Mazda MX5 NC

[Mark-E46-wagon]

I've been looking for something cheap, rear wheel drive and fun. Excuse the rubbish pics from the listing but this cost about the same as the tyres on my old E46 M3.







Any suggestions on mods and some better wheels?

Mark

[Super Josh]

Nice car Mark

For me the first mod on an NC is the suspension. Whilst it comes from the factory with a fairly decent chassis, with the fabled 50:50 weight distribution and double wishbones up-front and a mutillink rear.
What really lets it down is the standard springs and dampers. Change those and get a decent geo and it really transforms the drive.

Secondly I would suggest a catless header and remap. The factory header has a pretty bad choke point where the 4 pipes come together after the cat and it robs the NC of a lot power. A remap the frees up that power and also removes the torque limit in the lower gears.


Cheers,

Josh

[Mark-E46-wagon]

Funnily enough Josh those are the 2 things at the top of my list, along with the brackets to lower the seat mounting. As I'm on a budget I can't really justify spending the cost of the car on coilovers so am thinking Eibach springs and maybe Spax or Koni shocks? I understand RX8 yellow spot ARB are a cheap upgrade also?

Regarding a tune, are the stock ECU ok to remap then?

I also wondered what size wheel and tyre combo work best?

[MattsCar]

It is a slippery slope and very easy to spend multiples of the cars value on mods.

First thing I would change is the seat to a bucket type. I found this to be the best mod on my car. Makes you feel so much more connected to the car. Easily doable for around £200 secondhand.

Mister R do a coilover kit which is perfectly decent for the road and around £600.

Also worth joining the Facebook buy/sell groups as bargains can pop up from time to time.

Maybe see if you can find some pre-owned bilstein shocks and springs from a limited edition model.

Edited by MattsCar on Saturday 30th July 20:17

Edited by MattsCar on Saturday 30th July 20:18

[gary71]

My son has a 1.8 NC and I can highly recommend the Eibach -30mm spring kit. His stock dampers were still in good condition (only 35k miles) and the combination seems pretty good. The car doesn’t look lowered, just less like an off roader!

[gary71]

And after a short lived diversion into aftermarket wheels he reverted to a set of 17” Mazda wheels from a later NC. Perfect fit and look spot on. Really lifts the car, it’s about the same age as yours and had the same original wheels

[Mark-E46-wagon]

Thanks for the responses chaps.

I think those MeisterR coilovers seem like an ideal solution. They should save me fitting the RX8 ARB's I assume too?

I've also read that NC are sensitive to geo changes are tyre choice. Any suggestions?

[Mark-MX5NC]

Well after a 4 hour train journey I headed off to collect the MX5. It was glorious weather so the first thing I did was drop the hood, which took all of 3 seconds and removed any concerns I may have had around headroom. It was at this point the seller began to mention certain 'issues', one of which was the intermittent failure to start! In fact, it was a failure to even crank over so my first thought was starter motor? It started this time though and sounded healthy enough so we haggled a bit and long story short, I headed back towards the A303 and Cornwall.

My first impression was that the added cabin space of the NC over an NA/NB was a welcome aspect but it still felt very MX5 to me. Performance was adequate and it was generally a pretty nice place to be. Once I was on some slightly quicker B roads I pushed on a little and was pleasantly surprised. An added bonus was the Arctic Monkeys CD left in the player providing the soundtrack. Apart from a fuel stop, where I checked the oil and fluids, I was back home by 1pm and pretty happy with my purchase. My concerns over the starting issue, had been heightened by random traction control light and engine check light, but all of these issues disappeared once the battery was fully charged. In fact, the battery is pretty knackered so I ordered a new one. Job done.

I'm off to work in it now and just putting some miles on it to see what comes to light. Once Friday arrives though, I plan on giving it a thorough inspection and planning some mods. I think coilovers will be first on the list though.

[JeremyH5]

Keep checking the engine oil level, very little between full and not enough!

[Mark-MX5NC]

JeremyH5 said:

Keep checking the engine oil level, very little between full and not enough!

Funny you should mention that, as it was very low. Am I right in thinking the Duratec use a bit of oil?




[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/aT7X2Dh2[/url]

[JeremyH5]

Mark-MX5NC said:

Funny you should mention that, as it was very low. Am I right in thinking the Duratec use a bit of oil?

They use a bit consistently but the problem is that there is very little space between min and max on the dipstick in terms of sump volume. The answer is regular checks and small top ups.
People are used to ignoring oil levels for months these days and that will catch you out with an NC.
The previous owner of mine did this and had to replace the engine. In consequence I have a 2005 car with a 2010 engine.

[Mark-MX5NC]

Well 4 days in and the weird ''won't turn off fault'' is back. The MX5 hasn't missed a beat in about 300+ miles but this evening I reached my destination, turned the ignition off and yet the engine kept running! I turned the ignition switch back on, then off again, back on and then off again, but still it kept ticking over. Eventually I selected 5th and with a foot on the brake, deliberately stalled the engine. I then started it again and the problem persisted. The next time though, all was well and it went back to normal.

Any ideas?

[larrylamb11]

If it has an ignition relay I'd suspect that, but I'm afraid I don't know the NC well enough to offer anything more useful...

[Wacky Racer]

My 25,000 mile 20th anniversary NC MX5.

[Mark-MX5NC]

Wacky Racer said:

My 25,000 mile 20th anniversary NC MX5.

I like that very much.

larrylamb11 said:

If it has an ignition relay I'd suspect that, but I'm afraid I don't know the NC well enough to offer anything more useful...

Well I figured I'd pick the brains of a local indie 'MX5 specialist' as they're bound to know right?

I described what was happening and how I suspected a dodgy relay might be sticking and keeping the circuit live but he was quick to explain how the ignition and fuel were different circuits and the car simply could not run if one was without the other. He certainly sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

Anyway, I figured I'd have a poke around and see if I could spot anything? I could / did!





I started the engine, turned off the ignition and although the binnacle went off, the engine idled / revved as if it were switched on. A wiggle of the relay and off it went. With the engine not running, I could wiggle the relay and the fuel system would prime and run, hence the battery drain.

Both black relays pictured are identical, with one for the ignition circuit and the other the headlights. Both were absolute bds to remove though and I imagine that's how the casing was broken? Even a dose of WD40 did nothing to help release the bloody things. In the end I used a pair of wooden lolly sticks and gently prised it out but it took was longer than it should have. I swapped the headlight relay in to replace the offending item and it fired straight up. Better still though, it turned right off again with the twist of the key.

I've also decided to do some track days in an effort to raise some funds and exposure for the homeless charity I work for. I intend keeping things simple and (hopefully) reliable, although a hard top is never going to be cheap! Some second hand coilovers would be a good start and I intend dropping the seats down a couple of inches. Mind you, it's still a bit too warm for working on cars so I'll just continue testing reliability for now.

Edited by Mark-MX5NC on Saturday 13th August 15:59

[JeremyH5]

Hardtops are a lot of money and a waste of time. When my wife bought her first MX5 Mk1 in 1999 it came with a hardtop.
Bought in summer in the Lake District muggins here volunteered to drive it home and lost several pounds in the process. Put the hardtop on for the first winter and frustration ensued. Every lovely crisp sunny day wasted.
Second winter we left it off. Happiness!
Following year we sold it for good money. More happiness!