Fitting into an MX5

[Toltec]

Getting in and out is no problem - I am not that big.

I have been considering buying a MkII so decided to go and have a look at a few for sale in a local dealer to gain a little info. The other reason was to get behind the wheel and see what the driving position was like. I found that even with the seat fully back my knee ended up wedged behind the steering wheel when trying to press the brake pedal. I could probably drive one if I had to by angling my leg out to the right but this would be uncomfortable enough to make it a chore not a pleasure and completely rule out H&T.

There is plenty of space generally it just seems that the seat shape means my leg is angled upwards too much and/or the steering wheel is too large. The distance between the bottom of the wheel and the pedals is the same as the distance from my foot to knee so my leg ends up wedged in. I could change the seats and steering wheel to get a bit more space but are there other options? For instance can the pedals be set further away or the wheel extended towards me?

I also sat in a MKIII which was not perfect but would probably be usable but as this is going to be a third car I don't want to spend that sort of money.

[J.P.W.]

Buy a Mk1. I had the same problem in a Mk2 but have loads of room in my Mk1 (and my last one).

[Toltec]

J.P.W. said:

Buy a Mk1. I had the same problem in a Mk2 but have loads of room in my Mk1 (and my last one).

Thanks, I will keep a look out for one and see if I can persuade the owner to let me try.

[Flat_Steve]

I believe some people with your problem fit seats from a Lotus Elise - they sit lower and further back.



http://planetmx5.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=951&amp...

[MX-5 Lazza]

Hey, that's my car

With the Elise seats I get at least 2 inches more head room and probably more than 6 inches more leg room. This is compared to heated leather Mk2.5 seats though which are higher & deeper than Mk2/Mk1 seats.

I've since changed those seats for Elise S2 seats...

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Saturday 26th January 18:31

[Toltec]

MX-5 Lazza said:

Hey, that's my car

With the Elise seats I get at least 2 inches more head room and probably more than 6 inches more leg room. This is compared to heated leather Mk2.5 seats though which are higher & deeper than Mk2/Mk1 seats.

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Saturday 26th January 18:31

Length was OK, at least with the seat back, I am only 5'11". Dropping the height would probably do the trick possibly with a slightly smaller wheel too. The car I sat in was a '99 with leather no idea if they were heated though.

There was a supercharged '98 sport not too far from here which kind of interested me but I think I will see if there are any local club meets and get a bit more info before I start to look seriously.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Toltec said:

Length was OK, at least with the seat back, I am only 5'11". Dropping the height would probably do the trick possibly with a slightly smaller wheel too. The car I sat in was a '99 with leather no idea if they were heated though.

There was a supercharged '98 sport not too far from here which kind of interested me but I think I will see if there are any local club meets and get a bit more info before I start to look seriously.

A 99 wouldn't have heated seats - they didn't fit them until the 2001 face-lift.
I'm 6.1ft and don't have any trouble with legs. You soon get used to it and naturally fall into an open-legged position after a while. The main reason I swapped the Mk2.5 seats for Elise seats was because I use the car on track and have roll-bars. With the Mk2.5 seats my head was about 1.5-2 inches above the bars Getting extra leg-room was a bonus as was recovering space under the seats which is where my stereo amp and eManage are now sited.

[Toltec]

MX-5 Lazza said:

I'm 6.1ft and don't have any trouble with legs. You soon get used to it and naturally fall into an open-legged position after a while.

I am pretty sure I could drive one 'open legged' I just know from experience I would not enjoy it. Either way it means I can still consider getting one so and thanks for the info to both yourself and Flat_Steve.

[smiles1]

MX-5 Lazza said:

Hey, that's my car

Did you use the original elise subframes with the seats and simply drill new holes in the floor pan?

[MX-5 Lazza]

No. The Elise runners are too wide and don't really fit. I fitted the seats to the stock MX-5 runners which means I've retained full adjustment on both seats (the Elise passenger seat runner doesn't adjust).
You can see how I fitted the seats here.
I later replaced the flimsy aluminium strip with some perforated steel (as you can see in the S2 seats picture) which is much stronger.

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Monday 28th January 09:19

[Toltec]

MX-5 Lazza said:

No. The Elise runners are too wide and don't really fit. I fitted the seats to the stock MX-5 runners which means I've retained full adjustment on both seats (the Elise passenger seat runner doesn't adjust).
You can see how I fitted the seats here.
I later replaced the flimsy aluminium strip with some perforated steel (as you can see in the S2 seats picture) which is much stronger.

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Monday 28th January 09:19

I followed the link and found the spec on your car too - very nice

[MX-5 Lazza]

Toltec said:

I followed the link and found the spec on your car too - very nice

Thanks

I've spent a fair bit on it so I'm glad you like it. To be honest I'm just doing it all for my own benefit and not really concerned whether others like it or not - it's a car for me to have fun in and enjoy track-days but it's always nice when someone makes positive comments

[MX-5 Lazza]

I used to work with a guy who had a TVR 350 Wedge that was more or less a stripped out track dog. He'd done something to the engine (I can't remember what) and it had a straight-through exhaust & no sound insulation so was VERY loud. He let me have a drive in return for a drive of my car - that was an experience! Probably not actually a lot faster than my car but a very raw experience that felt and sounded awesome!

