Oulton Park 17th May - BARC Open Race
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Even if they are NC’s on an ND thread…! 
Rob
Oh noooo! I was getting carried away. I just read the title properly 
.
Sorry guys, my bad.
If it’s any consolation, there were some photographs that, well … weren’t so good
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On a trip to North Wales at weekend - a great drive!!
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My ND 2.0 GT Sportnav+ featuring:
Eibach lowering springs.
Roddisons suspension geometry setup.
BBR Super 220 conversion.
Zunsport half grill.
MX5 parts side reflectors.
Undersealed from new.
Bit of a wolf in sheeps clothing!
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My two convertibles. The irony is that the Mercedes is an SLC 180, a bottom of the range 1.6 turbo engined car that they introduced as a direct competitor to the ND MX5. On paper they seem similar, both 2 seat convertibles with small petrol engines, yet to drive they could not be more different. The MX5 is a proper sports car, the Merc is an elegant cruiser. They make a good pair.
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But when would you want to take the Merc? I suppose if you are travelling a long way and there is little in the way of “driving enjoyment” to be had - ok, but then why an SLC? Not knocking it, as I am sure its a great car, but 2 similar cars seems less useful than the ND and a more practical car - if you need such a thing…
Just wondering when you would choose one over the other that’s all…
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A bit of luxury I agree to have two 2 seaters, but I also have other more practical cars for when the need arises. I guess you’d really need to try both cars to feel the difference, they are like chalk and cheese to drive. I like them both.
I see - I did have a Boxster (before the turbo came out) and I know that it was a very different car to the MX5, but if both were on the drive I know I would not use it unless I was going some distance as it was more comfortable, but I suppose I do not do that sort of motoring anymore.
I found that in the last year I had it, it cost me £2,500 in servicing etc and did about 1,000 miles, so I decided to get rid of it as it was a shame for it to just sit there. However I appreciate that if you can [have a choice of different cars], you should! I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of them both!
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I had a Cayman before these two, fabulous car, but as you found with your Boxster they are not cheap to keep. I toyed with buying a new Cayman, but they are just too fast to exploit them. I bought the SLC as I deliberately wanted to ease off and enjoy driving in a more relaxed (and licence friendly) style, and it does that superbly. After a while though I was missing having a proper sports car, hence why I bought the ND, as it fulfils a very different sort of driving pleasure.
It is worth adding that I bought both the SLC and the MX5 at whopping discounts off the list prices, and the two of them cost less than a base model Boxster would have cost me.
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I switched from a 2011 1.8 AMG Mercedes SLK to a 2016 1.5 ND MX5. Both were beautiful cars to own and drive, but both so, so completely different to each other. The SLK was definitely a luxury cruiser, opulent interior, very quick and smooth. The MX5 is a sports car!
The two cars were parked next to each other on the day of the swap. Even at that moment I was thinking … am I sure I want to do this.
The MX5 sports car fun factor was evident 3.2 seconds after I drove it off the forecourt
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I have owned this blue bullet for 4 weeks now and still smile every time I drive it. Took a drive down to Polegate in East Sussex today from North Surrey and grabbed a couple of photo’s. This car really lives up to the sales hype. I saw a few other MX5’s on the road and offered a wave. Most but not all returned the gesture. Happy days!
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They are both red, rear wheel drive and silly, that’s about where the similarities end
It’s SLC vs MX-5 all over again 
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@Snelly and @John_R_Hunter that’s really funny, I had a 987 Gen2 Cayman before my MX-5 also.
Very much the same feelings as you both, lovely car, but difficult to enjoy on public roads, I tracked it a couple of times to get the full experience.
Also as you say, very expensive to repair. Servicing was reasonable at a specialist, but as soon as you needed to replace something, it was expensive, and being an older car, 2009, it was needing lots of suspension refreshed.
It’s just got to the point where it would not be economical to repair it to my high standard, e.g. it needed a fair bit of paintwork also.
I also considered a new Boxster, but was put off by the amount required to spec it up, and it was only a flat 4, which everyone says is not very good.
Also the image of a Porsche is interesting, you get a lot of negative reactions.
So I got a 2 year old ND instead, only requires services, I can just enjoy it.
The ND is a much better overall package.
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Agreed!
MX-5 is a sports car for the real world.
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@glosrich Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Porsches, and if Porsche had brought out a smaller car than the Cayman/Boxster as was rumoured, I would almost certainly own one now. But they chose to go in the opposite direction and make them ever bigger, faster, more powerful and more expensive … and to my mind ever more pointless as road cars.
I bought a Eunos Roadster and ran it alongside my Cayman, and changed it for an NC, so I had the benefit of being able to choose what car to run. In 2017 I cleared the decks and started again!
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