MX5 ND2 184 2019 Sport Nav+ B Road and track toy

[DC04R]

Thought I might as well start a small thread as I do this with most, if not all of my cars, for a bit of provenance and to share some of my experiences, etc. I never seem to be able to leave a car alone - bone stock, in my 25+ years of motoring

Had this over a year now. Car was previously on this forum from new with previous owner, who went for the black/white look and did that very well to be honest. He put a lot of time and effort into it and that’s one of the reasons I bought this car. When I was searching it had to be an ND2 with the uprated engine. Was so tempted to get the Anniversary car just for the Recaros, but wasn’t a massive fan of the Orange paint. Eventually I’ll find some Recaros from a Launch or Recaro edition, but not the end of the world.

Have changed it up a little since that time (sorry!). Removed the BBS wheels, black badges, DRL covers and smoked side repeaters. Have kept the Mazda Eibach springs on, Aero kit, Ulter rear backbox/diffuser, Zunsport grille and LED bulbs all round.

My plans for the car will be around keeping the car revvy, NA and lightweight, with a bit extra than it came from the factory with.

Added new OEM chrome badges, OEM clear side repeaters, new 17" Konig Hypergram wheels with 215 45 17 Falken FK510 tyres (8j width, clear the Brembos and a flow formed and light weight), some engine bay bling (Cusco strut brace, IL motorsport hose, carbon dipped fuel rail cover, etc), interior from a 124 Abarth (red tacho, chunkier steering wheel, alcantara dash/gear gaiter/handbrake gaiter), OEM Mazda SS pedal set, OEM mazda sill covers, Raceseng weighted gearknob, perspex windblocker, Moss stubby aerial, refurbished Brembo MX5/Abarth calipers, repainted rear calipers white, Mintex M1144 pads, C hook discs, HEL braided brake lines and a gearbox cooling scoop. Also had it aligned over at Tuned UK in Wrexham.

Tempted to swap out the Mazda rear spoiler for a ducktail in carbon or white, BBR 220 maybe next year, Sportline springs and Koni dampers, ARB upgrade. Also will be treating it to a minor detailing session, probably not ceramic coat it as I enjoy cleaning and applying various waxes to it.

I’ve cleaned up the underside as best I can, last summer and treated it all with ACF50 to keep dirt and corrosion at bay - not too keen on underseals just yet as the car is only used in fair weather and is garaged most of the time.

[Jonathan_W]

I saw your car over at the PistonHeads forums a weeks ago, it looks great

Also, did own an FN2 Civic Type R at some point as I seem to recognise your username?

May I ask where did you bought those front brake discs from please?

There’s a noticeable lack of upgrades offered for Brembo calipers in the UK since they were only fitted to the 30th Anniversary and Abarth 124 Spider. I ended up importing G-LOC GS1 brake pads from the US along with other parts in one shipment to save delivery costs.

[DC04R]

I did mate! I had the Fn2 for a couple of years, but it got nicked off the drive while we slept! I’ve moved house since so my anxiety can cope a lot better. That’s been replaced by a 2017 Octavia VRs which I use more so on a daily basis.
Also had an Ep3 track car, but I flogged that to buy the MX5 as my toy, as I’d had it 9 years and wanted something RWD and revvy without the E92 M3 running costs and age related headaches.

The discs are just MTEC ones mate, £100 quid or so, maybe a bit less. Got the same style ones for my Skoda at same time.

Yeah there’s a real lack of lots of parts for the ND in my opinion. MX5 should have loads of stuff available! Had to import the wheels and gearknob from the states. Ducktail spoilers all seem to be Asia/USA too, nothing in the UK.

The Brembos and interior I managed to get off a low mileage Abarth 124 that was being broken near me. Had them refurbished up at Brake Caliper refurbs in Rochdale (he’s done 4 sets for me now including some Aston Martin Brembos for the VRs). I did have some 6 pot wilwoods done too, for the Mazda, but sold them on to a bloke on here, as preferred the look and OEM+ of the Brembos.

As for pads for the Brembos mate, they’re the same pads as you’d get in a Clio 200, so just look for those - plenty of choice then. Just need some pad material taking off I believe to fit the different thickness discs.

[DC04R]

Blingy bay

[Jonathan_W]

Shame about the FN2 and I hope you are doing better!

I traded my modified one plus cash for a 2016 Toyota Aygo runabout just before collecting my new ND2 as a weekend only car. I often miss the Big Brake Kit fitted to the FN2 except for the dust made by the PBS ProRace pads. I considered fitting an LSD for it too but having seen the amount of rust under the car and seeping through behind the plastic arches, I decided to let the car go after owning it for 10 years and driven over 100,000 miles.

The G-LOC pads I have are almost identical to Carbotech and both companies recommend resurfacing the existing discs or buying new ones if you have not used their compounds before. I opted for the latter at almost double the price of the standard non-Brembo front brake discs but should I wish to track the car, both companies say their track pads can be used with existing discs pre-bedded with their non-track compounds. Thanks for the tip regarding the Clio 200 brake pads

One modification I would like to do on my ND2 in the future is swapping the final drive to 3.45 ratio. This would reduce all max speeds per gear close to what the FN2 had as standard. I thought the FN2 gear ratios were perfect for the UK speed limits

Annoyingly, the final drive swap breaks the gear shift indicator on the rev counter gauge and requires a remap to fix it

[DC04R]

Can’t beat PBS pads on track! Only thing I used on circuit in my ep3.