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Monday 28th January 11:40

[Toltec]

MX-5 Lazza said:

I used to work with a guy who had a TVR 350 Wedge that was more or less a stripped out track dog. He'd done something to the engine (I can't remember what) and it had a straight-through exhaust & no sound insulation so was VERY loud. He let me have a drive in return for a drive of my car - that was an experience! Probably not actually a lot faster than my car but a very raw experience that felt and sounded awesome!

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Monday 28th January 11:40

Had a look at my profile by any chance?

It is a shame I am not ready to buy one or the SC'd sport I saw on Autotrader might be just the thing. Unfortunately I have promised to finish off an house extension before my wife's birthday in March before I buy another car. She is great and very understanding of my car obsession but if I do not get it finished I'm toast.

Edited by Toltec on Monday 28th January 13:25

[MX-5 Lazza]

Toltec said:

Had a look at my profile by any chance?

Yes - I thought it the polite thing to do after you went to the trouble of seeing my profile/garage and commenting on it

[TVR_nut]

MX-5 Lazza said:

I used to work with a guy who had a TVR 350 Wedge that was more or less a stripped out track dog. He'd done something to the engine (I can't remember what) and it had a straight-through exhaust & no sound insulation so was VERY loud. He let me have a drive in return for a drive of my car - that was an experience! Probably not actually a lot faster than my car but a very raw experience that felt and sounded awesome!

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Monday 28th January 11:40

A stock 350i wedge has the Rover Vitesse lump, kicking out circa 195bhp. But most Wedge owners tend to tweak them - my old 350i had a 4.0L lump with stage 3 heads and about 260bhp. It felt great, until I was silly enough to try a Griff 500. I now own a Griff 500, but miss the awesome noise of the Wedge (103dB at idle - oops!).

I remember boiling the Wedge's (recently renewed) DOT5.1 brake fluid trying to keep up with an MX5 at an Oulton Park trackday once - it was a great relief when I saw it was turbocharged!

[kevham]

Back to fitting in an MX-5 !

I fabricated some brackets to mount the seat directly to the floor and I reckon I gained 3" headroom. I have a fairly chunky rollbar which limits how far back the seat can be fixed and the downside of the fixed bracket is you can't quickly adjust the seat for another driver.

Full write up of my install here: http://www.planetmx5.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2250 

[mattikake]

Toltec said:

MX-5 Lazza said:

Hey, that's my car

With the Elise seats I get at least 2 inches more head room and probably more than 6 inches more leg room. This is compared to heated leather Mk2.5 seats though which are higher & deeper than Mk2/Mk1 seats.

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Saturday 26th January 18:31

Length was OK, at least with the seat back, I am only 5'11". Dropping the height would probably do the trick possibly with a slightly smaller wheel too. The car I sat in was a '99 with leather no idea if they were heated though.

There was a supercharged '98 sport not too far from here which kind of interested me but I think I will see if there are any local club meets and get a bit more info before I start to look seriously.

I have (had) exactly the same problem. I really really wanted a mk2 for cheap and reliable rwd handling fun. Even liked the interior... but I couldn't get a driving position that didn't involve sitting spread-eagle like I was being given head. I also had to sit a bolt upright as I could get the seat and it was like driving a bus a foot off the floor. Not only that but the upright position didn't even make it feel like a low sportscar. I'm only 5'11 too. What a shite design flaw!

It's ruled them out completely. The good news is I went and test drove a mk3 MR2. I hate the exterior looks but frankly this is irrelevant. The driving position (not to mention the far superior handling) was a dream. I could get my legs in, I could get the driving position I wanted (in fact I could choose several driving positions and still feel comfortable). Get one of those instead.

btw I could get into a mates mk1 mx5 no problem, so I don't get why Mazda buggered up the design. Have they not heard of "If it ain broke, don't fix it!"? It's clearly intended to be a womans car. Avoid!

Amateurs.

[Toltec]

mattikake said:

It's ruled them out completely. The good news is I went and test drove a mk3 MR2.

I hesitate to mention it in this section of the forum but I have tried one of those too, had the same problem with that though. The mx5 is of interest because I like to do most of the work on a car myself if I can. If I go mid-engined I think it is going to be an Elise or VX220 - assuming I fit. I am not exactly dainty but I don't have any problem getting into a fully caged Caterham so the MX5 issue was a bit of a surprise.

I think it will depend what particular car grabs me when I start to look actively. You never know the perfect (for me) SC'd MX5 with bucket seats, roll bar and adjustable suspension may be out there at the right time.

[Toltec]

kevham said:

Full write up of my install here: http://www.planetmx5.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2250 

Thanks, bookmarked it.