New car for my girlfriend - MX5?

It'll be a Mk2 probably.

I dont know how much it would bother her - her Clio isnt exactly quiet and comfortable. While mine is in the garage, I'm borrowing my Dad's MG TF - used it to show her the sort of interior space and ride comfort she'd be getting and she seemed quite happy. The noise didnt even seem to faze her, and the MG is mid engined with stainless exhaust on it.
 
I run a mk2.5 as a daily without any bother...though i expect a bad winter to murder my chassis rails if im not careful. My commute is all b roads so its the perfect car as far as im concerned.

Noise can be a bit of a pain on motorway runs, turning up the stereo helps.
 
I think it depends on what you're used to and your priorities. I've always had big cars and value comfort and ride quality. I'd not want one as a daily for myself, but she's always just had little Clios and doesnt do long motorway journeys
 
I'd actually like her to still be my girlfriend after this! Also, no soft top and I hear the 0-60 time is terrible
 
iaind said:
I think it depends on what you're used to and your priorities. I've always had big cars and value comfort and ride quality. I'd not want one as a daily for myself, but she's always just had little Clios and doesnt do long motorway journeys
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This is the thing. I moved from a Clio to a mk3 2.0 (hardtop), and the extra power and cornering speed are so much more fun than anything else I have driven.
Whenever I have to give my parents lifts in their cars (Focus and Jag XF) they feel like driving a bus in comparison to the MX-5.

You may not be going as fast in a straight line in the MX-5 compared to say the Saab, but you will be able to go around the corners much quicker (like 40mph around roundabouts compared to about 20 in other cars that are about to understeer off).

Comfort will also depend on your height and weight. I am just under 6ft and although I fit OK, longer journeys can be uncomfortable as the seat has to be fairly upright. Also the seats are shaped, so "wider" people may not fit comfortably.
 
Tell me about it - like I said I'm using an MGTF at the moment... a very similar sort of car. While Motors wont like the MG, it's probably one of the best TFs in the country and its an absolute blast - a similar sort of proposition to the MX-5 in reality. Being able to stick it into corners at what feels like a ridiculous speed is a huge amount of fun

Neither of us are "wider" so that should be fine. Not tried the MX but in the MG my hair does rub against the roof, will be fine for her though :)
 
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iaind said:
Neither of us are "wider" so that should be fine. Not tried the MX but in the MG my hair does rub against the roof, will be fine for her though :)
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I'm a smidge over 6 foot and I have stacks of head room with the roof up in my Mk1. Leg room on the other hand is a joke and my knees are basically at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock on the steering wheel. In a Mk2 you sit slightly higher and again more so in a Mk3. I've only sat in a Mk3 for a few minutes at a car show and with the seat rammed all the way back I felt too squashed in.

I personally quite like the MG TF and considered one when looking at the MX5. Basically what I wanted though was a classic car without the hassle of owning a classic car and the Mk1 MX5 was the closest I found (in budget) to that requirement.
 
lordrobs said:
I'm a smidge over 6 foot and I have stacks of head room with the roof up in my Mk1. Leg room on the other hand is a joke and my knees are basically at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock on the steering wheel. In a Mk2 you sit slightly higher and again more so in a Mk3. I've only sat in a Mk3 for a few minutes at a car show and with the seat rammed all the way back I felt too squashed in.

I personally quite like the MG TF and considered one when looking at the MX5. Basically what I wanted though was a classic car without the hassle of owning a classic car and the Mk1 MX5 was the closest I found (in budget) to that requirement.
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I'm an odd shape, I'm only 5'11 but very short legs and a long upper body, so I often struggle with headroom. She's much shorter than me anyway so dont see it being an issue.

I like the TF myself, Dad got it knowing that the MX-5 is the better car, but bought it because he liked it more. It's an 02 with 24k miles, had the entire rear subframe powder coated, everything poly bushed, uprated head gasket, fast road cams, stainless exhaust, intake and a completely bespoke hand stitched leather interior... It's probably about 180bhp by now, the stock 160bhp gives a 0-60 in 6.7 so this one really doesnt hang around! I digress, it's not really a good option for her as she wants bombproof reliability ideally :)
 
Depending how short she may also struggle, my girlfriend drove mine very briefly once but struggled being 5ft3" to get close enough that she could get the clutch to the floor
 
Very good cars if your going mk1 or 2 make sure you go 1.8 as bigger brakes normally better diffs and just a little more beffed up
 
Another mention for short people, my wife is 4ft 11 and has driven both a mk1 and mk3 with no particular issues - mirrors end up a little far back as they sit far back on the door but still was able to drive it OK.
 
Well on the hight issue I'm 6ft 1 and I wouldn't want to be any taller but shouldn't be an issue for shorter people.
 
Well like everything in life, it got complicated - her mum is now having her Clio and now we have to sell her Mums polo instead. Which would be easily done if it wasn't yellow.

Ended up buying a 2009 Mini Cooper for her yesterday though - practicality won over in the end and her family wouldn't have let it go if she bought anything older or higher mileage than her Clio, which couldn't be done for the budget she had.

Never mind, the mini is a nice car and she's always wanted one so is over the moon, maybe when we move to a house where we can have more than 2 cars I'll pick up an mx5 for the summer months :)

Thanks for all the pointers in here!
 
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