I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __Gear Change
I recently took delivery of a new 1.5 ltr ND
I have owned a number of MX-5’s over the last 28 years, NA, NC, ND but have to say this car has a particularly notchy gear box when cold mainly 1st to 2nd and a little notchy 2nd to 3rd (I’m aware its a common thing on MX-5’s) but on this car it doesn’t start to improve until after about 30 minutes driving, even then its not as slick as my previous MX-5’s.
So far I have only clocked up 500 miles and hope the gear change will improve when the miles increase. Has anyone else experienced a similar issue on a late model ND ?
Just remember you have 3yrs (or is it 6yrs now?) warranty. I think it you take it back now all you’ll get is a ‘give it a chance’ response, unless it’s almost undriveable.
I’ve had a number of issues (like gearbox whine) on my 2l which have gone away or I’ve got used to them in a 6000m…
For what it’s worth my 2023 1.5 ND had very smooth and slick gear changes in all gears. If it had been as difficult as you describe it would have gone back to the dealer.
I do agree that giving it a few thousand miles to ease off should improve things. However if there is something wrong and it gets worse then you don’t want the dealer blaming you for not reporting it earlier.
Email to the service manager does sound like a good plan and might be worth asking if it would be wise to bring it in to have the gearbox oil level checked. They will probably say not necessary but at least then you’ve got your concerns documented.
If it’s better when it’s warm then that wouldn’t be unusual. But the email sounds like a good idea.
I suspect that, if they do respond, they will phone you. Get a name and make contemporaneous notes;)
Don’t let it prey on your mind. The gearbox issues (which do exist) became a big talking point around the time we bought our 1.5 Arctic in 2017. It still baulks when cold and I’m still waiting for it to break!
I posted a couple of weeks back about the 6 speeders in another thread. Apart from the NA 5 speed all the other MX-5’s I’ve owned including the current ND1 which total 4 have been 6 speed. All of those have had stiff/notchy changes 1st to 2nd when cold, worse in the winter cold.
Also I mentioned, you just adapt to driving it that way, change the way you change gear, especially 1st to 2nd.
No doubt the dealer will say, give it time sir, it’s wearing in and will improve within the first 1k miles or something on those lines. They could be correct and you will probably get used to it being like that. Time will tell, at least you’ve made them aware of it and it’ll be interesting to how they respond.
I can’t moan at mine, but it was stiffer when new. I’d say 6K miles or so.
I sometimes wonder when watching reviews, do reviewers just peddle out rubbish like the world’s best gear change etc as they think they’ve got to. Again, I can’t moan at mine, but my Mrs’s MINI or my up! gti are better.
As for inofrming the dealer. NO doubt you’ll just be gaslighted, and in fairness, like others have said you’ve got a 6 year warranty and again as other have mentioned (including my own case), it did/do get looser over time. I recall occasional issues putting mine into 1st after being in neutral at traffic lights, was one from the early days. Touch wood it hasn’t done that for years though. That jogs a memory in fact, when I had my first ever ND test drive, the demo car was literally new. I couldn’t get it into 1st on the forecourt, and nor could the dealer!!
I’ve had a new 1.5 ND1 and now have a 2.0 30AE from new. Both were/ are a bit notchy 1st to 2nd but improves as the box warms up. I found it is also better now a few miles on the clock. Takes about 10,000 miles before you get the best from the car in my opinion