The Answer to Everything (?) 2015 MX5 ND 1.5
Discussion
Following on from here..https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=2064033
I recently bought an ND 1.5 MX5 to cater for commuting and general duties to stop me using my 2008 CRV as much when it's just me and/or one of the kids which incidentally is a car I really shouldn't like as much as I do! But back to the MX5...
I went round the loop of hot hatch, bangernomics, modern classics but kept coming round to MX5's.. I previously owned a 1990 NA in Mariner Blue which was great and more recently an MR2 (https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1850579&mid=467117) I enjoy running a small 2-seater, when it's going to spend 95%+ of it's life on the B-roads of Suffolk and Norfolk they're perfectly fit for purpose so I started looking at NCs - a couple of great threads in RR for inspiration but they do rust, are starting to get a bit leggy and more than £300/yr (?) for rfl I moved onto the NDs and specifically the 1.5 which I thought should be a perfect spec car, in my opinion its got a great interior which, for daily duties does make a difference i've not had a particularly modern car for a while, its Euro 6..not sure on relevance but it feels like a bit of future proofing for the thing and there aren't many bad things written about them plus I can live with the image 'problem' if you don't get it, you don't get it! Strangely, given i'm 6ft 2 I seem to like smaller cars, also owning a 1978 1275GT and a motorbike (890 Duke R) for duties when its nice out!
The car in question is a 2015, Sport Nav spec so it has the heated leather (a must) and the integrated nav/infotainment which doesn't feel out of date particularly. I didn't want white or red or black which pretty much left me with the dark grey- enter WF65VUE! It was advertised in Tewkesbury, i'm in Norfolk so I requested a video, and all the documentation to be sent over from the dealer (Cotswold Group Select- Would recommend) and was pleased to see 8 serivces over it's 30,000 miles. Price was good - market starts at ~£9k+ for 80k miles I was happy with £11k with a 3month warranty, 12months breakdown and the spec/mileage I was after.
Car was prepared well, feels like its been looked after and a 185mile drive home with the roof down put a smile on my face! Mission accomplished! It felt fine on the motorway and I think the engine really suits the car, its lovely to have a NA petrol engine with such little inertia in.
I've lived with it for a week of commuting and general duties, and over a full tank managed 45mpg which i''m chuffed with considering I wasn't going for all out economy. First impressions are that it won't take many modifications- i'm going to fit one of the seat lowering brackets available at the expense of the wife being practicably able to use the car.. and some of the eibach lowering springs in conjunction with an alignment (By all accounts..all the camber, all the caster the thing will give you and 1/16 toe in front and back) and some braided lines and new pads (possibly yellow stuff- rated them on the Mr2). I think that'll be about enough. I have read some reports on the hoods suffering from wear against the rear of the roll hoops - there is slight evidence of this so i'll see what I can do to stop this getting any worse.
In the meantime i'm going to try and keep it clean and use as intended. There aren't many RR threads on this car so i'll aim to keep it updated with musings as and when.Hopefully it will encourage me to get out and about in the car whatever the weather - i''ve sadly become a bit precious of my mini and riding the bike in the wet, cold mucky isn't much fun.
Thanks for reading, i'll get some more pictures up for references sake...
Day of collection
Interior
I recently bought an ND 1.5 MX5 to cater for commuting and general duties to stop me using my 2008 CRV as much when it's just me and/or one of the kids which incidentally is a car I really shouldn't like as much as I do! But back to the MX5...
I went round the loop of hot hatch, bangernomics, modern classics but kept coming round to MX5's.. I previously owned a 1990 NA in Mariner Blue which was great and more recently an MR2 (https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1850579&mid=467117) I enjoy running a small 2-seater, when it's going to spend 95%+ of it's life on the B-roads of Suffolk and Norfolk they're perfectly fit for purpose so I started looking at NCs - a couple of great threads in RR for inspiration but they do rust, are starting to get a bit leggy and more than £300/yr (?) for rfl I moved onto the NDs and specifically the 1.5 which I thought should be a perfect spec car, in my opinion its got a great interior which, for daily duties does make a difference i've not had a particularly modern car for a while, its Euro 6..not sure on relevance but it feels like a bit of future proofing for the thing and there aren't many bad things written about them plus I can live with the image 'problem' if you don't get it, you don't get it! Strangely, given i'm 6ft 2 I seem to like smaller cars, also owning a 1978 1275GT and a motorbike (890 Duke R) for duties when its nice out!
