Mazda MX-5: We iz Ricer!
- Thread starter Housey
- Start date
Have you driven the mk3 sport and are the improvements very drastic? I did not get along with the mk3
The 3.5 is back to normal, I believe the issue with the 3 was mainly geo settings but the new model is great.
Been looking at picking up a sport for myself, Would be the mk3 (One I drove was fine imo)
I love the things lol, Can't really afford the running costs etc on s2000's, Z4's
These little things just seem to put a massive smile on my face every time I take one for a test drive.
I love the things lol, Can't really afford the running costs etc on s2000's, Z4's
These little things just seem to put a massive smile on my face every time I take one for a test drive.
Yeah it was, as the UK model was sold being at a ride height of 20mm higher (or something like that) but they did the original geometry settings same as the japanese cars. With a proper geometry change that vastly sorted the problem out.
My dad picked up one of these mk3.5 MX5's earlier this year, 2L manual hard top. They really are quite surprisingly good cars, to call it slow I think is being rather unfair but it's certainly not jaw droppingly quick. One real problem it has though is the voice recognition for radio/phone is utterly hopeless.
I can't quite remember the names for the different spec's,but isn't the sport-tech the auto/flappy paddle thing?
I can't quite remember the names for the different spec's,but isn't the sport-tech the auto/flappy paddle thing?
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this is pretty much identical to what my gf's dad had, very nice car! If they just did a model with a supercharger it'd be something id actuallybe interested in, as is it really is too slow for what I'm used to. Yea it handled better and I know it's not what they're about but no harm in it 
Good spec list too, heated leather, LSD, bluetooth etc
Hes sold it in the end as he lives in the middle of nowhere quite high up and worked strange shifts. They had snow for about 6-7 weeks without fail and he got fed up of trying to keep it in a straight line on ungritted roads at 4am etc, but otherwise loved it!
It was supposed to be grey but in reality was more of a really really dark green.
Good spec list too, heated leather, LSD, bluetooth etcHes sold it in the end as he lives in the middle of nowhere quite high up and worked strange shifts. They had snow for about 6-7 weeks without fail and he got fed up of trying to keep it in a straight line on ungritted roads at 4am etc, but otherwise loved it!
It was supposed to be grey but in reality was more of a really really dark green.
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this is pretty much identical to what my gf's dad had, very nice car! If they just did a model with a supercharger it'd be something id actuallybe interested in, as is it really is too slow for what I'm used to. Yea it handled better and I know it's not what they're about but no harm in it
There was a cosworth supercharger kit available, up until people realised it was blowing engines up. The dude who works at power station who also posts on here told me an interesting story about there test car they had with the kit on.
No, that's another one.
I realise that, I wasn't insinuating you were an old man
Just a pointless observation of the many I make a day!You just need a sticker like mine now:
Caporegime
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- 11 Mar 2005
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Gets the thumbs up from me, the metal folding roof on these is fantastic, how they kept it so light is beyond me, i wasn't a huge fan of the MK3 last time i had a testdrive felt too soft but then again Mk1 drivers say the same about the Mk2 / Mk2.5....................
Pistonheads has a dedicated section and MX5 Nutz, the mx5 owners club has always been a bit scatty and they have recently had a website redesign which has put a fair few people off. If you are local to the south west Moonrakers is pretty good.
The 3.5 is meant to be a LOT better, brings back a lot the mk3 lost. From having driven both, but not next to each other, I think I agree!
Was it just the geo set up with the wrong ride hight? As I know you can buy the springs from the dealer that were actually ment to be fitted before the hike in hight, They are quite cheap also. Been really looking at these. But the 3.5 is out of my budget.
Edit: After looking all of this up, It turns out you can get the geo set up correctly on the Mk3 for about £300. Not too bad, Lowering springs are about £150 on top of that if requested.
Edit: After looking all of this up, It turns out you can get the geo set up correctly on the Mk3 for about £300. Not too bad, Lowering springs are about £150 on top of that if requested.
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The Mk3.5 version puts right the ride height and geo settings issues with the Mk3, which I believe were actually easy to deal with anyway. The Sport Tech we have has revised Bilstein dampers and strut brace which seemed very good at balancing damping with precision/stiffness, probably the most impressive element of the whole car actually.