Too dusty for the road though so used Stoptech street pads. My Fn2 had the OEM LSD as was a 60 plate, was quite mild compared to the LSD in the R26 megane I had but still good. I’ve just had a Wavetrac fitted to my Skoda, love a good diff. I actually used an Aygo for a while 'til I got my payout, brilliant little cars they are. Then a Twingo RS 133 and eventually the Skoda.

I was tempted to ask that lad with the Abarth if he still has the FD out of that, which is the 3.45. Can’t be bothered with the hassle though, think I’ll try the 220 conversion if I feel I really need to. Thing is I don’t want any headaches, I got a new(er) car to avoid all the niggles.

Brembos were really just for reducing weight and adding looks to be fair. The M1144 pads are ok on track up to a point, I had them in my VRS but have since gone to M1155 and they handle the heat much better.

[DC04R]

First MOT and annual service carried out today at Oakmere Mazda.
Great bunch of guys there. Highly recommend that particular main dealer.

[DC04R]

If anyone knows of a decent deal on a set of front/rear anti roll bars, please let me know! Had a set ordered from DT a year ago but got sick of waiting after 7 months. Now the price has jumped up 20% since

[Jonathan_W]

BOFI Racing has some with shorter lead times:

Anti-Roll Bars | Mazda MX-5 Performance Parts | BOFI Racing

Alternatively, BBR GTi claims to have the Eibach version in stock:

Eibach MX-5 ND Front and Rear Tubular Anti Roll Bar

[DC04R]

So bloody expensive for these cars. Double what I’d paid for my skoda vrs!

[MikeyC]

BBR fitted the Eibach roll bars to my car recently and I collect it this week, so yes the parts are likely in stock (but call to check).

[DC04R]

Let me know how much of an improvement it is. Not cheap but on this car but always an effective upgrade I’ve done on my others

[MikeyC]

Will do. It won’t be particularly objective, though, because the last time I drove the car it was stock and now it’s got the Super 200 package, BBR’s performance springs, uprated front brakes, the Eibach anti roll bars, BBR’s exhaust, and OZ wheels.

[DC04R]

Nurburgring trips are usually an annual event for me, the last 2 years I’ve had to miss though, due to Covid and other travel limiting factors. Decided to take the mx5 as it has European cover and warranty for another month or 2. Its also not fussy about fuel, whereas my Skoda will only take vpower/momentum 99, etc. Its also a lot better on consumption.

But, more importantly it’s more fun and summertime you can’t not take the convertible.
Boot surprisingly was adequate for 2 adults’ baggage. And it was absolutely fine to drive all that way, not uncomfortable at all.

Did a couple of laps of TF on the Friday evening, I knew the weekend would be chaotic so decided to spectate on sat and Sunday - find a spot and drink beer. We stayed in Adenau so it was pretty handy. Covid has really killed off a lot of businesses in the area it seems. Was a lot quieter and less choice to go to in the evening, than previous years.

Some insects got absolutely battered over the 5 days too, all over my front bumper and windscreen.

1153 miles, 3 tanks of fuel (just under), managed to average (including b road blasts around the Nürburgring area as well as the two laps at full beans) the car managed 41.1 MPG. Which I think is really quite good for a 2.0 184 bhp motor.

Great car this, I absolutely love it. It’s no lap time record breaker but it’d keep the pace on the track for most stuff that isn’t mental bhp/£.

[DC04R]

Removed the black oem mazdaspeed spoiler as I preferred something colour coded, going off this whole black on white thing.
Prompted me to de smoke the rear Clusters too and have them all red, instead.
Fancy one of those red led strips for the boot now to add to the red.

[DC04R]

Got a bit carried away with the red accents, but kinda like it for now. That boot lid gap was annoying me anyway.

Also got some (finally) snazzy red Eibach ARB’s (27mm/16mm) to get rid of a lot of the famous MX5 body roll. Did originally order these last year but with Covid (excuse) backlogs I got sick of waiting and after 6 months I cancelled the order. Annoyingly, the kit was £283 back then. The price has since shot up to £355 (with DT) and there was 1 set left in stock. I was hoping for an ebay code or some sort of sale, to get them for a bit less.
However, after speaking to Eibach UK (or their main stockist) and Tegiwa, it seems there’s a revised part and this kit is now discontinued. There is no actual revision to the part (still 2 way adjustable, same thickness, hardware, etc) but they’re manufactured in the USA now and not Germany. As a result, the price of the MX5 Mk4 kit will be £550!!! So I ordered this set from Demon Tweeks straight away, as it was the last set they had in stock.

Just need to get it fitted now - front one is a PITA I believe. Nice little touch on the front D bushes, looks to have a little bleed screw built into the bush to allow you to re grease them.

I’ve still got the IL motorsport adjustable droplinks and PACO motorsport front subframe reinforcement brackets, so they’ll get fitted at the same time.

[Clive192]

Against that white paint work I think the red on the boot looks brilliant
Regards
Clive

[DC04R]

Cheers yeah I should hate it, but I don’t. Thing with white cars, you need to break it up a bit.

[DC04R]

Obligatory Paul Kent rear LED strip for the ND

[DC04R]

I added a bit more cooling to the brakes, as the brembos on my skoda discoloured and blistered at Bedford.
Won’t be a massive improvement I doubt but for the sake of a few quid it’s worth a do. Got the same sort of thing on my octavia but they’re plug and play as they use the rs3 brake ducts.
These ones are off a porsche gt3 and can be fitted with a few modifications and cable ties. So effictively my car is a porsche gt3 now so bound to be rapid.
You can also just about make out the gearbox cooling scoop I had put on last year.