MX5 Owners in here....bring your curling tongs

One More Solo · 2 Jul 2014 at 14:27

Picked up a cheap mk1 a month or so ago now and really enjoying it - has a decent amount of rust to the arches and sills but will get this sorted over time. I was happier to buy a cheap one that needed work than an expensive one that had work but to an uncertain standard.

Will · 2 Jul 2014 at 18:21

NathWraith said:
For the Mk3/3.5 2.0L owners, what kind of MPG are you seeing?

30-34mpg, thats with lots of short journeys around town. On a run you'll get slightly more if you really try.. Its the best car ive owned for fuel economy.

sovietspybob · 2 Jul 2014 at 18:47

NathWraith said:
For the Mk3/3.5 2.0L owners, what kind of MPG are you seeing?

I think we averaged about 33-34 over the 3 years we had ours but the wife did a fairly short trip to work in it on a stretch of 70mph road with several roundabouts so i was pretty chuffed with the mpg we saw.

Best we got was 43 on a long trip.

G|mp · 2 Jul 2014 at 19:28

Went passed your house earlier Will, the MX5 is looking really nice

Conscript · 2 Jul 2014 at 20:00

I used to get 32-34MPG average, it was used every day so a mixture of driving.

Housey · 2 Jul 2014 at 20:13

So after discussing rattles on another thread and saying how our MX5 has been fine, over the weekend it started to rattle from behind the dashboard like a bus tard. Like a knocking noise which seems to emanate form passenger side dashboard, as if something might have become lose. It was in the garage 3 weeks back for a service/mot/re-gas but does anyone have a view of what might be causing the knocking over bumps and sometimes on the flat.

Conscript · 2 Jul 2014 at 20:19

Glovebox? Either something loose in it, or part of the hinge mechanism?

Will · 2 Jul 2014 at 20:21

Glovebox comes out really easily, if you want to have a look.... simply unclip the string support at the side and then pull from either side, the whole glovebox just pulls off the hinges. Not much behind there to rattle from what I've seen...

Housey · 2 Jul 2014 at 20:42

I will have a fiddle at the weekend. I took the MX5 to the station this morning as my wife is car sharing and I sit on a train heading back to it now and it did my head in for the 25 minute drive this morning. I hit it several times too and even that didn't fix it and that usually fixes any rattle

NathWraith · 3 Jul 2014 at 09:46

Cheers guys. Economy looks reasonable tbh!

G|mp · 3 Jul 2014 at 12:29

Did you realise it was me this morning Will?

Be nice to Rocco drivers that let you out

Will · 3 Jul 2014 at 18:36

G|mp said:
Did you realise it was me this morning Will?

Be nice to Rocco drivers that let you out

Yes I did....cheers for letting me off the drive its a nightmare sometimes at that time of day, worse when that big vans there, I can't see a thing and rearwards visibility is not an MX5 strong point

Didn't understand what you were shouting at me though

G|mp · 3 Jul 2014 at 19:41

It's G|mp

Jasebta · 3 Jul 2014 at 19:53

My standard MX5... 26.8MPG average over ~900 miles.

alexisonfire · 16 Aug 2014 at 23:12

Got the splitter on today and am fairly happy with how the car is at the moment. Got my eye on a duck tail spoiler and i need to source another black wing to replace the "so i can pass my MOT" blue wing.

BinnsY · 17 Aug 2014 at 10:59

Well I've spent a bit more money since I last posted in here. Since having all the rust repaired I've now had an MX-5 parts stainless steel back box (single exit) and mid section fitted as well as having a refurb done on the wheels. I went for silver over gloss black on the wheels and overall I'm rather pleased

ScoobyDoo69 · 17 Aug 2014 at 11:42

Love that colour :cool:

hurfdurf · 17 Aug 2014 at 13:20

Will said:
BBR are meant to be doing a 200bhp n/a kit for the mk3 too which is almost finished, these parts could be added to what I've got already and would be pretty nice....Blink motorsport are also doing work on a set of parts that should work with my car and hopefully get 200bhp as well...so theres other options for more power even without a turbo. Realistically it'll be another year before I spend any more money on this...so will see how things pan out with all the parts the tuners are working on.

BBR's 200bhp kit is now out, what's the consensus?

Will · 17 Aug 2014 at 13:34

Ask me again on 2nd September when I have it fitted

(Well, wont quite be the same as the full kit they sell as the exhaust parts will be slightly different, but fundamentally the same - as in manifold, mid pipe with sports cat, and backbox, so the gains from the cams and mapping will be largely similar).

The dyno figures look impressive though, highest car done yet made 207bhp and 171lb/ft. The vvt means you can keep torque low down and a nice idle. By all accounts it drives like a factory car (apart from the noise if you change the midpipe and backbox, then it sounds a bit fruitier)just with considerably more go.

Ahleckz · 17 Aug 2014 at 15:26

Do MX5s drop quite a bit in price around October? I'm planning on buying one then, likely the second week of October, probably a 1.8 mk2 and will have a budget of around 2k. I trust I'll be able to pick something reasonably good for that price at that time of year?