Discussion
Well, after looking for what feels like almost a year for the replacement of my old mk2.5 mx5, and looking at 370z’s, caymans, Elise’s I wound up once again in another mx5.
D’oh!
I’d grown a bit tired of my old mk2.5 - no ac, loud exhaust, rust issues even after having spent a small fortune on fixing the already existing rust issues, and things wearing out and breaking because of the cars 22 years on the planet - and this summer I’d decided to cut my losses and just sell it, and get something a bit more reliable and hopefully a bit faster too.
So after looking at 987’s for a very long time and almost pulling the trigger On a couple, I decided I’d rather have something a bit more modern, with low maintenance (I’m not a diy mechanic) and started looking at used nd2 mx5’s and then I drove a friends modified example and loved it - it felt fast, it had that same great handling balance I had in my old car, and had things like ac and heated seats - luxury after my 5 years in an Elise and this old mk2.5.
Knowing I wanted to track it sometimes while also using it for trips, I specifically looked for a car with the recaro seats and the brembo calipers (I hated the brake feel on stock single piston sliding calipers on my old car - even with decent pads and multiple brake liquid flushes, it never felt quite right)
So I found after a while, this example in germany a couple of weeks ago (oh that’s right, I’m based in France) and although I hate doing this, put down a deposit without seeing the car - all I had was a video and a couple of photos from the dealer plus the usual “the car is in very good condition trust me”.
Two weeks, 1 flight to Hamburg, two missed busses and a train (thanks Volotea) and two trains later, I finally made it to the small town of Holzminden and pick up the car.
The seller, Erdal, came out, welcomed me with a big smile and we went for a walk around of the car and wouldn’t you know it, Erdal was right - its perfect and it showed that it only has 13.600 kms.
We went for a 30 min test drive around the local a-roads and what a pleasure: the bilstein suspension is perfect for the roads, the brake feel is great so far, the engine is so nice to rev out, and the gearbox has such a nice feel to it! And even with two of us in the car (and Erdal isn’t a small fellow), it gets up to speed quite effortlessly, especially for an mx5!
I’m not a fan of black wheels so I might repaint them into a dark silver/titanium or just keep them as is and drive the wheels off the car.
I need to drive it on track as is before I start seeing if it needs modifying, but on the list is doing a geometry check, change the pads for something from Endless, and eventually adding some springs (I’m trying to stay away from coilovers this time purely because of the legal aspect in France) - and just drive it as much as I can!
D’oh!
I’d grown a bit tired of my old mk2.5 - no ac, loud exhaust, rust issues even after having spent a small fortune on fixing the already existing rust issues, and things wearing out and breaking because of the cars 22 years on the planet - and this summer I’d decided to cut my losses and just sell it, and get something a bit more reliable and hopefully a bit faster too.
So after looking at 987’s for a very long time and almost pulling the trigger On a couple, I decided I’d rather have something a bit more modern, with low maintenance (I’m not a diy mechanic) and started looking at used nd2 mx5’s and then I drove a friends modified example and loved it - it felt fast, it had that same great handling balance I had in my old car, and had things like ac and heated seats - luxury after my 5 years in an Elise and this old mk2.5.
Knowing I wanted to track it sometimes while also using it for trips, I specifically looked for a car with the recaro seats and the brembo calipers (I hated the brake feel on stock single piston sliding calipers on my old car - even with decent pads and multiple brake liquid flushes, it never felt quite right)
So I found after a while, this example in germany a couple of weeks ago (oh that’s right, I’m based in France) and although I hate doing this, put down a deposit without seeing the car - all I had was a video and a couple of photos from the dealer plus the usual “the car is in very good condition trust me”.
Two weeks, 1 flight to Hamburg, two missed busses and a train (thanks Volotea) and two trains later, I finally made it to the small town of Holzminden and pick up the car.
The seller, Erdal, came out, welcomed me with a big smile and we went for a walk around of the car and wouldn’t you know it, Erdal was right - its perfect and it showed that it only has 13.600 kms.
We went for a 30 min test drive around the local a-roads and what a pleasure: the bilstein suspension is perfect for the roads, the brake feel is great so far, the engine is so nice to rev out, and the gearbox has such a nice feel to it! And even with two of us in the car (and Erdal isn’t a small fellow), it gets up to speed quite effortlessly, especially for an mx5!
I’m not a fan of black wheels so I might repaint them into a dark silver/titanium or just keep them as is and drive the wheels off the car.
I need to drive it on track as is before I start seeing if it needs modifying, but on the list is doing a geometry check, change the pads for something from Endless, and eventually adding some springs (I’m trying to stay away from coilovers this time purely because of the legal aspect in France) - and just drive it as much as I can!
Edited by Loafers92 on Tuesday 8th October 07:33
My ND came with the BBR springs , which are weighted to work with the Bilsteins. Being an Eibach devotee, I was thinking of fitting those before I picked the car up, but the BBR's work really well and help level the car on corners , to a degree. I will look at ARB's in the future to work with the springs as well. I dont wish to fit coilovers for a road car , the Bilsteins seem good enough.
Justin S said:
My ND came with the BBR springs , which are weighted to work with the Bilsteins. Being an Eibach devotee, I was thinking of fitting those before I picked the car up, but the BBR's work really well and help level the car on corners , to a degree. I will look at ARB's in the future to work with the springs as well. I dont wish to fit coilovers for a road car , the Bilsteins seem good enough.
Are they decent on track? I was hoping that springs and arbs could make it good enough for the 3-4 trackdays I'll do this year!GeniusOfLove said:
I had the Mazda/Eibach lowering springs on mine and it improved it no end but it really needed thicker ARBs to give you that extra degree of confidence and control. Had no issues with the performance of the standard Bilstein dampers.
That's good to hear, I haven't pushed the car at all but I'm surprised by the stock Bilstein dampers so far, they seem a lot better than the Bilsteins I had in my mk2.5 before swapping them out for the coilovers. Looking forward to putting it on track as is and eventually the springs!
Loafers92 said:
Justin S said:
My ND came with the BBR springs , which are weighted to work with the Bilsteins. Being an Eibach devotee, I was thinking of fitting those before I picked the car up, but the BBR's work really well and help level the car on corners , to a degree. I will look at ARB's in the future to work with the springs as well. I dont wish to fit coilovers for a road car , the Bilsteins seem good enough.
Are they decent on track? I was hoping that springs and arbs could make it good enough for the 3-4 trackdays I'll do this year!
But I like compliant but progressive suspension and they seem to fit the bill . Eibachs have good progressive travel which is why all my previous cars had them on there.Leaving the dealership late wednesday afternoon under torrencial rain and an incoming storm meant I took it easy and cruised on the autobahn for a few hours. I first wanted to drive all the way back in one go (which would mean a 10 hour drive) but after losing an hour in a traffic jam because of what looked like a crash between a lorry and a truck, I gave up and found a small roadside hotel.
The next day and with 7 hours still to go, I got to see whether this nd generation mx-5 has gotten any better at being a long distance cruiser vs my previous mk2.5.
And it definitely has. It's so comfortable to drive long stints in it, the seats are really nice once you find your position, and having a steering wheel that can adjust in multiple ways is so practical for that last degree of comfort.
Now, I guess most cars on the road today have a ton of gadgets and basic creature comforts but coming from an elise and an old mx5, I'm genuinely happy to have AC, heated seats that work really well, apple carplay, cruise control, bluetooth connection and speakers on the headrests to make phone calls - these little things make such a difference in how useable a car can be. And that interior quality - wow. (My standards might also be pretty low
)
I was also pleasantly surprised at the fuel consumption - I averaged 41 mpg for the whole drive, and that included 3 hours driving on b-roads at a brisk pace and some time in the city.
Seeing that I bought the mx5 as my "do it all" car - to do long distance trips, weekly shopping, weekend drives with friends and eventually trackdays - I'm really happy at how good it is so far at all those things so far.
It also kinda reminds me of my old Elise - the straight line performance, the handling balance, and the way they engineered the car to keep the weight down - you can really tell it was important for the development of the car and that they still came up with interesting solutions to keep the weight low and the car useable.
For example, the small storage areas in the center console and behind the seats that to me just shout "here's a place where you can put ONE wallet, and maybe your sunglasses. Want to bring a bit suitcase? Buy another car". It reminds me of the little storage pockets in the sills and cargo "shelf" behind the seats in an elise - love it.
This paired with the brembos, the really nice feeling gearbox, that engine and chassis, result in a car that's actually more focused and driver oriented than people generally make it out to be, at least from what I read in reviews.
I also took it out yesterday for a drive with some friends and the in terms of straight line pace and handling on b-roads, I was pretty close to my friends DC5 type-r (another really special car, that engine is just magnificent). But after a while I noticed that the stock bridgestone tires aren't the grippiest so those will be going when I need to change them, and the stock brembo brake pads and brake fluid also gave up an hour in, resulting in a long and soft brake pedal so...that means new pads, probably something from Endless or Pagid - anyone have any experience with these or recommendations for other pads to do both road and track duty?
