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

lordrobs · 16 Jun 2013 at 19:51

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Always wanted something to learn a bit of maintenance on, this is ideal.

That was one of the reasons I bought my one... then I went out and bought one that an old boy had spent the best part of 7 years getting and keeping mechanically perfect

Didn't even need an oil change when I bought it. Home mechanics fail

Emlyn_Dewar · 17 Jun 2013 at 12:49

Certainly not the case on mine. Only thing I was looking for was that it wasn't a rusted out mess underneath. Pretty much everything else on the car needs some work... :eek:

Must say, it makes life very easy doing work on the interior when the roof comes down.

hurfdurf · 9 Jul 2013 at 10:33

Why do Mazda tease us with this? Why not make it available? It's like the Mazda Speed Miata that was in America that had a turbo as standard that we didn't get the option of

LiE · 9 Jul 2013 at 10:38

Just had timing belt, water pump and silver level service done on the wife's MX5 at Soulston Hills, good service and did it all for £365 which I thought wasn't too bad. Anyone else heard of these guys?
http://www.sulstonhills.co.uk/

Hxc · 9 Jul 2013 at 10:53

Just replaced the wing on my '5 and gave it a full service... running much less tappity now! and nice not to have a huge chunk outta my wing from an ignorant van driver. Such easy cars to work on!

Vigoro · 9 Jul 2013 at 12:31

Took mine out at Llandow on Saturday, and it was great!

In the morning at least

The car developed a problem with hesitating, which I am just trying to figure out what could be causing it now.

Conscript · 9 Jul 2013 at 12:42

MX5 is an ideal car for this sort of weather, yet I still keep passing loads with their roof up

Been playing around with my clutch pedal adjustment again this weekend. It didn't feel quite right, so I got under the dash and adjusted the bite point ever so slightly higher. I also move the seat one notch forward.

Instant transformation; gear changes are much smoother and so is the clutch action. I think I must have mucked up the adjustment last time, as it's been feeling a bit lurchy and uncomfortable for a while. Makes me want to go out and enjoy the car again rather than considering it a bit of a chore.

Also had it serviced and MOT'd last week, in time for our holiday to the south of France. Cant wait

Pete19s · 9 Jul 2013 at 14:09

Been enjoying the glorious weather at every opportunity. Couple of jobs that need sorting, almost time for a service & need to get hold of a replacement O/S front wing as the bottom edge where it meets the bumper has got some light bubbling going on. Other than that it's on tip-top form.

Some recent shots:

MX-5 by Pete19s, on Flickr

B-Road blast by Pete19s, on Flickr

Mazda MX-5 by Pete19s, on Flickr

Uncle_Gravy · 9 Jul 2013 at 14:09

I'm looking to scratch the mx5 itch.

I'm looking at the Mk2 and looking to spend between 2.5-3k on one, Has to be the 1.8 but as far as that, i'm not sure what i'm looking for, such as what spec, and what to look out for on one of these.

Cheers.

Martynt74 · 9 Jul 2013 at 14:22

With that kind of budget i'd probably look at a Mk2.5 SVT sport. Just watch out as aslong with the usual rust issues you need to keep an eye on the front chassis rails to.

Uncle_Gravy · 9 Jul 2013 at 14:25

Differences between the mk2 and the 2.5?

Irish_Tom · 9 Jul 2013 at 15:49

Marvt74 said:
With that kind of budget i'd probably look at a Mk2.5 SVT sport. Just watch out as aslong with the usual rust issues you need to keep an eye on the front chassis rails to.

+1

Uncle_Gravy · 9 Jul 2013 at 23:51

Air con a very rare extra then? a lot of cars i've looked for don't come with it, The S-VTs come with Heated leathers? which would be lovely in the Winter.

hurfdurf · 10 Jul 2013 at 02:16

Conscript said:
MX5 is an ideal car for this sort of weather, yet I still keep passing loads with their roof up

I use a sunbed once or twice a monthish so I'm far from pale, I drove a lot today and end up burnt on my left hand shoulder

dale1uk · 10 Jul 2013 at 07:05

Uncle_Gravy said:
Air con a very rare extra then? a lot of cars i've looked for don't come with it, The S-VTs come with Heated leathers? which would be lovely in the Winter.

Air con is an optional extra and not all that common. When stuck in traffic not moving its a god send, roof up air con on and you're lovely and cool. Start moving again, knock it off, roof down and all is good

I originally thought about removing my air con to save weight as I was in the 'its a convertible, you don't need it' camp, however after getting stuck in roadworks for an hour on the way to the Nurburgring last year in the scorching heat I don't think I would have made it without it!!

Yes the mk2.5 sports come with heated leather seats, but I hate them. They offer no support, you sit on them not in them, and they are very high. I couldnt drive my brothers sport with the roof up when he had the leather seats in as my head touched the roof. We swapped them for my old standard cloth seats and they are much better.

mark66 · 10 Jul 2013 at 07:39

LiE said:
Just had timing belt, water pump and silver level service done on the wife's MX5 at Soulston Hills, good service and did it all for £365 which I thought wasn't too bad. Anyone else heard of these guys?
http://www.sulstonhills.co.uk/

Yeah they sorted my rusting sills on my mk2 a few weeks ago. Seems like they've done a very good job, I know they are popular with lots of people on Nutz too.

Irish_Tom · 10 Jul 2013 at 08:25

Uncle_Gravy said:
Air con a very rare extra then? a lot of cars i've looked for don't come with it, The S-VTs come with Heated leathers? which would be lovely in the Winter.

MX-5 Parts are currently doing the genuine Mazda aircon kit (Mk2/2.5) for £549.95 (slightly less than half price) and then you'd have to get it fitted.

Martynt74 · 10 Jul 2013 at 08:38

I don't find the heated seats too bad in mine. Much more pleasant warmth compared to my Giulietta.

I also quite like the shape of them, however I did initially consider swapping them out as I was tall. As for touching the roof I feel it can vary with me, sometimes the roof seems higher for some reason. Maybe it's just the way it gets put up or maybe I just slouch more on some days.

I think air con came on the later euphoric models but they're around 2004 but may just get one in budget.

As for the 2 vs 2.5. From what I remember the 2.5 came with a 6 speed box and LSD which is pretty popular. The 1.8 models also came with 146bhp rather than the 140 on the mk2. Other than that I think it's just minor cosmetic differences.

Uncle_Gravy · 10 Jul 2013 at 09:36

dale1uk said:
I originally thought about removing my air con to save weight as I was in the 'its a convertible, you don't need it' camp, however after getting stuck in roadworks for an hour on the way to the Nurburgring last year in the scorching heat I don't think I would have made it without it!!

Sitting in traffic in a 1.2 clio without Aircon in this heat, Air con is a must in any car I own now, its horrible.

Regarding the Heated seats, How tall are you guys? I'm 5"10

Martynt74 · 10 Jul 2013 at 09:41

I'm about 6"2 ish, so sit with my seat all the way back and with the top down can feel the wind blowing over the top of the windscreen on the top of my head!

I took off the sun visors which helps me see a bit extra! One thing i do find troublesome is that because of where my head is, the rear view mirror blocks off quite a bit of visability, which becomes a problem especially when trying to look out for cars on slip roads to the left!