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

Thinking of picking up a used 2017 mx5 RF 2.0ltr. in black.

Any one had any experience with this car ? Taking it for a test drive his afternoon (weather dependant)

Quite excited ! :D


Edit. Well I've done it. Purchased it and have a collection date of Tuesday. :D :D
 
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The IL motorsports windblocker is now fitted and tested. Definitely better for reducing buffeting at speed. Not sure it looks any better than the standard one, but at least it's made of aluminium as against plastic, so it feels nicer.

Gave it a good clean the morning, and looked at how to replace the coolant temp plug. The car is running slightly rough from cold. It's at the back of the engine, so I've just ordered an appropriate 20mm deep socket, UJ joint and extensions for my existing sockets. That should solve it. Interestingly, whilst checking the removal of the existing plug, unplugged the existing electrical connection. Seemed to run smoother by just plugging it back in again. So I wonder if it really needs the new plug, or just if the terminals were a little dirty/corroded.

Then dug out the drill and put another 14 16mm holes in the bottom of the airbox, to create the equivalent of a cone filter induction noise. Does nothing for performance, but makes a much more pleasing growl under load.
 
Moved the front plate for a cleaner look. Just need to fill the holes and rub out (giggity) some of the marks left by the old surround. First coat on the bottom of the sill (black lip) and painted a few bits in the engine bay such as the top strut brace. Made a start on fitting the roll bar but will finish that next weekend.





 
be interested to see the end finish on your bumper, been debating doing it on mine but i think the shroud on mine has made much more of a mess than yours appears to.
 
Duke said:
Moved the front plate for a cleaner look. Just need to fill the holes and rub out (giggity) some of the marks left by the old surround. First coat on the bottom of the sill (black lip) and painted a few bits in the engine bay such as the top strut brace. Made a start on fitting the roll bar but will finish that next weekend.





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Is that a Typhoon? What's the heat shield that you're using for it?
 
It is yeah, not sure on the heat shield as bought it all used from a mate - I'll try and find out.
 
A few days on from drilling lots of holes in my airbox. The induction does sound better when giving it some beans. For all that, doesn't sound as good as a typhoon. So might still end up buying one, even though it might make slightly less power.
 
So after my car being reversed into outside a tyre place, I had the call today confirming the date of the damage being repaired. Despite it only being a scuff and the bumper knocked out of place a bit, they've agreed to respray the whole rear bumper, including the existing damage! Bit of a win on my part, considering it was by far the worst part of the car. Before and after pictures to come once it's done (Monday 18th)
 
Think I resolved a rather lumpy tickover on mine this week (particularly when cold).
Turns out that the engine has 2 temp sensors. One at the front, which is what feeds back to the temp gauge in the car, another at the back of the engine, which is used by the ECU to help make decisions on fueling. Apparently it's not uncommon for them to start to fail. Changed mine yesterday (once I'd got a new 20mm deep sock, UJ and extension). Took less than 5 mins to do, and seems to be a good deal smoother today. Very happy.
 
Do you have a part number or anything for that? I think mine is running a bit rich, so if the parts are cheap I might just swap them out.
 
If you're experiencing rough idle it's also worth pulling the intake crossover pipe off of the throttle body and checking if the throttle body is gunked up. If so it's easy enough to clean it up with a can of throttle body cleaner and a microfiber cloth
 
Cross posting this between multiple threads, but today mine has reached satisfactory levels of ridiculous.
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VERY rare occurrence for me today. I drove my MX5 purely for the pleasure of driving it. I wasn't going somewhere, I didn't have SWMBO sat next to me complaining that I'm throwing her around, it was just me and the country lanes... and I had a blast! I only did about 45 miles or so but I was grinning the whole way and even a heavy shower which meant a roof up stint didn't dampen my mood.

This was after giving it an oil change and despite it only going a couple of thousand miles between changes it always sounds so sweet with fresh oil. I've also been experimenting with using V-Power / BP Ultimate this year. I know it won't give me any more power and I'm using it purely to keep the old girl running as well as possible for as long as possible. Is it making any difference? I honestly think it is. After a couple of tanks I no longer got a sooty exhaust pipe so I guess that means it is burning more thoroughly than regular? Or maybe the cleaning effect of the additives? Whatever the case on a car that gets driven less than two thousand miles a year I'm going to keep on using it.
 
paradigm said:
Nice one, REALLY need to get a passenger ride in that before I start buying bits to chase power!
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Anytime, next RR day or whatever were both at you're more than welcome.

I do think I'm going to go back and play with boost and timing a fair bit to get the torque into the realm of sensible given my lack of built engine
 
Collected a set of 15" wheels yesterday, with a plan of having them fitted today.

My MX has 16s on it, but the general consensus seems to suggest that 15s result in better ride quality. Additionally, 195/50/15 tyres are a good deal cheaper, which will partly pay for the wheels.

Turns out that MX5s have the same fitting as a number of cars. After a good deal of hunting around, settled on a set of Mini pepper pots, that look like this:
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Turns out that these wheels are seriously light, i.e. 5.3kg before tyres, which is something like 2kg a corner lighter than my current wheels, and should help the unsprung mass. I'll add some pics with them on soon.
 
Update on my nc:

The set of Khumo KU39s put on there 3 weeks ago are good in both wet and dry weather (£79 per corner fitted by Black Circles). Time will tell how long they last.

Swapped out the long radio aerial for a cheap 4 inch imitation stubby from eBay. It doesn't flare out at the base like the genuine £25 Stubby but still looks fine for a fiver.

Got a Nautilus Air Horn to replace one of the pathetic Road Runner oem horns, yet to fit that.

Front pads changed, brakes bled all round, calipers given 2 coats of silver Hammerite smooth.

Just need a good layer of Polish on her now and to fit the horn.
 
Annual trip to the owners club rally today. Lovely day for it which meant top down all the way and I'm still slightly deaf in my right ear from 4000 RPM and a silly exhaust for long stints on the dual carriageway / motorway :p
 
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