Yet another NC mx5
Discussion
Introducing my new (to me) NC1 2.0 sport.
I picked it up a few weekends ago after fancying one for a good 5 or 6 years now. I reckon they've got to the bottom of their depreciation curve now which means at least to me you can get a lot of car for not a lot of money. After following Accelebrate and Geraint's threads for a while now I figured I'd take the plunge and get one.
Its a 2007 2.0 6 speed with a few little upgrades
Eibach 35mm lowering springs on Bilstein dampers
Rx8 yellow dot anti roll bars
Braided brake lines
BBR Super 180 kit
Now I've never driven a standard car, I understand they're quite boaty and the engines are a bit underwhelming. However this one is an absolutely brilliant steer. Being my first RWD car I figured It'd be sensible to learn the car properly in a safe environment so I booked onto a sprint day at Curborough and It's completely changed my perspective on driving and what I want from a car. I'm thoroughly impressed! It feels so sharp and easy to position yet also very easy to push on a little bit harder and get the back end out on corner exit. Safe to say I'm sold and RWD is the way forward for me!
Future plans? truth be told not many. I've fitted a smaller steering wheel, my Recaro SPG will be going in once the rails arrive and I'll be collecting a new set of wheels this weekend. After that Ideally I'd like to get a set of Meister R coilovers, a spicier alignment, a roll bar and a few little cosmetic bits.
The car has been very well looked after by previous owners so I'm hoping unlike my last "fun" car I can just keep up with maintenance and enjoy driving it rather than constantly messing and fault finding.
It's a bit late in the year for me to really want to book on any track days but I'll definitely be taking it back up Curborough. Spring next year I'll be taking it on track and then hopefully a trip over to the Ring in the summer.
I picked it up a few weekends ago after fancying one for a good 5 or 6 years now. I reckon they've got to the bottom of their depreciation curve now which means at least to me you can get a lot of car for not a lot of money. After following Accelebrate and Geraint's threads for a while now I figured I'd take the plunge and get one.
Its a 2007 2.0 6 speed with a few little upgrades
Eibach 35mm lowering springs on Bilstein dampers
Rx8 yellow dot anti roll bars
Braided brake lines
BBR Super 180 kit
Now I've never driven a standard car, I understand they're quite boaty and the engines are a bit underwhelming. However this one is an absolutely brilliant steer. Being my first RWD car I figured It'd be sensible to learn the car properly in a safe environment so I booked onto a sprint day at Curborough and It's completely changed my perspective on driving and what I want from a car. I'm thoroughly impressed! It feels so sharp and easy to position yet also very easy to push on a little bit harder and get the back end out on corner exit. Safe to say I'm sold and RWD is the way forward for me!
Future plans? truth be told not many. I've fitted a smaller steering wheel, my Recaro SPG will be going in once the rails arrive and I'll be collecting a new set of wheels this weekend. After that Ideally I'd like to get a set of Meister R coilovers, a spicier alignment, a roll bar and a few little cosmetic bits.
The car has been very well looked after by previous owners so I'm hoping unlike my last "fun" car I can just keep up with maintenance and enjoy driving it rather than constantly messing and fault finding.
It's a bit late in the year for me to really want to book on any track days but I'll definitely be taking it back up Curborough. Spring next year I'll be taking it on track and then hopefully a trip over to the Ring in the summer.
Edited by Jelfy on Tuesday 5th November 18:49
Get all the rust cut out and treated before any upgrade I would suggest, mine looked ok but needed sorting behind the rear arch liners common place along with the inner sills chassis legs and pretty much everything on the underside is shockingly bad, shame because as you say they drive great.
Neil1323bolts said:
Get all the rust cut out and treated before any upgrade I would suggest, mine looked ok but needed sorting behind the rear arch liners common place along with the inner sills chassis legs and pretty much everything on the underside is shockingly bad, shame because as you say they drive great.
Fortunately It's already had the cills done, underside treated and undersealed. The previous owner was very fastidious! Jelfy said:
Neil1323bolts said:
Get all the rust cut out and treated before any upgrade I would suggest, mine looked ok but needed sorting behind the rear arch liners common place along with the inner sills chassis legs and pretty much everything on the underside is shockingly bad, shame because as you say they drive great.
Fortunately It's already had the cills done, underside treated and undersealed. The previous owner was very fastidious! Neil1323bolts said:
Well it’s sounds like you’ve secured a good one, and also don’t believe the haters the NC is the best ! Change the gearbox oil it improves the gearshift massively.
I'm definitely not! The NC is the best generation in my eyes. Fun but still also usable as an actual car rather than a toy.That's also been done as well as the diff oil in the last 15k miles, I told ya he was fastidious!
No doubt I'll change it again at some point as I plan to track it quite regularly. I do have a new shifter bushing and reverse lock out plate to go in soon but as a preventative measure more than anything.Just a small little update. I had a go at cutting up my air box in the hopes of gaining a little intake noise but to be honest it's not made much difference outside of high load low RPM stuff. It does have a slightly fruitier exhaust on it though, while not very loud I'd imagine it's drowning out any intake noise that is being made now.
My new knob showed up too along side the front lip I ordered so I put that on this morning before work. I'm really keen on ergonomics, touch points and having a good driving position so to some it's not a major improvement but this weighted JASS one is lovely, fits in the hand perfectly and has a nice weight to it.
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Finally I'm collecting my new wheels tomorrow and I put an order in for some tires last night so fingers crossed they'll be on soon!
