Potential MX-5 Owner - a few questions

[dontfollowme]

Does a 66K mile, 2003 1.8 sport for £7500 from Stratstone sound like a reasonable price?

Is there a noticeable difference in performance of the 1.8 over the 1.6?

How do they fare on the motorway in terms of ability to cruise around 90?

For someone coming from a fwd car is it an easy transition?

How much to fill up the tank of the 1.8 and how many miles does one usually achieve?

Thanks

[Fruitcake]

dontfollowme said:

Does a 66K mile, 2003 1.8 sport for £7500 from Stratstone sound like a reasonable price?

Combover on here bought a Nevada recently with fewer miles on (about half as much actually) and paid slightly less. There may be better buys to be had out there.

dontfollowme said:

Is there a noticeable difference in performance of the 1.8 over the 1.6?

The 1.8 is the more powerful (obviously) but some regard the 1.6 as the sweeter engine. I've never driven a 1.6 so my advice would be to drive both and see which you prefer.

dontfollowme said:

How do they fare on the motorway in terms of ability to cruise around 90?

Noisily. Some fare better than others (depending on what gearing you have) but they seem to do it with little strain.

dontfollowme said:

For someone coming from a fwd car is it an easy transition?

I did just that. Erm, they do handle well but some can be twitchy. Just be careful. Or find a big area and play, or better yet, try a car control course to get the best from it.

dontfollowme said:

How much to fill up the tank of the 1.8 and how many miles does one usually achieve?

There's a thread on here about fuel consumption - read it, it'll be worth it. The tank's not huge but I can't give a realistic indication of range as mine is used sporadically.

[Munter]

dontfollowme said:

Does a 66K mile, 2003 1.8 sport for £7500 from Stratstone sound like a reasonable price?

Is there a noticeable difference in performance of the 1.8 over the 1.6?

How do they fare on the motorway in terms of ability to cruise around 90?

For someone coming from a fwd car is it an easy transition?

How much to fill up the tank of the 1.8 and how many miles does one usually achieve?

Thanks

The 1.6 in a 2003 uk car would be 90bhp ish I think. Definately get the 1.8 in anything after 1993/4 ish.

Edited by Munter on Sunday 27th April 13:10

[MX-5 Lazza]

You are both wrong. This is a Mk2.5 Sport we are talking about.
The Sport has the 6-speed gearbox and 90mph is about 4kprm and with the standard Sport noise insulation it's not too noisy.

The Mk2 1.6 is about 110bhp. Th 88bhp engine was Mk1 94+ only.

[Munter]

MX-5 Lazza said:

The Mk2 1.6 is about 110bhp. Th 88bhp engine was Mk1 94+ only.

Ah fair enough. I still stand by my get the 1.8 regardless though

[Fruitcake]

MX-5 Lazza said:

You are both wrong.

I beg to differ.

Coming from pretty much anything with a tin top, an MX5 (and most cloth hooded roadsters) will seem noisy. Exhuast noise, engine noise and tyre roar all seem more obvious.

[Planet Claire]

I do a lot of motorway driving and although you have to accept that a rag top is going to be more noisy than a tin top I don't actually find it unbearable. I have a 1.8, 6 spd and crusing at 90 is fine.

My tank holds 50 litres and I think this is true for the mk2.5 also. You can work out how much it would cost to fill up depending on the price of petrol in your area.

I do 300 miles commute each week and I average about 34mpg (that's a mixture of slow and fast motorway and urban).

[dontfollowme]

It is defintely a contender and sounds a whole lot more fun to drive around Europe in than a diesel Focus.

Just need a test drive now.

[MX-5 Lazza]

I went from a Mk1 to a Mk2.5 Sport and believe me it's a much quieter place to be at 90mph, especially with the top up.

[Fruitcake]

MX-5 Lazza said:

I went from a Mk1 to a Mk2.5 Sport and believe me it's a much quieter place to be at 90mph, especially with the top up.

Without a doubt. But that doesn't mean that it's Focus quiet. Compared to earlier MX5s, the 2.5 Sport is a very refined car but it's still noisier than a tin top; it's just the nature of soft-tops. What I was getting at is that road noise and engine noise will all be more obvious. This isn't the owner of an early MX5 remeber this is someone who's never had one before and is moving from a hatch.

Edited by Fruitcake on Monday 28th April 12:59

[MX-5 Lazza]

They were also asking about the ability to cruise at 90 rather than how deaf you'd be at the end of the journey.
With the 6-speed gearbox the engine isn't revving high like it is with the 5-speed so it feel much more relaxing. The gearing in top is actually exactly the same as my 1.8 Focus Zetec!
There will be extra noise, especially from the tyres most of which is transmitted up the drain tubes and some from the hood but it really isn't that bad and no more than you'd expect from this type of car. I used to be able to have a sensible conversation at motorway speeds without shouting - until I had my full exhaust replaced

[Fruitcake]

MX-5 Lazza said:

They were also asking about the ability to cruise at 90 rather than how deaf you'd be at the end of the journey.
With the 6-speed gearbox the engine isn't revving high like it is with the 5-speed so it feel much more relaxing. The gearing in top is actually exactly the same as my 1.8 Focus Zetec!
There will be extra noise, especially from the tyres most of which is transmitted up the drain tubes and some from the hood but it really isn't that bad and no more than you'd expect from this type of car. I used to be able to have a sensible conversation at motorway speeds without shouting - until I had my full exhaust replaced

And, amongst other things, they fare noisily. It's the most obvious trait of any MX5 I noticed when coming from a hatch. They ability not to deal with headwinds is alright - as much as to be expected from a car like this.