The car in question is a 2015, Sport Nav spec so it has the heated leather (a must) and the integrated nav/infotainment which doesn't feel out of date particularly. I didn't want white or red or black which pretty much left me with the dark grey- enter WF65VUE! It was advertised in Tewkesbury, i'm in Norfolk so I requested a video, and all the documentation to be sent over from the dealer (Cotswold Group Select- Would recommend) and was pleased to see 8 serivces over it's 30,000 miles. Price was good - market starts at ~£9k+ for 80k miles I was happy with £11k with a 3month warranty, 12months breakdown and the spec/mileage I was after.
Car was prepared well, feels like its been looked after and a 185mile drive home with the roof down put a smile on my face! Mission accomplished! It felt fine on the motorway and I think the engine really suits the car, its lovely to have a NA petrol engine with such little inertia in.
I've lived with it for a week of commuting and general duties, and over a full tank managed 45mpg which i''m chuffed with considering I wasn't going for all out economy. First impressions are that it won't take many modifications- i'm going to fit one of the seat lowering brackets available at the expense of the wife being practicably able to use the car.. and some of the eibach lowering springs in conjunction with an alignment (By all accounts..all the camber, all the caster the thing will give you and 1/16 toe in front and back) and some braided lines and new pads (possibly yellow stuff- rated them on the Mr2). I think that'll be about enough. I have read some reports on the hoods suffering from wear against the rear of the roll hoops - there is slight evidence of this so i'll see what I can do to stop this getting any worse.
In the meantime i'm going to try and keep it clean and use as intended. There aren't many RR threads on this car so i'll aim to keep it updated with musings as and when.Hopefully it will encourage me to get out and about in the car whatever the weather - i''ve sadly become a bit precious of my mini and riding the bike in the wet, cold mucky isn't much fun.
Thanks for reading, i'll get some more pictures up for references sake...
Day of collection
Interior
Nice! I’ve got a 66 plate white one in same spec. I too came from a Mariner blue NA, an NB and Mk3 MR2. I love the 1.5 ND after 6 months with it. I’ve only done the CarPlay mod (straightforward and cheap - £45 from AliExpress), and sanded and polished the roll hoops to mitigate roof rub. I’ve also put some self adhesive backed 3d printed spacers for the roof, now it’s got plenty of clearance!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
I’ve been pondering on one of these for a while now. It has an appeal but I can’t see myself using it for longer trips or anything involving motorways, but that’s mainly based on trying the same engine in a less powerful form in a Mazda 2 which just feels lethargic whenever you want to accelerate
ChrisH79 said:
I’ve been pondering on one of these for a while now. It has an appeal but I can’t see myself using it for longer trips or anything involving motorways, but that’s mainly based on trying the same engine in a less powerful form in a Mazda 2 which just feels lethargic whenever you want to accelerate
Try an nd2 184bhp. I’ve taken mine to France and back and it was great (other than ac failure). It’s not massively fast but perfectly acceptable on a long trip. ChrisH79 said:
I’ve been pondering on one of these for a while now. It has an appeal but I can’t see myself using it for longer trips or anything involving motorways, but that’s mainly based on trying the same engine in a less powerful form in a Mazda 2 which just feels lethargic whenever you want to accelerate
I did have some concerns.. but the gearing is well judged for the engine and it feels willing right up to the redline. It doesn't have the in gear shove that anything with a turbo or with a bit more displacement has but if you drive it around it's power band you soon get used to it. On the motorway it's ~3k rpm at 75 or so which makes it a decent cruiser in my book.I didn't buy it for it to be a fast car, I think if you did you might be disappointed!
I've also just bought a 2015 1.5 Sport Nav ND, picked it up on Friday. Have had an NB 1.8 and NC1.8 previously as well as a MK3 MR2 but got to say that the ND feels a much better car than any of those for me. Mine will be a bit more of a weekend and good weather car but will definitely get plenty of use over the next few months. It was a bit of an impulse buy, after selling my Mini Cooper a couple of weeks ago but when I saw it I knew I had to have it. 1 previous owner and full main dealer service history plus being from my local Mazda dealer so has a 12 month approved used warranty etc. I really regretted selling my NC as I'd owned that from new, so glad to be back in an MX5 finally.
Hope yours treats you well
Hope yours treats you well
A few months into ownership and i'm still really happy with the car. It's doing exactly what I need it to do, mostly used for commuting and for me to get around without the wife, kids and dog (when i'm not on the bike) and have also done a couple of longer trips which it's absolutely fine with - average MPG is hovering around 40 which I think is great, i'm totally convinced its met the brief I set out.
Still no modifications although I've started to plan a couple to bring it up to date and make it mine - seat lowering brackets have sat in the garage for 5 months (As the wife has only driven it once since February I can justify fitting the brackets I think) Android Auto module, lowering springs and alignment and maybe brake pad upgrade with some braided lines just to sharpen it up a touch and to give a bit more performance under braking as I've cooked the brakes a couple of times probably a bit too easily.
