I would say ‘YES’.
It is not worth anyone wasting any more time on this.
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Too busy to reply, out enjoying the drive now the new tyres or pressures have been sorted.
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Hey.
Sorry my mx5oc emails were dumping into spam fixed that), i hadnt seen this had replied. lots for me to read 
Obviously this is my take on the car/model. Yes, i found all 3 that i drove very similar.
Perhaps it would have been wording better if i had of said having ‘‘no confidence’’ in the car.
I have been out now for some proper corning out on well known roads. and the rear end breaks traction when i wouldnt expect it to. the car performs weight transfer during mid corners, when i dont want it to.
Not easy to put into words on a forum, so give me some leeway there. but its a symptom of poor suspension setup (and to a degree, rear end lift on higher speed corners).
Thats how it feels to me, personally.
As a result i have very little trust in the car in its ability to hold me to the road.
thanks all for your replies. sorry ive not been able to respond to them sooner.
I think the best thing you can do is put it in the classifieds and sell it and go back to one of your more exotic cars
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When I test drove cars before buying my ND1, I too drove some I was not at all happy with. I drove an abarth 124 too which was scary to even give it full power in a straight line and I took it straight back to the dealer.
When I drove mine, it immediately felt way better by far than all the others. After buying it, I found the bridgestone tyres were ok in the dry but would break traction when changing gear on acceleration and were poor in the wet.
I fitted michelin pilot sport 5s in 215 width and the car was so much better in all conditions. I had the alignment checked and it was all good (could take a bit more camber though).
I agree with the feeling that there was too much body roll and now have eibach pro springs which help reduce this.
I think you have been unlucky to come across cars with bad alignments and old/poor tyres which will not give any confidence in the handling. Get some good tyres on there and a good alignment and see what you think then but bear in mind the temperatures are dropping for summer tyres now., especially where you are.
If you want more torque and a better map, have a look at the remap by CleaR motorsport in Preston, it comes highly recommended and is very cheap!
Good luck!
Hi @DirtyHabit
I think one of the challenges is that many of us would be happy to offer you help and support, but it isn’t very clear from your posts if you’re looking to resolve the issues you’re experiencing, or just to say “It is a bad car”
If you’d like help, remind us where you are, and I’m sure there are kind people here who will be more than happy to guide you towards known specialists who can sort out the ride issues you’re experiencing.
And … happy motoring!
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Which, despite being aimed a bit more “mainstream road user” than most other Lotus cars, is far more sophisticated than the MX5 with suspension set ups that are several thousand pounds more expensive from the factory and still adhere to Lotus’ racing heritage in terms of unsprung weight ratios and target stiffening of the aluminium chassis.
Again, aluminium chassis and of course ADAPTIVE DAMPERS, different drive modes can be selected for downforce, gear changes, dampening etc etc, comes with about 20 different drive modes. A much heavier car so naturally has a fair bit of downforce and doesn’t have the unsprung weight problems that Lotus is so on top of and of course the stock mx5 generally “suffers” from. Was your jag all wheel drive?
What can I say, you know it’s a downgrade! The mx5 is not a sophisticated car!
As for being too powerful for its chassis… lol no way. Have you seen the bhp some people force into their 5? show me a 5 owner that wouldn’t accept 40 more bhp in their car if you were giving it away and I’ll show you someone who shouldn’t own a sports car in the first place!
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I need to get more trendy and in-gang. I had ‘old’ bridgestones (right on 7 years old, 3mm front when I replaced them) on my ND, and experienced nothing like the OP alledges. Still though, I really need to stop saying stuff like the Potenzas are good or ‘old Bridegstones’ were fine etc etc, it’s just not trendy
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Drove 3 varied pre-production NDs at the Mazda VIP day in Berwick a few years back. They were, I think b adge engineered JDMs for the purpose. Our SatNavs had been pre-programmed by the attending staff over a mix of severe twisties and long straights. Suffice to say I stepped out of each one well schooled…I’'d finally met a chassis and general set up better than me. I could not get the rear to unstick, and the front dug in like a rabid dog after a bone. Mechanical grip was astonishing. And, I’ve had a few very tight and quick cars over 50 years but the ND was the best and most sure footed A to B pocket rocket I ever drove. When I got back to my ( well set up and aligned) Mk2.5 Sport to drive home…it felt heavy and relatively ponderous, and if I’d applied the same pressures…Id have helped the local farmers do some ploughing with it.
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nothing to fix or remedy from the forum. im just sharing my driving views on the car is all, and wondering how you all felt about your first impressions.
tyres were all changed for its MOT. all 4 are bridgestone @ 29 psi cold, and dated 42nd week of 2023.
I am very comfortable saying what im feeling isnt a tyre induced problem. and im sure a stationary camera on a roadabout as i try to do one lateral G would showcase that to be true 
But the suspension is being ripped out next week anyway. all off to the bin.
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Well. That set the cat amongst the pigeons.
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I did a Scott Mansell sim racing class last year and there was some information it it that may be pertinent here. When you have a car with softer suspension, your initial braking and steering inputs have to be more gentle. With regard to steering, he suggests that you turn in slightly earlier and more gently, allow the suspension to compress and then put in the full steering angle required. This prevents the case of just turning in aggressively and having the car deal with a change of direction and body roll, with potential bump stop contact, all at the same time. Similarly with braking. Don’t just jump on the brakes. Partially brake to get the nose down, and then fully brake once the suspension has settled.
There’s nothing wrong with the MX5, you just have to learn to drive it in a slighty different manner,
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I agree. im finding more confidence being light handed with it on entry. but mid corner still gives me varying levels of grip depending on how the inside pops up
I can’t find the post, but Rodders (aka Roddisons Motorsport, Sheffield) posted about his ND race car’s strange cornering behaviour under certain conditions that was eventually traced to the stability control software. My recollection is he now runs modified stabilty software on his race car.
Edit: Obviously the above comments apply to a fully prepped race car being driven on track at speed by a skilled racing driver. My takeaway from Rodders’ post was that the stability control can intervene in unexpected ways if it detects things it doesn’t like. Rodders knows as much about setting these cars up as anyone, I’d suggest speaking to him if you’re unhappy with your car’s dynamic behaviour.
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This is very surprising, I’ve owned several high powered cars and can honestly say the MX5 ND is one of the best handling cars available at any price. My ND is on BBR springs with the standard bilsteins and the handling is excellent. Smoothly driven the car can out corner friends who have much more powerful machinery. It’s easy to place on a B road and I can turn into a bend and place the car with pinpoint accuracy. Driving in the wet does demand some respect as it’s a light car. I also have a 1990 NA on standard springs and shocks and that is a peach too.
As the suspension has infinite adjustments, as previously mentioned it’s worth getting the car checked out by someone who is familiar with the sophisticated suspension set up. In short the car should feel manageable, turn in crisply and track straight. What a great car!
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Try putting the power down immediately after the turn in point of the bend - more stability!
I think I remember something years ago like that. Didn’t he film a car in front on the track doing all sorts of strange stuff under braking?
It was Rodder’s car being filmed from behind. No brake lights but the oh so clever electronics locked up the back end and spun him backwards into the barrier. Seem to think it happened twice before he came up with a solution to the problem.
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Yeah, that’s the one.
Might have commented about not wanting his Mrs in one
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From memory the gist was the stability control braked automatically (applying braking to one side / wheel only I think) and unsettled the car, causing it to spin backwards in to the barrier. The OPs comments about his car transferring weight mid corner in unexpected ways made me wonder if it was the same thing.
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