New Wheels

[Capt Doufos]

Just picked myself up some new wheels for my MX5. They are special edition Enkei ones from the 2003/2004 special edition Euphonic. Apparently the story goes they were traded in for some chrome alloys. Their loss I say as these look a million times better than the horrid chrome things.

They are 16" Rims the old ones are 14" and I am really surprised at how much better the car handles, it inspires a lot more confidence in the corners. This is even though I was running Goodyear F1's on the 14"'s.

Got them with Bridgestone Turanza tyres with around 7mm of tread left for £400 which I thought was a bargain.

What do you think?

 

[Capt Doufos]

It's a 98 JDM 1.8VVT S-Special.

The car is dirty! wheels clean. They look Sooooo much better in real life. The photos really don't do them justice.

 

[Capt Doufos]

Nice, supprised you didn't got for the F1 GSD3's on them.

Did you get them off e-bay?

I would have done, but they came with those on (they are 2nd hand). I had F1's on the old wheels, they are incredibly good tyres. These ones are pretty good though. The Bridgestones have too much tread on to change them.

Not off ebay.. The MX5 owners Club Forsale section. Turned out they were just up the road, only 2 miles away.

 

[Capt Doufos]

I don't remember the last time I saw 'gunmetal' alloys that didn't just look like normal ones covered in brake dust.

If they were covered in dirt they would loose their sheen. I go and get them dirty so we can compare

 

[Capt Doufos]

Just seen them

Whats your username?

The same... I just don't post much I am affraid.

I will take anouther photo when it's sunny and I have polished the car. They looked really good in the sun earlier today.

The speed I can now take corners at is phenominal!

I am highly undecided over smoked indicators. I have seen both and I am just not sure.

Here is a larger pic. You can see them better:

http://www.thedoufoszone.co.uk/galleries/roadster/mx5newwheelsbig.jpg

Edit:

Just found a picture of some TSW Venoms, and I agree.... They are horrid!!!!! (I appoligise if this is your car )

 

[Capt Doufos]

Is the MX-5 your daily driver?

It is my daily driver, I get a 10 mile trip down country lanes to get to work everyday.

I think the car is plenty quick enough for throwing around without much worry. It takes a lot of provoking to get the rear end to step out. Well on decent tyres anyway.

I would go for a Mk2 over a Mk1. However not everyone agrees with this. They say everyone has their favourite mk MX5.

Insurance wise I am paying £500 a year. I am 24 and live in a low risk postcode. I would agree it's more of pain to get insurance, but doesn't have to be more expensive. There are bonuses to having an import for instance mine has:

The 1.8VVT engine with a 7,500RPM Redline
6 speed gearbox
LSD
Air Con
Leather Steering wheel and Gearknob.
Heated rear windscreen.

As far as I am aware most of this spec wasn't avalible in the UK until the sport model was realised in 2000, and very few Mk2's have A/C.

I paid £6500 for it September 2004, with 40k miles on the clock.

Reliability has been very good, the only things that have played up have been the clutch slave cylinder (fairly common) That was very cheap to replace. The other was a Constant velocity joint, not so cheap put still only £140 fitted. As far as I can find I am the only person with a Mk2 to have one go! lol.

 

[Capt Doufos]

Guess it was just because it was import, as such has no real documentation apart from the import docs, it had only been in the UK a few months. It was advertised on ebay, but I went to see it and made an offer.

You can get low spec early UK Mk2's for £5.5k.

I would say you don't need to bother with a hard top. That is what I used to think, however about 2 months ago the rear screen just shatterd, and I had no option but to buy a new hood. Only positive was I got an upgrade to the mohair one I wanted.

Bare in mind hardtops add little to the resale value, but to buy new are £1000. Only problem is storing them in the summer, they are pretty big.