I gave it a service this month including gearbox and diff fluid, Japanese cars are always a pleasure to work on! I also gave the underside a good clean and treated with Bilt Hamber UB which is always a satisfying job to tick off the list..
I attended an event for work at Millbrook - the bowl was used as the car park - by the time I got back to the car it was all alone up on the banking! A fairly unique picture!!
A friend has recently recommissioned a mobile rolling road (WOT Power (https://www.instagram.com/wotpower1000/)) which a few of us volunteered to get our cars on to help him get it set up and have a play with.. it's a really cool thing and he's spent a lot of time in getting it working and most importantly accurate! The MX5 was used as the 'control' to set some of the correction factors as it is unmodified and only ~30k miles old. He has started taking it to car shows to do power runs and is doing events with car clubs.. if you see him please support him! Or give him a 'like and subscribe' on YT and Instagram (www.youtube.com/@WOTPower) Build of the rolling road is here :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1qAtnaV4GY&list=PLGxe6DyfHpNPBXjJnU68I9BjFQboG1-gO
A few of us with the cars we ran on the dyno during commissioning - MX5, Clio 182 race car, my Golf Mk2 16v (Eaton M45 supercharged), Triumph Spitfire 1500 and a 1380 mini on twin SU's..
Still no modifications although I've started to plan a couple to bring it up to date and make it mine - seat lowering brackets have sat in the garage for 5 months (As the wife has only driven it once since February I can justify fitting the brackets I think) Android Auto module, lowering springs and alignment and maybe brake pad upgrade with some braided lines just to sharpen it up a touch and to give a bit more performance under braking as I've cooked the brakes a couple of times probably a bit too easily.
I gave it a service this month including gearbox and diff fluid, Japanese cars are always a pleasure to work on! I also gave the underside a good clean and treated with Bilt Hamber UB which is always a satisfying job to tick off the list..
I attended an event for work at Millbrook - the bowl was used as the car park - by the time I got back to the car it was all alone up on the banking! A fairly unique picture!!
A friend has recently recommissioned a mobile rolling road (WOT Power (https://www.instagram.com/wotpower1000/)) which a few of us volunteered to get our cars on to help him get it set up and have a play with.. it's a really cool thing and he's spent a lot of time in getting it working and most importantly accurate! The MX5 was used as the 'control' to set some of the correction factors as it is unmodified and only ~30k miles old. He has started taking it to car shows to do power runs and is doing events with car clubs.. if you see him please support him! Or give him a 'like and subscribe' on YT and Instagram (www.youtube.com/@WOTPower) Build of the rolling road is here :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1qAtnaV4GY&list=PLGxe6DyfHpNPBXjJnU68I9BjFQboG1-gO
A few of us with the cars we ran on the dyno during commissioning - MX5, Clio 182 race car, my Golf Mk2 16v (Eaton M45 supercharged), Triumph Spitfire 1500 and a 1380 mini on twin SU's..
MX5 is very much still providing the answers to my questions.. over a year into ownership now and a new job at the start of the year meant a 200mile round trip to the office once a week. Initially thought I'd look to change the car but honestly it does this perfectly well. On a run mpg is closer to 50 than 40 and I get to throw the roof down and enjoy it at the same time.
Since the last update I fitted the seat lowering brackets which have been great and just this weekend I replaced the rear hub spherical bearing/bushes as they had started to knock as is known to be case on ND MX-5s as they approach 40k miles. I went for a set of four from Brian at Performance Bushes as I didn't want to replace with just a poly bush as can be supplied by the likes of Whiteline.The set of bearing arrived in a well presented box and includes a tool to press out the old bearing and press the new ones in. Done on the driveway in a little over 2 hours, a really satisfying job to get ticked off the list, having the right tool for the job made it a breeze.
An issue I did have was having some metal valve caps that were fitted by the previous owner... A bit of galvanic corrosion meant a valve got written off whilst trying to adjust tyre pressures! No big drama as was at home and could get the wheel to the local garage who fitted a new valve for free!
Service coming up in another few weeks and still no modifications!
It's a good little car and it seems like they're getting some good PR at the moment across various channels and magazines. Given mine is 10years old but is very similar to the current MY version I'm really happy with my choice.
Since the last update I fitted the seat lowering brackets which have been great and just this weekend I replaced the rear hub spherical bearing/bushes as they had started to knock as is known to be case on ND MX-5s as they approach 40k miles. I went for a set of four from Brian at Performance Bushes as I didn't want to replace with just a poly bush as can be supplied by the likes of Whiteline.The set of bearing arrived in a well presented box and includes a tool to press out the old bearing and press the new ones in. Done on the driveway in a little over 2 hours, a really satisfying job to get ticked off the list, having the right tool for the job made it a breeze.