The other thing I forgot to say was that their ability to cruise at higher speeds also depends on whether the top's down or up

When I put my Larini on, my car went really quiet. OK, my old exhaust was fd but nonetheless...

Mine booms at low speeds but is quite bearable at high speeds.

Like you've said, the Mk2.5 is a more refined car and the design of door mirrors and other things will reduce wind noise to the point where, yes, a casual conversation can be had without raised voices.

I suspect that the 1.6 is harder work both in ability to maintain the speed and also with regard to noise as, I think, no 1.6 was ever fitted with a 6 speed box.

To the OP, I suggest doing what I didn't do, and that is drive the cars you're looking at. I too was pondering a 1.6 but stupidly never drove one. I'm no speedster so maybe the 1.6 would have been the better car...

[MX-5 Lazza]

The 1.8 is also more capable of holding speeds against headwinds/uphills etc than the 1.6. I don't remember ever having to change down a gear to keep the speed up.

Maybe it's just a case of expectations. My Mk1 1.8 was noisier than the Toyota Carina it replaced but not so much that I cared at all, after all, it's a classic styled sports-car. In fact I fitted a JRCAI to add a bit of noise

[Fruitcake]

MX-5 Lazza said:

The 1.8 is also more capable of holding speeds against headwinds/uphills etc than the 1.6. I don't remember ever having to change down a gear to keep the speed up.

Maybe it's just a case of expectations. My Mk1 1.8 was noisier than the Toyota Carina it replaced but not so much that I cared at all, after all, it's a classic styled sports-car. In fact I fitted a JRCAI to add a bit of noise

My Mk.1 is much louder than my Ka (check it) but tellingly I look forward to longer journeys in the MX5 much more than I do in anything else. It's just so much easier though the Mk2.5 is probably the best of the lot for long journeys. Or any journeys for that matter.

Edited by Fruitcake on Monday 28th April 22:40

[Combover]

If I ever have to do long journeys, i'll always take the MX-5 over my KA purely because it's vastly more comfortable for me due to the ergonomically designed driving position....and that's not just becasue my KA is a stheap either!

[biggbn]

i recently did a 320 miles round trip at a decent rate of knots in my mk1 1.8, top down all the way...im a lardy ass six footer but feel the mazda fits perfectly, if snugly...i had no aches or pains when i got back to base...a great day out, very enjoyeable..these cars sit at legal limit or above with no problems, sure they may be a wee bit noisy, but hell, if you want long distance comfort and lavish equipment levels, buys something else..

[Wigeon Incognito]

I did a 17 hour straight stint of driving only stopping for fuel (maybe not the wisest idea I know) in my Mk1 1.8iS and can honestly report that I didn't have a single ache or pain.

The seats/driving position in my '5 are some of the best I've had the pleasure to experience and the extra road noise generated by virtue of the type of car has never bothered me.

In fact, after my 17 hour stint I made a 2 hour ferry journey (with a little sleep) and did another 6 hours before I put my head down and still looked forward to getting in the car again the next day!!

The only time I've ever truly regretted the lack of power is on steep Alpine passes where even 2nd gear wasn't producing the thrust I was after but to be fair they were silly gradients and as soon as you got over the other side the way down was a huge amount of fun!

[franv8]

1990 Mk 1 1.6 Eunos is a 120 Hp motor - think the 90 Hp was a UK special allegedly driven by insurance considerations, think the years quoted above are probably accurate.

Can't agree with the struggle to maintain speed against different wind conditions - I don't notice it nor with the headlights or roof up/down - 90 speed units easily holdable (in fact mine seems happiest at 85 speed units - you know, some cars have a speed they seem to 'gravitate' to), top speed will just about have it bouncing off the Jap limiter, not that I'd know this.

This probalby isn't a great deal of use to the OP (sorry) as it's a later car you're after.

[Wigeon Incognito]

franv8 said:

Can't agree with the struggle to maintain speed against different wind conditions - I don't notice it nor with the headlights or roof up/down - 90 speed units easily holdable (in fact mine seems happiest at 85 speed units - you know, some cars have a speed they seem to 'gravitate' to), top speed will just about have it bouncing off the Jap limiter, not that I'd know this.

Roof down, lights up and even down a big hill mine won't go above 115mph (speedo indicated).

[biggbn]

these cars aint about vmax tho are they..??....im loving the wee toy, so much so that im actuallty considering keeping it over the fiat coupe 20vt...i bought the mx as a runaround whilst the fiat was in the garage...but im having so much mor fun in the mazda, at much lower speeds, it seems to make sense to keep it...then i look at the fiat and it grabs me by the bks with its junior exotica looks and huge personality and says drivemedrivemedrivemeKEEPMEEEE...arrghh.....decisions decisions..