Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
Thanks for the advice Jez. So is this something that should have been done previously to cars of that vintage? I'm not really keen on doing that sort of stuff myself these days!
Any love for MX5’s?
- Thread starter JezmondTutu
- Start date
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
All the MX5’s are prone to underbody corrosion including the latest one Tony.
You just need to find a good place that will strip off all the old anti corrosion coating down to bare metal, properly prepare it and then use the right coatings to finish it.
Or find a car that has been sorted.
The 2009 onwards cars have various improvements including the stronger engine with forged internals. They are very good for modding if you want to go that route. Check out BBR’s 200 kit.
NC is probably a sweet spot value wise as the earlier cars are now more expensive. You can also easily retrofit stuff like Apple Car play to them,
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
Sounds steep - assume for ND’s? I would not want to modify any earlier ND unless it’s had the gearbox replaced with a NC one and the BBR conversion kit. The 1.5 is fine as it has little torque, you really don’t want to bolt a turbo or Supercharger to it!
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
Yep all ND’s. Would steer well clear unless the box has been swapped out.
There are hundreds of pages over several years about this transmission problem. Was it never fixed by Mazda ?
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Hazelberry
sister
My good friend loves her G1/G2 (not sure) MX5 with folding top. It goes like a cut cat & tracks like a train. The downside is that it's very much a drivers car not a passengers. I feel every bump! 
Earlier 2.0 ND's had some issues, that were I believe pretty much sorted after 2019, then in 2023 there have been quite a few issues with synchros going. Autos are of course not prone. Not sure how many cars were affected. From the Miata Forum (US based) the table gives the number of members transmissions replaced under warranty by year. Mazda had I think gone through 5 revisions to the manual transmission. Consensus is that the original transmission was designed for the 1.5L and was not too robust for the 2.0L. Additionally there is no data available on % of failures of cars with LSD vs non-LSD.
I don't know how many members are on the forum with ND's though. From the data if you are looking at the 2.0 version, I would steer clear of 2016 versions unless the transmission was replaced, also 2022 and 2023 unless still under warranty.
Year. Replaced
2016. 12
2017. 1
2018. 1
2019. 2
2020. 0
2021. 3
2022. 9
2023. 8
2014. 0
Update: There are 127,000 members of the forum, so my guess is perhaps 24k have ND's and of those being primarily US based perhaps 20k have 2.0 manuals.
MVV
pfm Member
A couple of years ago I sold my Mk 3 MR2 which I miss and was in fantastic condition, new headlights etc.
One of the silly decisions I made in the living grief of my wife going into a complex needs care home.
I didn’t mind the lack of boot and always got what I needed in. it was a bit slow and the plasticy interior irritated. I used it as a daily car and found occasional 10 hour drives perfectly comfortable as I’m 5’7 and not overweight.
So I’m thinking of going back to a sports car as my only car, and was considering an MX5 but on paper they seem awfully slow. I have re-read the thread and clearly they are loved but I genuinely struggle to get why.
I’ve decided against the Honda and occasionally think about a Boxster but my budget may be too low for a decent one.
I haven’t got a garage and am thinking 15 k max?
One of the silly decisions I made in the living grief of my wife going into a complex needs care home.
I didn’t mind the lack of boot and always got what I needed in. it was a bit slow and the plasticy interior irritated. I used it as a daily car and found occasional 10 hour drives perfectly comfortable as I’m 5’7 and not overweight.
So I’m thinking of going back to a sports car as my only car, and was considering an MX5 but on paper they seem awfully slow. I have re-read the thread and clearly they are loved but I genuinely struggle to get why.
I’ve decided against the Honda and occasionally think about a Boxster but my budget may be too low for a decent one.
I haven’t got a garage and am thinking 15 k max?
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
We had a Mk3 MR2. Even my 1.5 ND doesn’t feel slow (0-60 in around 8s), but the later 2.0 engined ND’s will feel quicker than the MR2. They are also far more modern and in my opinion a better drive. Try one?
Nothing wrong with Boxters but they will be far more expensive to maintain and can whack you with a large bill i.e. the engine. I also drove an older Boxter S and didn’t find it that engaging. If I had a choice between that car and my MX5, I’d take my car all day long.
MVV
pfm Member
I need to try one and you are right big bills I can’t do. I did have one of the first of the new Audi TTs; inexplicably I found it a bit dull, maybe an open topped one of them might do it. Time to have a bit of a look.
MVV
pfm Member
As you can tell, I don’t know much about cars.
The general reputation of the MX5 is that it has been the best 'cheap' sports car for many years.
Modern 2 litre MX5 does 0-60 in 6 secs.
The table MartinC gave above is very useful.
As JezmondTutu suggests : try one.
If you want faster BBR have a 2017 with brand new 200 kit close to your budget waiting for you.
Modern 2 litre MX5 does 0-60 in 6 secs.
The table MartinC gave above is very useful.
As JezmondTutu suggests : try one.
If you want faster BBR have a 2017 with brand new 200 kit close to your budget waiting for you.
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
This absolutely.
In the absence of the MR2, as an open top sportscar they literally have no competition. They are also a lightweight and engaging drive at a time where cars are getting progressively heavier and (often) unnecessarily more powerful. GT86 being the exception.
The 2.0 with a 0-60 of around 6 seconds really isn't slow, as long as you use the gears and the engine to its full potential, the later 'ND2' variant with ~182HP loves to rev and keeps pulling till the redline, I think most people who complain its too slow are used to higher capacity or turbo engines and shift up too early.
gintonic
50 shades of grey pussy cats
that is relative.
We spent some time with an MX5 years and years ago, and found it boring to be honest. In some strange way it was less interesting than the MGF we had.