An issue I did have was having some metal valve caps that were fitted by the previous owner... A bit of galvanic corrosion meant a valve got written off whilst trying to adjust tyre pressures! No big drama as was at home and could get the wheel to the local garage who fitted a new valve for free!
Service coming up in another few weeks and still no modifications!
It's a good little car and it seems like they're getting some good PR at the moment across various channels and magazines. Given mine is 10years old but is very similar to the current MY version I'm really happy with my choice.
Only just seen this thread. I've read that unless ND2 is an option the 1.5 is the one to have in that it suits a 'sports car'
I have a lowly NC 2.0 albeit with a few mods and in with you it is the perfect UK car. They are utterly brilliant and I think it's only as you see so many of them that people don't assume it's a proper driver's car.
I happen to love the looks of the ND as well, the haunches on the front are almost old school 911 like
I have a lowly NC 2.0 albeit with a few mods and in with you it is the perfect UK car. They are utterly brilliant and I think it's only as you see so many of them that people don't assume it's a proper driver's car.
I happen to love the looks of the ND as well, the haunches on the front are almost old school 911 like
Joehow said:
Only just seen this thread. I've read that unless ND2 is an option the 1.5 is the one to have in that it suits a 'sports car'
I have a lowly NC 2.0 albeit with a few mods and in with you it is the perfect UK car. They are utterly brilliant and I think it's only as you see so many of them that people don't assume it's a proper driver's car.
I happen to love the looks of the ND as well, the haunches on the front are almost old school 911 like
We have one too, used for odd sunny blasts into the hills around us. It has been ultra reliable and the only costs in our ownership have been servicing and running.I have a lowly NC 2.0 albeit with a few mods and in with you it is the perfect UK car. They are utterly brilliant and I think it's only as you see so many of them that people don't assume it's a proper driver's car.
I happen to love the looks of the ND as well, the haunches on the front are almost old school 911 like
We did have to have a windscreen replaced after a stone was flicked up by a lorry going the other way, this was a bit of a pain as you have to replace the A pillar trims at the same time but all covered by the insurance windscreen cover.
I would have no hesitation in recommending one.
Gratuitous picture….
I forgot I also had to get the windscreen replaced just before MOT, new trims and clips were provided with it too from the insurer there was a lead time on them though which made it perhaps a bit more hassle than normal.. No dramas though.
@Joehow I really like the looks, and as you say the view down the bonnet over the front haunches make me smile as it is a proper little sports car. I opted for the 1.5 given that's what the car was designed around. It's all very right sized.
@Joehow I really like the looks, and as you say the view down the bonnet over the front haunches make me smile as it is a proper little sports car. I opted for the 1.5 given that's what the car was designed around. It's all very right sized.
Sad day.
With a house move imminent (6months later), I took the decision to sell the Mazda to release some cash. Sold via Motorway- the app and UI was great - so easy, they set a realistic reserve and within the next 24hours I had an offer on the car. Collection wasn't so smooth - the dealership sent one of their guys from Manchester to mid Norfolk where after an hour of checking the car over, plugging it into his Autel and going for a test drive which I did as he couldn't show me he had insurance ("i've got a fully comp policy mate, that means I can drive anything" I'm not even joking!) he rang the boss who tried to knock me down by £1000! I told him he's got a long journey back to Manchester for nothing. We eventually settled on -£100 which still gave me an amount I'm not sure I would be able to get selling privately.
It's been one of the best cars i've owned for all the reasons i've written about in this thread and will be a complete evangelist for the ND until I get another at some point.
In total, I did about 15k miles in it - thankful that I got a trip to Wales in earlier this year with some friends to really bond and enjoy the car.
What's next...? Well, the answer is always.......
With a house move imminent (6months later), I took the decision to sell the Mazda to release some cash. Sold via Motorway- the app and UI was great - so easy, they set a realistic reserve and within the next 24hours I had an offer on the car. Collection wasn't so smooth - the dealership sent one of their guys from Manchester to mid Norfolk where after an hour of checking the car over, plugging it into his Autel and going for a test drive which I did as he couldn't show me he had insurance ("i've got a fully comp policy mate, that means I can drive anything" I'm not even joking!) he rang the boss who tried to knock me down by £1000! I told him he's got a long journey back to Manchester for nothing. We eventually settled on -£100 which still gave me an amount I'm not sure I would be able to get selling privately.