It couldn't hold a candle to my friend in his new civic type-r, which short of a modified GR Yaris, pretty much has the fastest pace I've seen on b-roads, but I reckon the driver having the most fun was the owner of the 458 spider (it sounded incredible) or the owner of the mini cooper, who was absolutely gunning it everywhere to try to keep up with everyone!
The next day and with 7 hours still to go, I got to see whether this nd generation mx-5 has gotten any better at being a long distance cruiser vs my previous mk2.5.
And it definitely has. It's so comfortable to drive long stints in it, the seats are really nice once you find your position, and having a steering wheel that can adjust in multiple ways is so practical for that last degree of comfort.
Now, I guess most cars on the road today have a ton of gadgets and basic creature comforts but coming from an elise and an old mx5, I'm genuinely happy to have AC, heated seats that work really well, apple carplay, cruise control, bluetooth connection and speakers on the headrests to make phone calls - these little things make such a difference in how useable a car can be. And that interior quality - wow. (My standards might also be pretty low
)I was also pleasantly surprised at the fuel consumption - I averaged 41 mpg for the whole drive, and that included 3 hours driving on b-roads at a brisk pace and some time in the city.
Seeing that I bought the mx5 as my "do it all" car - to do long distance trips, weekly shopping, weekend drives with friends and eventually trackdays - I'm really happy at how good it is so far at all those things so far.
It also kinda reminds me of my old Elise - the straight line performance, the handling balance, and the way they engineered the car to keep the weight down - you can really tell it was important for the development of the car and that they still came up with interesting solutions to keep the weight low and the car useable.
For example, the small storage areas in the center console and behind the seats that to me just shout "here's a place where you can put ONE wallet, and maybe your sunglasses. Want to bring a bit suitcase? Buy another car". It reminds me of the little storage pockets in the sills and cargo "shelf" behind the seats in an elise - love it.
This paired with the brembos, the really nice feeling gearbox, that engine and chassis, result in a car that's actually more focused and driver oriented than people generally make it out to be, at least from what I read in reviews.
I also took it out yesterday for a drive with some friends and the in terms of straight line pace and handling on b-roads, I was pretty close to my friends DC5 type-r (another really special car, that engine is just magnificent). But after a while I noticed that the stock bridgestone tires aren't the grippiest so those will be going when I need to change them, and the stock brembo brake pads and brake fluid also gave up an hour in, resulting in a long and soft brake pedal so...that means new pads, probably something from Endless or Pagid - anyone have any experience with these or recommendations for other pads to do both road and track duty?
It couldn't hold a candle to my friend in his new civic type-r, which short of a modified GR Yaris, pretty much has the fastest pace I've seen on b-roads, but I reckon the driver having the most fun was the owner of the 458 spider (it sounded incredible) or the owner of the mini cooper, who was absolutely gunning it everywhere to try to keep up with everyone!
Take care with the hood. It’s very hit and miss but quite a few of these rub the leading edge of the hood on the roll hoops when folded down - eventually going through the fabric. Always fold down from outside and gently push the hood away from the hoops as needed. They were meant to have fixed this but the 2024 car I looked at in the showroom when mine was in still rubbed and my 2019 has had a new hood. Mazda to be fair paid half but best avoided if possible. Otherwise brilliant cars.
Edited by Shinyfings on Sunday 13th October 16:57
I use Renovo products to keep the hood water repellant and that will stop the green growing.
As for roof. Mines a 2016 and has decent gap between the hoops and roof edge. I know there was a spacer kt of some description. I guess its a game of watching what happends when you open the roof . I don't worry with the gap with mine. Its about 10 to 15mm.
As for roof. Mines a 2016 and has decent gap between the hoops and roof edge. I know there was a spacer kt of some description. I guess its a game of watching what happends when you open the roof . I don't worry with the gap with mine. Its about 10 to 15mm.
I just opted for the take the plastic parts off and sand a flat area where the roof was hitting as per one of the posts online. Touched it up with some gloss black paint and nobody will notice it unless they look know the difference. There's now about 5mm min clearance no matter what I do with roof, so problem solved without taking half the interior apart to fit washers or something like Mazda do.
Ah yes, I've heard about that! I'll check it tomorrow morning and see how much space I have, but I don't remember feeling the hood touch the hoops when lowering it the last time so maybe it's ok.
And I'll order the Renovo hood care liquid! I'd love to keep this in best condition as much as I can!
And I'll order the Renovo hood care liquid! I'd love to keep this in best condition as much as I can!
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