Track orientated MX-5 base car for £1-2K?
Discussion
Hi all, I've been reading this forum for several months and am thinking about picking up an MX-5 for the odd weekend blast and trackday. I've seen the very many different versions of the MX-5 for sale ranging from £700 to £13K and would have to limit myself to around £1-2k for the base car and then adding on bits on top of that (roll bar, brake upgrade, suspension, supercharger etc).
I think I would initially keep it at stock power and focus on the handling, but I'm sure that coming from a 400 bhp Evo I will eventually want to give it a bit more grunt in the form of a supercharger.
Obviously, I'm not going to get much for around a grand plus, but I'm happy to pick up CAT D cars and/or cars with panel damage, as I expect to visit the barriers at least once during (the hopefully many years of) my ownership!
What I'd like is some guidance on whether to pick up a cheap, leggy Mk1 with rust in the sills for around £700 and spend the rest doing it up, or go with a slightly better model as the base car and spend less money getting it serviceable, and if so, which model would come with the bits (roll bars, brakes, LSD) that would make it worth the extra?
Also, I know this has been asked many times on here, but would it be better to go with the 1.8 or the 1.6? I know superchargers are easier to come by for the 1.6 and the additional weight of the 1.8 almost negates the power benefit, but I can't help thinking of the old saying "there is no replacement for displacement" and will this make much difference, considering the likely future supercharging?
Thanks in advance for any help offered.
I think I would initially keep it at stock power and focus on the handling, but I'm sure that coming from a 400 bhp Evo I will eventually want to give it a bit more grunt in the form of a supercharger.
Obviously, I'm not going to get much for around a grand plus, but I'm happy to pick up CAT D cars and/or cars with panel damage, as I expect to visit the barriers at least once during (the hopefully many years of) my ownership!
What I'd like is some guidance on whether to pick up a cheap, leggy Mk1 with rust in the sills for around £700 and spend the rest doing it up, or go with a slightly better model as the base car and spend less money getting it serviceable, and if so, which model would come with the bits (roll bars, brakes, LSD) that would make it worth the extra?
Also, I know this has been asked many times on here, but would it be better to go with the 1.8 or the 1.6? I know superchargers are easier to come by for the 1.6 and the additional weight of the 1.8 almost negates the power benefit, but I can't help thinking of the old saying "there is no replacement for displacement" and will this make much difference, considering the likely future supercharging?
Thanks in advance for any help offered.
If you plan on keeping it for a while and plan to put quite a bit of money and modifications into it avoid one with rust, even if it means spending more than £700 as it is always an on going problem once its set in. there are plenty of imports with no rust on the sills for around £1k upwards. The 1.8s have more in the way of role bars and better brakes but these can be added easily so I would just pick the best example for the money very little in it performance wise between the 1.8 and early 1.6s.
Gizmo! said:
Not sure that all Eunoses have the LSD though, and viscous ones are probably open by now. It gets discussed here frequently.
I've read a few of the threads on the LSDs, but is it not just the 1.6 cars that have the viscous LSDs that become effectively open diffs after around 60,000 miles?Presumably getting a 1.8 Eunos would mean you would get the different type of diff (torsen?).
Do Mk1 1.8s come with the larger brake calipers, or is it only the Mk2 1.8s that come with these?
Also, do you need to run larger rims to clear the larger calipers - I was hoping to get away with as small a tyre as possible to keep running costs down?
Sorry about all the questions!
youngsyr said:
Gizmo! said:
Not sure that all Eunoses have the LSD though, and viscous ones are probably open by now. It gets discussed here frequently.
I've read a few of the threads on the LSDs, but is it not just the 1.6 cars that have the viscous LSDs that become effectively open diffs after around 60,000 miles?Presumably getting a 1.8 Eunos would mean you would get the different type of diff (torsen?).
Do Mk1 1.8s come with the larger brake calipers, or is it only the Mk2 1.8s that come with these?
Also, do you need to run larger rims to clear the larger calipers - I was hoping to get away with as small a tyre as possible to keep running costs down?
Sorry about all the questions!
Not sure about the other stuff.
kevham said:
Mk1 1.8 brakes are identical to Mk2 1.6/1.8 brakes. The bigger brakes were on Mk2.5 (ie post-2001) 1.8i Sport models.
You could always buy my modified Mk2 (P5 suspension, Roll-bar, harness bar). It has got rust unfortunately but would be priced accordingly.........
Do you have a link to an advert? You could always buy my modified Mk2 (P5 suspension, Roll-bar, harness bar). It has got rust unfortunately but would be priced accordingly.........
kevham said:
Mk1 1.8 brakes are identical to Mk2 1.6/1.8 brakes. The bigger brakes were on Mk2.5 (ie post-2001) 1.8i Sport models.
Mk1 1600's have 235mm dia discs whereas the Mk1 1800's are 255mm. The 1800 discs are also 2mm thicker - that's all going to be really handy on a track car!itiejim said:
kevham said:
Mk1 1.8 brakes are identical to Mk2 1.6/1.8 brakes. The bigger brakes were on Mk2.5 (ie post-2001) 1.8i Sport models.
Mk1 1600's have 235mm dia discs whereas the Mk1 1800's are 255mm. The 1800 discs are also 2mm thicker - that's all going to be really handy on a track car!Braking performance is limited by the available grip, ie tyres. If the brakes are capable of consistently locking up the wheels (I'm not suggesting this is a good thing!) then they are sufficient and going bigger has no advantages. Adding bigger brakes adds to unsprung weight (unsprung/sprung is about 4:1) which kills performance, especially acceleration and braking.
I've never found the 1.6 brakes to be wanting on std road tyres. The key thing has been to have decent brake fluid, high temp pads and a good braking technique! In most cases I reckon you'd be better adding cooling rather than adding bigger brakes
MX-5 Lazza said:
The bigger 1.8 brakes don't really add ultimate stopping power but with the bigger discs the braking is easier to moderate so you have more control. Makes very little difference on a road car but does help on a track car.
That's what I would expect, plus with the larger area available for the force to be applied, I would expect brake fade from overheating (a big problem on track) would be less?Thanks for the info all.
Is there anything relevant to trackwork that a Mk 2 1.8 has over a Mk 1 1.8 that might justify spending the extra for a Mk 2 over a Mk 1, given my fixed budget for car and mods?
itiejim said:
kevham said:
Mk1 1.8 brakes are identical to Mk2 1.6/1.8 brakes. The bigger brakes were on Mk2.5 (ie post-2001) 1.8i Sport models.
Mk1 1600's have 235mm dia discs whereas the Mk1 1800's are 255mm. The 1800 discs are also 2mm thicker - that's all going to be really handy on a track car!
worldwidewebs - Did you PM me through Nutz? Sorry I didn't respond (it was Christmas!). I'll PM you back now....
youngsr - advert at: http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3... but note that asking price is reduced.
Edited by kevham on Friday 1st January 14:58
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