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

Very very easily in the wet with 45psi in the rears as I found out on Saturday at DriftLimits . The dry required a little more balls. Needed a mix of faster entry speeds, Scandinavian flick, and some clutch kicking.

Here's a video from my wet session. No footage from the dry laps



Best bits from around 4:20 onwards
 
Frozennova said:
Can someone confirm that all the Mk2 1.8s with the Nardi 3 spoke steering wheel and ABS came with an LSD?

Looking at picking one up in the new year for a bit of fun and to do some local drift days as they're run regularly at santa pod which is only 30 minutes away.
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I think if you check the reg number and it's a Sport model or limited edition based on the Sport, which i believe one indication is the Nardi steering wheel, then yes it'll have an LSD.
 
I have delaminated tyres on a 1.6 mk1 with an open diff! (although it does have the 1.8 diff as the 1.6 would most likely explode as soon as you showed it the track).

A 1.8 with a torsen will be more than enough.

Ps Frozennova, was that bovington airfield? We hired that for the day once and it worked out really cheap between a few of us, I am in Northampton/MK also, so if you fancy will give you a heads up if we do it again.

dude
 
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Thinking of a front end converstion for my 5, what do you all reckon? :o

iamvqxX.jpg


:confused: :mad: :( :eek:
 
This would probably be better in an owners forum, but I'll try here anyway:

Yesterday, I went to unlock my 2003 MX5 Mk 2.5 Sport and it unlocked but then locked itself straight away. I could open it, but had to open the door mid way though the process and when I got in it would lock itself. The boot mechanism works fine.
I've had a quick read and suggests that the electrics in the drivers door could be soaked? Is there anything simple I could do which may fix it, before I rip open the doorcard and electrocute myself?
I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to diagnose an electrical fault.

Thanks.
 
Chaps.

Thinking of buying an MXGay in 2015 as a second car/weekend fun. What do I need to spend to get a relatively rust free/reliable one? What should I look for? I won't be buying till May/June time anyway.

Not bothered if its a Mk1/1.5/2 etc. Literally just want some reliable weekend fun. :)

TIA
Jake
 
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Phate said:
Chaps.

Thinking of buying an MXGay in 2015 as a second car/weekend fun. What do I need to spend to get a relatively rust free/reliable one? What should I look for? I won't be buying till May/June time anyway.

Not bothered if its a Mk1/1.5/2 etc. Literally just want some reliable weekend fun. :)

TIA
Jake
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a rust free mk2 with around 70k miles in very good condition go for around about the £2000 mark.
Mk1s slightly less.
A mk3 I was looking at a nice 2006 2ltr sport with factory body kit in good condition with 50 k miles for £5000 from a small dealer.
Hope this helps.
 
Ramboner said:
a rust free mk2 with around 70k miles in very good condition go for around about the £2000 mark.
Mk1s slightly less.
A mk3 I was looking at a nice 2006 2ltr sport with factory body kit in good condition with 50 k miles for £5000 from a small dealer.
Hope this helps.
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Cheers :)

In terms of mk1/2/3 it'll be whatever is available at the time of purchasing. Probably looking to spend around £2k max.
 
Some of the later mk2.5s still go for £4000 if it's a 2005 model for example, but if your happy with an early 2000s or late 90s car you will be able to get a really nice one for the £2000 mark. Also if it comes with a good condition hard top (genuine mazda) that is worth about £400 second hand, my first mk2 came with one and I paid £2.2k for the car and sold the hard top for £400 (it was mint) so the car only really cost £1800 :) something worth taking into consideration. Personally I think the hard tops are a waste of added weight and detract from the look.

But it's all personal preference. Rust on the rear arches and sills and front chassis rails are what you will want to inspect. Google those 3 things and there will be pictures of exactly what you are looking for. Chassis rails are the hardest to see because they are under the car at the front behind the sump, so you'll need to wear some crap clothes and get down with a torch and have a good old look. There will be some surface rust but as long as it's not structural ie. Big bits fall off when you tap it with a light hammer which would basically be a write off. This chassis rail rust problem only effects the mk2s/2.5s I don't think mk1s suffer it. But they all are susceptible to wheel arch and rear sill rust. If they have not been treated and driven on salted roads.

If you see rust on the arches just move on to the next one even if the seller says it's only light etc. Because to repair it will need cutting out and a new panel welded in which is very costly, some cars have had bodge repairs ie. Body filler and painted over but the rust will return 100%. Possibly get a small magnet to run over the arches and if the magnet stops pulling toward the body work you know it's been body fillered and should avoid!
Sorry for the essay but that's about 2 years worth of information on what to look for that I wish I knew first time around.
 
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No need to apologise! That's fantastically helpful!

Good idea on the magnet front :)

What would be too much money for say a Mk1?
 
Phate said:
No need to apologise! That's fantastically helpful!

Good idea on the magnet front :)

What would be too much money for say a Mk1?
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I've owned 2 mk2s I'm not that clued up on the mk1s if I'm honest. I had a look recently and some companies import them from Japan that are rust free and special editions but they ask for way to much (over 3 grand)
You should be able to get a nice rust free mk1 for 2k, if you go on www.mx5nutz.com they have a for sale section and some enthusiast owned cars often pop up for good money, I'd try and get one from an enthusiast as there's a better chance it's been looked after and also a lot of people have build threads a bit like for pcs on this forum, so there could be a whole history of the car available. It's a good forum with a wealth of knowledge I'd deffo recommend you register and have a look around. There's a nice yellow mk1 for sale on there at the moment which I would be tempted by I think it's listed as a J Ltd in the for sale section.

Oh and whatever you go for go for the 1.8l engine. There not exactly fast and most people would recommend the bigger engine as they generally come with a higher spec as well. A limited slip differential is kind of essential if you ever wanted to go sideways (drift) but it depends what you want it for. A lot of sport models came with LSDs. I wouldn't be without one.
 
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Phate said:
No need to apologise! That's fantastically helpful!

Good idea on the magnet front :)

What would be too much money for say a Mk1?
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Should be able to get a good MK1 for 1k-1.5k.

You might want to think about buying/borrowing a usb endoscopic camera for checking inside the sills. They're pretty cheap and could save a load of hassle and money.
 
Nursie said:
Should be able to get a good MK1 for 1k-1.5k.

You might want to think about buying/borrowing a usb endoscopic camera for checking inside the sills. They're pretty cheap and could save a load of hassle and money.
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That's a good idea! At the time of actually looking at said cars I might see about recruiting an expert from the other forum or this one to give me a hand :)
 
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