Thought I’d introduce myself, got myself a little NC1 2.0 Non Sport on March as a bit of fun to use for a road trip to the Black Forest with some mates.
Bought a silver 2 owner car which has every receipt from new including the order form and the receipt for underseal and cavity wax before delivery. By all accounts the original owner had an NB that rusted away and he didn’t want any this to happen again.
Car is relatively standard but has
BC Racing coilovers
Buddlyclub 17 inch wheels
Cobalt back box.
Ive been lucky to have some mega cars - Caterham 310R, 2x 996 GT3, Cayman R, Cayman GTS 981 Spyder, Elise 111s and the little MX5 as a fun tool certainly holds it’s own in that company.
So with this in mind I decided to keep it (it’s also my only ULEZ car) and I’m turning it into a bit of a track toy / euro trip car. What’s amazing is the whole thing cost less than half of what it used to cost to run the 996 GT3s on track for a season.
I’m 6ft so I’ve got a bucket seat coming and I’m going to mount that tona Cybul fixed mount.
Then I need to sort the alignment out. It drives well but the car is a bit too high at the front and could do with a touch more front camber.
As you’ve already discovered, one of the joys of the MX-5s is being able to explore and enjoy the cars limits at sensible speeds. There’s no need to drive at over 100mph to have fun.
I hope you’ll consider sharing your adventures with us all as you continue your journey of discovery and modifications.
Thanks both for the warm welcome. I’ll setup a little readers rides for sure. Always a good way to document work and equally does help if you ever come to sell
Welcome! What a great list of cars you’ve owned - feel free to share some photos as plenty of us are car enthusiasts, not just MX-5 enthusiasts
I cross shopped for my MX-5 with a Lotus Elise (series 2 supercharged) and honestly thought an MX-5 felt immediately more fun and engaging to drive. I can’t deny the pace and capability in the Lotus but at twice the price it didn’t stack up. I’m also lucky to be able to drive my dad’s 911 GTS and, while it’s an awesome thing, there are plenty of narrow twisty roads where I’m at least as happy in my MX-5 and probably more confident to make swift progress. You can have too much car on some roads, IMO.
I can definitely oblige with other photos! Here’s a couple. Out of the two 996 GT3s I had this was my favourite - lots of cup car parts and Ohlins dampers, cup diff etc.
Did 6 ring trackdays and 6 spa track days over two years.
Find it difficult to get my head around this. The only thing I can agree with is the Mx5 is so much smaller than all those pictured. That makes so much difference in the real world of driving today.
Parking and turning circle are brilliant and the lack of width is such a bonus as everyone thinks your the same size as them so leave huge gaps to allow you through.
All those cars featured are going to have beautiful interiors and I assume very expensive suspension that will make for a better ride ?
Ive never driven one, but assume something like a Porsche isn’t going to rattle your fillings or dislocate your vertebrae as much as the MX?
So the Elise - beautiful car and a joy to drive but feels incredibly fragile and I worried about it all the time.
Caterham - Amazing fun, closest I’ll ever get to a motorbike, brilliant on track but impossibly compromised. It’s the one car I do miss though.
Porsches - These are all objectively brilliant but they are much too fast to enjoy in England on today’s roads and when used properly the cost of enjoyment is quite high. That yellow 996 GT3 I have there was ran over the 3 years that I had it as absolutely no expense spared and the bills from all the track day maintenance, tyres etc were about £20k as a few things went wrong as well. Then factor in you’re throwing a £60-70k car around sometimes uninsured on track and it’s a bit dicey.
Alongside the MX5 I still have a classic Merc - a 1995 SL500 from the SL Shop (see below)
The MX5 as a pure driving machine on the road is brilliantly fun at low speeds which is what you want, the gearbox is sensational (same as I had in the Caterham) and with the few mods I’ve got the chassis is brilliant.
When you then take that forward as a track car this is very crass to say but dancing around in the wet with £4k is suddenly a lot more enjoyable than £60k.
Have a couple more pics! Caterham I also drove to the ring did Destination Nurburgring, left it there and then came back a few weeks later to do a Spa double header.
Im in a similar position,got my 111R Elise up for sale due to lack of use.
Have considered a Boxster/Cayman but the the 5 is a lot more useable.
Ideally id like to do a Turbo conversion.
Glad you’re enjoying it and what a great list of previous cars . After continually escalating bigger and more powerful cars ending in my last which was a 2018 mustang gt I’ve gone back to basics with an mx5 and don’t regret it. Great fun to drive and puts a smile on my face when I take it out for a blast.
