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

Cloth interior is fine, the leather isn't especially great quality in these and they do get a bit hot in the summer. Heated seats are very nice for winter though, esepcially if you like having the roof down!

Adding the foglights is pretty straightforward.
 
I have the cloth interior in mine (I tell myself lighter non heated seats = Racecar) and I find them perfectly comfortable and not too hot when the sun's been on them with the roof down, or too cold when it's a frosty morning.
Mines now 10 years old with 68k on it and they've both worn really well.
 
Fitted and looks good. It's now gone up in price to double what I paid Which is a bonus.

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Whats the quality/fit like? I once bought some ultra racing braces off ebay but I think they were counterfeit or something, the welds were awful. I saw some other ultra racing stuff at a car show though and it looked way better quality compared to the items I'd picked up (from an unknown ebay seller who was cheaper than most...hmmm) :)

I've got an Auto-exe strut brace on mine.

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The welds looked spot on, got to say I was worried myself about it being a fake as others so cheap, but it was from a reputable seller with a good rating.
The fits very good, felt a bit brutal but ended up just bending the plastic folder for the abs module out of the was to get it on top of the brace. Notice any difference at all with yours on?
Should add loads of HP at the RR.
 
The difference was pretty subtle really for me, for the front strut brace, the OEM one is pretty weedy compared to the big single piece ones like both of these designs. I'd say the turn in was slightly sharper but it wasn't much difference.

I have a few of the IL braces on my car, the rear 'butterfly' brace across the rear end made the biggest difference of any of them though. Robs me of some ground clearance at the rear, possibly a bit too much, given the slightly 'tail heavy' stance with the BBR suspension. Could do with some slightly taller rear springs I think.
 
Well as mine isn't a sport I never had one to start with. The two mounting points at the rear of the engine just had two bolts sitting there holding nothing in which was odd.
It does look heavier towards the back, I was rather concerned about mine until I saw your comments in this thread.
I can't afford to lose any more clearance, with a full tank or something in the boot the exhaust catches on my driveway as it is now.
 
Hi motors folks a couple more questions:

Going to look at a MX5 tomorrow. I was mistakenly under the impression that all 2 litre manual models have the 6 speed box but this isn't the case so had to abandon another viewing.

The one I'm going to test out tomorrow is:

MX5 Sport tec 2.0 (mk 3.5)
2009 model
6 speed box
32k miles

I'm trying to find out if this model has the LSD as standard, can anyone advise? *Edit* Just re read Sandy's mx5 guide , it's fitted as standard.

It's from a dealer and the screen price is 9.5k with full Mazda history and 1 owner.

We buy any car is listing the trade value as £7400 and Glasses value it at £7480 via a dealer.

I accept they have to make a few bucks. They've prepped the car, removed a trolley ding and listed the car as 'immaculate', which from the pics looks accurate. Obviously I'll be having a good look over and under the car, but what sort of movement can I expect to wrangle out of them on price?

I'm not really willing to go over 8.5k. They make a grand (before their costs) and I get a grand off the screen price.

Is this too optimistic?

Any comments welcome.
 
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Seems expensive. I sold mine a few months ago (2009 mk3.5 2L Sport Tech) for £7,600 although it was on 67,000 miles. That said, I bought it 4 years ago for £8,600 when it had 42,000 miles. It was from a Renault dealer who I imagine had taken it in part exchange. I'd hate to spend the same amount 4 years on although it was to my benefit when selling it...
 
Helios1234 said:
Seems expensive. I sold mine a few months ago (2009 mk3.5 2L Sport Tech) for £7,600 although it was on 67,000 miles. That said, I bought it 4 years ago for £8,600 when it had 42,000 miles. It was from a Renault dealer who I imagine had taken it in part exchange. I'd hate to spend the same amount 4 years on although it was to my benefit when selling it...
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Yours sounds like a.cracking deal, paying 8.6k for.a.3 year old mk 3.5, though 42k is a higher average milage than what I typically see for one of these.

I haven't found a 3 year old one with lowish mileage anywhere near 8.6k


Thanks for your input though, I'll haggle hard!
 
Decided I'm moving the battery to the boot.
Wondering what gauge of cable to go for. Battery cranking amps are 400, but 400amp cable seems overkill for power that's only really passing through for a few seconds, so a bit of investigation is needed.
 
Just been given a free trackday at oulton by a guy on the owners club who unfortunately couldn't make it which is good.
Only downside is it's tomorrow, so things to do!
Don't suppose anyone from here is going?
 
The NC battery was moved to the front as they had to put something in the empty space up front under the bonnet, unlike the old models the engine is set back and the rad slant under the battery to bottom of engine.
 
Picked up a Mk3.5 RC in Liq Silv Metallic on Saturday, absolutely loving it so far.

I don't think I'll be going for many mods at all, and if I do they'll be small ones (rx8 wiper stalk, stubby aerial etc).

From those of you with a MK3, which small (financially, relative I know but as far as MX5 mods go) changes do you think made the biggest differences?

I'm considering the de tangoing but I'm not sure I care enough to worry about the process of doing it. There's not an exchange system in place at any company is there, meaning I wouldn't have to buy whole new units to switch them over?


I know that Will bought a Stubby aerial from Cravenspeed with postage reduced to $10 rather than $60, but I'm struggling to get a hold of them at the mo. Does anyone know of a UK stockist? Found them at Moss with the help of Cravenspeed :)

It feels like a really nice package at the moment, especially with the hard top. Bring on the lighter evenings!
 
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Siliconslave said:
best mod you can get done is the springs and geo, but thats a pretty big undertaking
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I had been thinking about that. Am I correct in thinking a geo is around £120 for a decent one? I've had a look at Wheels in Motion but it's a good 2 hour drive from me (I'm in East Sussex) but I think it might be worth the trip.

The car doesn't have all matching rubber at the moment and I was wondering whether it's a bad idea to get the car geo'd before changing to rubber that I'm happy with. Thoughts on that?

How much should I expect to pay for new springs?
 
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