well.
The paint is thin so they do chip easily although I’m not sure it’s any thinner than a mk3.
Rust proofing is pretty terrible.
Seats aren’t particularly susceptible to getting squashed, I can only assume they just don’t stand up to larger people that well.
Crystal blue ND 1 2 litre bought at 5k miles in 2017 , now high 60s. It's been almost faultless - sightly blowing exhaust last year and rear bushes etc done in 2022.
I had it Dinitroled in 2019 , and there'd been no rust before ,and none after.
Lowered springs transform the feel , and a remap and new exhaust manifold by Roddison Motorsport upped power to ND 2 level , with better torque . 41- 48mpg normal . Paint? The odd chip, same as anything else.
Steering is typical EPAS and my friend with a 2025 car reported that his steering felt no different to mine.
I'm not light, and seat is fine
Every ND1 gearbox is supposed to self destruct if you even look at it the wrong way. Mine's even slicker now than it was years ago
I'd recommend one without hesitation, and if the steering could feel more like my Seven's did. it would be perfect
I had it Dinitroled in 2019 , and there'd been no rust before ,and none after.
Lowered springs transform the feel , and a remap and new exhaust manifold by Roddison Motorsport upped power to ND 2 level , with better torque . 41- 48mpg normal . Paint? The odd chip, same as anything else.
Steering is typical EPAS and my friend with a 2025 car reported that his steering felt no different to mine.
I'm not light, and seat is fine
Every ND1 gearbox is supposed to self destruct if you even look at it the wrong way. Mine's even slicker now than it was years ago
I'd recommend one without hesitation, and if the steering could feel more like my Seven's did. it would be perfect
coppice said:
Crystal blue ND 1 2 litre bought at 5k miles in 2017 , now high 60s. It's been almost faultless - sightly blowing exhaust last year and rear bushes etc done in 2022.
I had it Dinitroled in 2019 , and there'd been no rust before ,and none after.
Lowered springs transform the feel , and a remap and new exhaust manifold by Roddison Motorsport upped power to ND 2 level , with better torque . 41- 48mpg normal . Paint? The odd chip, same as anything else.
Steering is typical EPAS and my friend with a 2025 car reported that his steering felt no different to mine.
I'm not light, and seat is fine
Every ND1 gearbox is supposed to self destruct if you even look at it the wrong way. Mine's even slicker now than it was years ago
I'd recommend one without hesitation, and if the steering could feel more like my Seven's did. it would be perfect
Great feedback. Many thanks for talking the time to respond.I had it Dinitroled in 2019 , and there'd been no rust before ,and none after.
Lowered springs transform the feel , and a remap and new exhaust manifold by Roddison Motorsport upped power to ND 2 level , with better torque . 41- 48mpg normal . Paint? The odd chip, same as anything else.
Steering is typical EPAS and my friend with a 2025 car reported that his steering felt no different to mine.
I'm not light, and seat is fine
Every ND1 gearbox is supposed to self destruct if you even look at it the wrong way. Mine's even slicker now than it was years ago
I'd recommend one without hesitation, and if the steering could feel more like my Seven's did. it would be perfect
SWMBO has a 2018 2.0 sport nav in a lovely blue colour. She has owned it for 2.5 years and it has been utterly faultless. The only costs have been servicing, fuel and insurance.
It is currently sitting at 33500 miles and drives really nicely and the gearbox is a joy to use.
My only real criticism is interior storage is pretty poor and much worse than the older NB model.
We have just come back from a trip to the Outer Hebrides and with squashy bags you can get enough luggage for a decent trip away. The boot is quite deep but the entrance restrictive.
The roof goes up and down with one hand even at low speeds which is a bonus if you get caught in the rain.
It is currently sitting at 33500 miles and drives really nicely and the gearbox is a joy to use.
My only real criticism is interior storage is pretty poor and much worse than the older NB model.
We have just come back from a trip to the Outer Hebrides and with squashy bags you can get enough luggage for a decent trip away. The boot is quite deep but the entrance restrictive.
The roof goes up and down with one hand even at low speeds which is a bonus if you get caught in the rain.
Ecosseven said:
Colour Not a great choice in the UK in my opinion. Current favourite is Deep Crystal Blue Mica, followed by Machine Grey Mica. Not keen on the white, Aero grey, or black. Soul Red looks lovely but concerned about durability over time and the chance of getting a good colour match if a panel is resprayed in the future. How easily does the paint chip? My current MX-5 has very few stone chips, surprisingly.
My biggest gripe with Mazda on this. No real colour except for the Soul Red.Had a look at a couple of examples and some have stone chips really bad, others very minimal despite similar mileage. It's definitely a stone-chip sensitive paint.
Most owners will tell you to PPF it though, which is what I did. Just the front, stone chip sensitive side, came in at 2k EUR.
Ecosseven said:
Are the mechanical changes to the diff and steering from the ND2 noticeable and worth paying the extra for an ND3.
Imho not worth it, the only thing I do miss on my ND2 is the "track" TC mode, which is an inbetween for "on/off" and actually works pretty well.Ecosseven said:
How good is the chassis rust proofing on ND s?
Looked at several ~100k km mark in Germany, haven't seen any signs of it. The UK can be a bit harsher on it, especially closer to the sea though. No idea how it is against the other MX5s.Ecosseven said:
I ve seen quite a few ND s with deformed drivers seat squab. My current NC2 does not suffer from this and the seat squab still looks great. Is the deterioration of the drivers seat squab common in ND s?
All depends on how the previous owner got in it. I'm definitely on the wider side to get in it but I take care when I slide in. Seen some cars with 20 000km on it that had it pretty bad, mine has got 100 000 on it and it looks great.Gassing Station | Mazda MX5/Roadster/Miata | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff