I love my MX5 again!
Discussion
Since about Oct 2009 the MX5 had not really moved. It's garage-queen status meant that it was taking up space that could have been used for other stuff and the few runs I took it out for felt creaky, noisy, squealy, buzzy and on the whole a bit 'reluctant'.
I felt as though we didn't really know each other any more. Where was the sparkle? I don't mind admitting that a couple of times I considered the fact that we might just have to move on in our own seperate directions...
The MOT was due so after a few checks and a nice hot run on the way to the MOT station it flew through the test without so much as an advisory - excellent, a good start to getting us back on track with each other!
I then got booked onto my first 2010 track day up at Cadwell Park and all I can say is that we have bonded again! 650 miles in 24hrs really does give you a chance to get to know your car again, especially when about a third of them are on track. And not one hitch, nothing.
So, as a proud and enthusiastic owner once again, I give you a snazzy pic of my pride and joy and a short video of the winter cobwebs being blasted away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6JCR2IKZ-M
I felt as though we didn't really know each other any more. Where was the sparkle? I don't mind admitting that a couple of times I considered the fact that we might just have to move on in our own seperate directions...
The MOT was due so after a few checks and a nice hot run on the way to the MOT station it flew through the test without so much as an advisory - excellent, a good start to getting us back on track with each other!
I then got booked onto my first 2010 track day up at Cadwell Park and all I can say is that we have bonded again! 650 miles in 24hrs really does give you a chance to get to know your car again, especially when about a third of them are on track. And not one hitch, nothing.
So, as a proud and enthusiastic owner once again, I give you a snazzy pic of my pride and joy and a short video of the winter cobwebs being blasted away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6JCR2IKZ-M
Edited by Matt UK on Monday 8th March 00:19
Looks like fun and some nice driving. I'm hoping to sell my Elise soon to free up some funds for various things and then I'll hopefully be heading into MX5 ownership in the next year or so.
Had a look at a couple over the weekend and a good chat with a couple of proper enthusiasts. Really looking forward to it now, I like the looks, simplicity and honesty of these little cars and the fact that they are a ball of fun to drive is just the icing on the cake.
Is your one standard? and is it a 1.6 or 1.8?
Had a look at a couple over the weekend and a good chat with a couple of proper enthusiasts. Really looking forward to it now, I like the looks, simplicity and honesty of these little cars and the fact that they are a ball of fun to drive is just the icing on the cake.
Is your one standard? and is it a 1.6 or 1.8?
Great photo that. I love Cadwell Park too. Not yet driven any of my own cars on track, I think that should be my aim for 2010. Although as much as Ilove Cadwell, when compared with some of the more 'boring' airfield days, theres really not a lot of room for error. I noticed that even in the little Mazda you looked to be getting a bit of a wobble one over the mountain, thats gotta be a bit 'exciting' seeing as the barrier is pretty darn close!patmahe said:
Is your one standard? and is it a 1.6 or 1.8?
The car is a standard 1996 1.8, but does now have the Gaz Gold coilovers kit as it was on 4x4 settings when I first bought it! In terms of the damper settings, I'm sure it can probably be made to go 'faster', but I'm happy that the current set up makes it predictable and 'forgiving' to drive at a pace I feel comfatable with. The only other stuff is regular servicing, s/s exhaust from MX5 Parts and a new air filter and a 'fast-road' geo alignment done by WiM. Car runs on Toyo T1-R tyres.
Before:
During:
After:
BonzoGuinness said:
Minor thread drift, but seems I have the next in the sequence - 358, 359 and 360 are all MX-5's - I guess our cars were from the same place when new? 
Ooooh, the uber-geek in me likes the seperated-at-birth idea! One ended up in Scotland, the other in Kent.
Maybe followed each other down the production line, sat next to each other in the container/compound and then onto the same forecourt!
snotrag said:
Great photo that. I love Cadwell Park too. Not yet driven any of my own cars on track, I think that should be my aim for 2010. Although as much as Ilove Cadwell, when compared with some of the more 'boring' airfield days, theres really not a lot of room for error. I noticed that even in the little Mazda you looked to be getting a bit of a wobble one over the mountain, thats gotta be a bit 'exciting' seeing as the barrier is pretty darn close!But the little Mazda is so predictable that in all honesty I felt Ok about provoking it out of shape here and there. Correcting slips, slides and the wobble over the mountain began to feel like second nature, especially towards the end of the day when I'd done a few laps and started to learn my way around. I started to trust the feedback the car was giving and how my inputs would make it react. Plus it's not a very fast car and the damp track kept the speeds down. You can see on the video that I didn't really go for it in a 'brain-out' kind of style as you are right, those barriers are pretty close.
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