Mx-5 mk2, Tell me about them.

[Snookums]

Getting very bored of my car now and from a lot I have seen around they are meant to be fun rewarding cars. I plan to have a look and test drive one friday, mainly to see if at 6ft 3 will i even fit in one and to see if i enjoy it.

Currently I'm driving an ST150 and i even find the power in this a bit underwhelming so will be looking at the 1.8 variants.

my budget is pretty much what ever i would get for my ST150 plus little bit.

Whats needed to look out for on them? I know the MK2's have next to no under body protection so rust can be a real issue, is this particularly around the sills or elsewhere? How much would you expect to pay to get the rust seen to if caught in a minor state? Also which would be best soft or hard top?

Am i crazy for even looking at one of this? Tax and fuel doesn't bother me, from the looks the MX5 isn't much worse for fuel than my st150 and i only do around 35 miles a day anyway. the 1.8 engine tax is slightly higher but again doesn't phase me really. As of right now i have no intention of mods or anything on it, haven't done any to my fez in my year of ownership.

Edit: This one is only down the road from me; http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&make=MAZDA&page=1

This will be purely for test driving only, the name of this "garage" puts me off alone.

 

[Rybo89]

Surely they are even slower than a ST150? So you will feel even more underwhelmed by its speed/power.

 

[paradigm]

Slower, perhaps, but much more involving and "fun" to drive. If you don't need the practicality of, and the sound proofing of a hatchback, then I can easily see the MX5 being more fun to own.

Having just bought one this week as a second/weekend/track car, it's more "fun" to drive than my S3, mainly due to not having to drive at lol speed to get any real sense of speed out of it.

Check the sills and rear arches for rust (mine's had the O/S done, but the N/S will need attending to shortly), check for clutch judder (try reversing up an incline), check the cooling system is functioning OK (known weak spot).

 

[Snookums]

Surely they are even slower than a ST150? So you will feel even more underwhelmed by its speed/power.

It may be slightly slower yes but there isn't really a fun element to driving it as for a hot hatch it is still slow. MX-5's are meant to be fun and lively to drive when wanted from what i've seen.

 

[paradigm]

Looking at the specs, depending on diff final drive and gearbox type, a 1.8i MX5 is either 0.2s quicker to 60 with a 2MPH lower top end, or 0.2s slower to 60, but with the same top speed.

 

[LiamC]

Rust Rust and Rust

Check Sills and around arches - pretty much all the usual places. Its hard to find a clean MK1 / MK2 nowadays though.

Parts are so cheap so i wouldn't worry too much about spares / maintenance.

As for fun - TOTALLY. Roof down on back roads is where these cars belong, love being driving at high RPM and handle very well

 

[sovietspybob]

Check the rear drain holes and rear sills for rust, the drain holes run down from behind the seats and exist just infront of the back wheels, there's also a few small drain holes from the sills i think just by each jacking point so make sure they're clear as water can collect in the sills and you can hear it sloshing around sometimes. Also the MK2's tend to rot out their front chassis rails, i'd personally get under there and give everything a good poke with a screw driver to make sure everything is solid. Unfortunately quite often once you see rust on the rear arches the metal underneath will be completely shot so it's a much bigger job than it appears on the surface

Great cars though just go in with your eyes open about rust.

 

[grudas]

Mk2s are the biggest rust buckets out of all mx5s. Even mk1s are better due to better underseal from factory.. I'd say aim for a MK1. As those will probably appreciate in value too if kept in good nick.

 

[Firestar_3x]

Yep, rust is a massive issue and will probably end up being a never ending battle, which is a shame.

 

[russell664]

They rust a hell of a lot, undersills I believe.
I think to find a tidy one you would be paying a premium, even then it would be best to keep it garaged.

 

[Frozennova]

Rust is the only real draw back, think someone like the MX5 Restorer will do sills/arches for £400 a side, chassis legs are about £250 a side

Looking at the specs, depending on diff final drive and gearbox type, a 1.8i MX5 is either 0.2s quicker to 60 with a 2MPH lower top end, or 0.2s slower to 60, but with the same top speed.

Ironically "Sport" models are slower. They're either a 3.9:1 diff or a 3.63:1. The rest of the 1.8s are a 4.1:1.

 

[paradigm]

It's not "slower" by enough for me to care though, adding power through FI down the line will make far more of a difference than the FD.