It's been one of the best cars i've owned for all the reasons i've written about in this thread and will be a complete evangelist for the ND until I get another at some point.
In total, I did about 15k miles in it - thankful that I got a trip to Wales in earlier this year with some friends to really bond and enjoy the car.
What's next...? Well, the answer is always.......
The answer is..
MX5.
This time a 2010 Sport Tech, came up within a few miles of home as a damaged repaired car (which i'll get onto) but its done 59k, has no rust and is really clean, has a great MOT history but no service history with the car which I guess is a risk with repaired cars.
Based on the mileage, MOT history, 4x matching Falkens, new rear brake calipers and no rust I think i've done ok and am happy with the risk, drives nicely and fits the bill as a replacement for the ND to get some cash in hand for pending stamp duty bill.
I got it for £3,500 which i'm happy with.
The repair to the rear quarter isn't perfect, I think a half decent bodyshop could spend a day with the car and get it mint, might bother with that... might not!
It definitely feels a generation older than the ND across multiple fronts the interior probably the biggest but some initial thoughts are:
Engine; Nice to have a bit more displacement, makes a difference just getting up to speed and having the torque available. You are aware of the extra intertia getting it up to the redline so subjectively they're hard to compare. The 1.5 is a sweet little combination in the ND.
Gearbox; A more positive shift than the ND, feels good. Plenty been written about them before, its good!
Chassis; this is where the weight, mass and generation change are most felt. Got much less rigidity through the scuttle and front end compared to the ND, Even though some comment about the roll of the ND's front end and higher profile tyres etc first impressions are you're far more connected to the later car via your contact points but that may have come from 15k miles of getting comfortable in the thing and the lower seat so i'll reserve judgement until i've had a proper run out in it and i've installed the seat lowering brackets, being 6ft 2 these are a necessity!
Interior; feels its age, misses the styling, materials and tech. Plan will be to install a headunit so i've got bluetooth as a minimum otherwise not much else to do for now.
Exterior; I prefer the soft top to the hardtop from a looks perspective, but I might prefer to live with the hardtop. It does look like it could do with a little front splitter and a rear spoiler just to reduce the roundness. Sure i've seen some with different looking front bumpers?
I'm happy, some good threads on RR with NCs which helped my decision and looking forward to getting to know it. It's got MOT until September but i'm tempted to get it done sooner. Unsure of last service date but it has a really clean Mazda air filter element, oil looks decent and doesn't stink so i'll probably run it for a bit and give it a service and going over.
MX5.
This time a 2010 Sport Tech, came up within a few miles of home as a damaged repaired car (which i'll get onto) but its done 59k, has no rust and is really clean, has a great MOT history but no service history with the car which I guess is a risk with repaired cars.
Based on the mileage, MOT history, 4x matching Falkens, new rear brake calipers and no rust I think i've done ok and am happy with the risk, drives nicely and fits the bill as a replacement for the ND to get some cash in hand for pending stamp duty bill.
I got it for £3,500 which i'm happy with.
The repair to the rear quarter isn't perfect, I think a half decent bodyshop could spend a day with the car and get it mint, might bother with that... might not!
It definitely feels a generation older than the ND across multiple fronts the interior probably the biggest but some initial thoughts are:
Engine; Nice to have a bit more displacement, makes a difference just getting up to speed and having the torque available. You are aware of the extra intertia getting it up to the redline so subjectively they're hard to compare. The 1.5 is a sweet little combination in the ND.
Gearbox; A more positive shift than the ND, feels good. Plenty been written about them before, its good!
Chassis; this is where the weight, mass and generation change are most felt. Got much less rigidity through the scuttle and front end compared to the ND, Even though some comment about the roll of the ND's front end and higher profile tyres etc first impressions are you're far more connected to the later car via your contact points but that may have come from 15k miles of getting comfortable in the thing and the lower seat so i'll reserve judgement until i've had a proper run out in it and i've installed the seat lowering brackets, being 6ft 2 these are a necessity!
Interior; feels its age, misses the styling, materials and tech. Plan will be to install a headunit so i've got bluetooth as a minimum otherwise not much else to do for now.
Exterior; I prefer the soft top to the hardtop from a looks perspective, but I might prefer to live with the hardtop. It does look like it could do with a little front splitter and a rear spoiler just to reduce the roundness. Sure i've seen some with different looking front bumpers?
I'm happy, some good threads on RR with NCs which helped my decision and looking forward to getting to know it. It's got MOT until September but i'm tempted to get it done sooner. Unsure of last service date but it has a really clean Mazda air filter element, oil looks decent and doesn't stink so i'll probably run it for a bit and give it a service and going over.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff