Agreed… Mine was bought as a summer / weekend toy…I give it a good run once a week during winter months to keep the battery charged up & everything in working order so have no real use for the hardtop.
Went for a nice drive around the lanes this morning & although it was cold the sun was shining so it would have been nice to have thrown back the hood.
Dilemma…To sell or not to sell this is the question [:S] (The hardtop not the car)
Yes it`s nice to have & it looks good & would increase the value & make it more desireable if i ever sold the car but as the car is not a daily drive do i really need it?
When I bought my Roadster it looked like it had done the Gumball Rally every year for the last 16 , and hadn’t ever been washed. The paintwork was almost White with Oxide (Should be red!!) and the tyres were old . I use her every day and have fitted Uniroyal Rainsport 2’s for a bit of wet-weather confidence. Much Brasso and a lot of work rubbing in tiny circles and the paintwork is amazing with incredible depth. Could almost be a show car. Have to park outside though and haven’t washed my baby for 2 months now. 5 mins with the sponge and another 5 with the chammy and she’s beautiful again. Just haven’t got round to it!! Having lots of fun driving my first winter with a RWD sports car.
Late night drives are my speciality and hood-down is usually the best way to go. I’m leaving it up though mostly right now as I froze my ass off last time and the hood didn’t like the temperature at all - really tight to put back up. For 2009 I’d like a hardtop really but it would definitely be removed in the spring ,once I’ve tweaked the heater blower a bit and got a wind-deflector!!
I’ve been putting the roof down pretty much whenever it’s not raining, I treat it as an umbrella. There to keep the rain off, and not a lot else!
It’s my main car, so I drive it essentially all the time, although we still use the Corsa (my other half’s car) occasionally when we need the extra seats! Sometimes fitting the shopping in the '5 can be a litle tricky, but I find humming the Tetris theme helps enormously.
Use mine everyday - love it. Unless I need to go and get horse feed in which case the old Series IIa gets an outing.
Having said that, I’m currently working out in West Africa and driving a Toyota Land Cruiser - it’s a V8 beast and a lot of fun to drive. Not much rain here at present, but the 3ft deep potholes every half a mile would make driving the 5 a little hazardous. I’m abit worried about the transition make to my 5 in March. It’s going to feel like driving a rollerskate after this monster! [ip] [H]
No I don’t but… I’ve had my 5 for nearly 2 years now and only used in the rain for the first time last week as I was caught out [:O]
Only done around 1,000 miles (all dry) in the last 12 months and what really suprise’s is that it always starts first time and drives perfectly even after being locked away in a garage for months - only problem I have is a squeeky clutch, which goes away after a good drive - even in the rain!
I use mine most days whatever the weather, alternative modes of transport are my scooter (much colder than the 5!!) or Hilux Surf which is like driving a tank although I need it to fit my 5 dogs in as they would never fit in the 5. I do have a garage but it’s only spent a week in there as i like to look at it on the drive[:)]
I’ve never taken my Mark 1 out in the rain, it’s only ever been used on dry roads and i’ve only covered 800 miles since i bought the car six months ago. I’d never drive her in the wet as the thought of mucky spray going all over the underside just plain upsets me!
He he i get comments from neighbours, like ‘it’s a car so use it!’ and 'you’ll have no paint left if you keep polishing it! the thing is though i love the car so much it’s a problem as my heart would be well and truly broken if were parted and i don’t know how i’d live to be honest!!!
When there was a fairly mild clear day a few weeks ago i gave her a wax and polish and just sat there at dusk watching the sun set and the light casting it’s dying glows over her bodywork and i was in love, and i hope this never ends<img src=“MX-5 Owners Club Forum - MX-5 OC Forum” alt="Smile i sometimes go outside and walk around the car for 15 minuts just looking at it and thinking wow what a car and it’s mine ha ha!!!
I use my 5 everyday of the week rain or shine. I didnt use it yesterday though as the weather was so bad, thought it best she stayed at home [:)] Made it in this morning but the roads were very icy still, had a 3mph drift round the corner at work too [Y]
I use mine every day, every chance I get rain or shine, it is all black and it gets very dirty very quickly, but today my husband (who really loves his car a toyota celica gen 7, treats it like a baby ) when he is cleaning his today he washed and polished mine and cleaned and put protector on the roof it looks so nice, but more than likely will be filthy by the time I have done the 34 miles back and forward to work.
I use mine mostly at weekends with the lid down if I can. I haven’t been out in the snow as I work at home on t’farm.
Also I keep the lid down to show off my Hard Dog roll bar or as my other half calls it ‘scaffolding’. I just love the roof down and going for a blast-I keep
a woolly hat in the car just in case it gets really cold! So the answer is yes.
Driving roof-down along an A-Road in the snow is one of the reasons I’m planning on coming back to the fold. It’s just not the same in a Smart Roadster. (It’s not, relatively, as safe either!)
Another every-day-er. 40 mile round trips to work and another 30 miles or so zipping about on the weekends.
I have to admit I’ve found this thread extremely comforting - I thought I was the only one who put this sort of mileage on a Mk1! Really glad to see its not just me. I had become strangely neurotic about ‘piling on the miles’ to my relatively low-mileage 1990 car.
I do drive it in the rain and it is fine - not very different to a normal car, just noisier, and the windows seals need attention to be at their best.
I also quite like the rain because with the heavy wax coat my car wears (Dodo Juice Banana Armour) the rain just helps to wash the road dirt away and makes the car mostly clean again (except for the small amount of deposits in the rain).
looks like a 50 50 split, choice is easy 4 me other transport is motor bike, gets harder wen suns out mx5 or motorbike![8-)] gonna hav 2 sell the bike the decision is just too difficult
Mines a daily driver for commuting and pleasure trips too, although I’ve been reluctant to drive it in snow and ice. Having said that I may have to tomorrow becuase my wife wants the oil burner box
My Eunos used to be a daily commute, but since I changed jobs I went back to driving my old shed of a Renault to work, that way I only have to buy one tank of diesel a week, rather than 3 tanks of 5 juice!
I need to get the hood rubbers changed on the 5, but it leaks a lot less since it had the old vinyl roof changed for a fluffy mohair job.