I was originally going to get another pair of 205 wide PS4's (fronts are fine, rears are cooked whoops) but I could get 4 Toyo TR1's for the price of two PS4's then oddly if you go up to 215 they're even cheaper. I know it's quite common for NC owners to go up a width so that's I've opted to do too. I know the TR1's wont be as good as the PS4's but I ran TR1's on my EK Civic for years and found them really good for a summer tire. Out right grip doesn't bother me too much but on my Civic they had plenty so for half the price I can live with 70-80% of the performance.
My new knob showed up too along side the front lip I ordered so I put that on this morning before work. I'm really keen on ergonomics, touch points and having a good driving position so to some it's not a major improvement but this weighted JASS one is lovely, fits in the hand perfectly and has a nice weight to it.
Finally I'm collecting my new wheels tomorrow and I put an order in for some tires last night so fingers crossed they'll be on soon!
I was originally going to get another pair of 205 wide PS4's (fronts are fine, rears are cooked whoops) but I could get 4 Toyo TR1's for the price of two PS4's then oddly if you go up to 215 they're even cheaper. I know it's quite common for NC owners to go up a width so that's I've opted to do too. I know the TR1's wont be as good as the PS4's but I ran TR1's on my EK Civic for years and found them really good for a summer tire. Out right grip doesn't bother me too much but on my Civic they had plenty so for half the price I can live with 70-80% of the performance.
Jelfy said:
Just a small little update. I had a go at cutting up my air box in the hopes of gaining a little intake noise but to be honest it's not made much difference outside of high load low RPM stuff. It does have a slightly fruitier exhaust on it though, while not very loud I'd imagine it's drowning out any intake noise that is being made now.
My new knob showed up too along side the front lip I ordered so I put that on this morning before work. I'm really keen on ergonomics, touch points and having a good driving position so to some it's not a major improvement but this weighted JASS one is lovely, fits in the hand perfectly and has a nice weight to it.
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Finally I'm collecting my new wheels tomorrow and I put an order in for some tires last night so fingers crossed they'll be on soon!
I was originally going to get another pair of 205 wide PS4's (fronts are fine, rears are cooked whoops) but I could get 4 Toyo TR1's for the price of two PS4's then oddly if you go up to 215 they're even cheaper. I know it's quite common for NC owners to go up a width so that's I've opted to do too. I know the TR1's wont be as good as the PS4's but I ran TR1's on my EK Civic for years and found them really good for a summer tire. Out right grip doesn't bother me too much but on my Civic they had plenty so for half the price I can live with 70-80% of the performance.
Road tyres I'd suggest Kumho PS71's. Well priced and wear well.My new knob showed up too along side the front lip I ordered so I put that on this morning before work. I'm really keen on ergonomics, touch points and having a good driving position so to some it's not a major improvement but this weighted JASS one is lovely, fits in the hand perfectly and has a nice weight to it.
Finally I'm collecting my new wheels tomorrow and I put an order in for some tires last night so fingers crossed they'll be on soon!
I was originally going to get another pair of 205 wide PS4's (fronts are fine, rears are cooked whoops) but I could get 4 Toyo TR1's for the price of two PS4's then oddly if you go up to 215 they're even cheaper. I know it's quite common for NC owners to go up a width so that's I've opted to do too. I know the TR1's wont be as good as the PS4's but I ran TR1's on my EK Civic for years and found them really good for a summer tire. Out right grip doesn't bother me too much but on my Civic they had plenty so for half the price I can live with 70-80% of the performance.
Track tyres......look out for some pre-owned MRF ZTR's...as Tony the Tiger said......" Theeyy'rre GREAT"
215's over 205's are cheaper too !!
reggie747 said:
....AND the turret oil AND the reverse lock out plate AND get a brass bush in lieu of the plastic one on the gear stick, then you'll really appreciate a slicker gear change.
On the list, I've got some box oil, a new lock out plate and bushing ready to go in. Hopefully I can get around to it at some point this week.Managed to get the new wheels and tires on. I'm properly chuffed I love how it sits now! It has however highlighted the need for an alignment more than before. I'd assume because of the wider tires and lower offset. That'll be getting sorted Friday. while I was at it I mocked up my front lip for the full effect.
Quick summary of the TR1's from the drive I went on last night. They're OK, decent enough grip but you really do notice the softer sidewalls, it doesn't feel as sharp anymore unfortunately but you live and learn, they'll do great over the winter but they'll be getting swapped out for something more track orientated in spring.
Quick summary of the TR1's from the drive I went on last night. They're OK, decent enough grip but you really do notice the softer sidewalls, it doesn't feel as sharp anymore unfortunately but you live and learn, they'll do great over the winter but they'll be getting swapped out for something more track orientated in spring.
Managed to get my front lip mounted up yesterday. It doesn't fit brilliantly but given how low it is I doubt it'll last long either It needed a fair bit of massaging to fit with a heat gun and some slightly burned fingers lol. I'll eventually stick some black self tappers in instead of the silver ones but with the wheels and lip on I'm very happy with how it looks. Much more aggressive now opposed to the boaty, almost cute look it had before.
Fingers crossed I can get it aligned Friday morning and if the weathers not too bad I think I'll take a drive over into Wales.
It needed a fair bit of massaging to fit with a heat gun and some slightly burned fingers lol. I'll eventually stick some black self tappers in instead of the silver ones but with the wheels and lip on I'm very happy with how it looks. Much more aggressive now opposed to the boaty, almost cute look it had before.Fingers crossed I can get it aligned Friday morning and if the weathers not too bad I think I'll take a drive over into Wales.
They are bloody brilliant little cars, a proper joy to thread down a B-road. Mine’s an NC2 Sport Tech I bought earlier this year, standard except for a fast road alignment and a remap to sort the throttle response and nannying in the lower gears. Should’ve got one years ago.
Edited by Galveston on Saturday 16th November 16:42
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