New owner of a 2007 Black MX5 Mk3 2.0 in North Yorkshire

[Sabarras]

Greetings!

I wanted my first car purchase to be a mk1 MX5 circa 1998 alas, I couldn’t quite afford it and bought a 1990 Mini Cooper instead.

Yesterday I travelled from Teesside to Carlisle by train to see a nice looking black 2.0 Mk3 model advertised on Ebay, I’d bought a return ticket just in case it was a dog but fortunately it was a beauty so I bought the car on the spot, then drove it back across the Pennines on the A66.
Having modified the Mini up to 100bhp and then selling it to purchase an Elise S2, driving the Mazda brought back memories of those well set up car driving sensations, I can’t wait to get used to the way it drives so that I feel confident pushing it more.
I see why you all love the car so much now. I found the suspension to be adequate for the bumpy Yorkshire roads but the car rolls quite a bit. Acceleration is nice and linear and motorway driving is very comfortable, I mostly noticed road noise. the brakes feel very good. There is a decent amount of aural pleasure from the engine and standard exhaust but I could do with enhancing that a little without making it too loud. I think that it’s a car that will bring a smile to my face every time I sit in it, just like my previous sporty lightweights

I wanted to start modifying my MX5 straight away, I love customising my vehicles but having lived in France for the last few decades, my insurance no claims bonus started from zero in the UK so a modified car is out of the question with only 1 year NCB now. I don’t want to pay £1400+ for insurance just to be able to drive a car that isn’t particularly fast.

Anyway, I’m going to make some cosmetic mods until the modified insurance quote figures come down somewhat. When that happens the first job will be suspension, then exhaust, then induction…etc etc

Here are the Ebay photos of the car:

The car has driven around 76500 miles and cost me £3500, insurance costs £317/year

There are a few things to replace and sort out, the suspension springs are mentioned in the MOT advisory and it needs some new suspension bushes. It’s like someone tried to steal the sun visors, the passenger side one is missing the the driver’s side doesn’t stay up. There are a few minor paint work repairs to be done to make it perfect, a slow bumper impact has cracked the rear bumper’s paint and left some scratches luckily without permanent deformation. The driver seat right side bolster is a bit worn, I’ll have to find a way to fix it before it gets too damaged.

I look forward to admiring your cars and learning from your experiences.

P.S. If I have the spare cash I wouldn’t mind fitting a hard top if anyone has one to sell.

[Dutchie]

Hi

Such great value aren’t they and yours looks great. I have a black NC too and have carried out all the mods you’ve mentioned. Where in NY are you? I’m often up that way in Whitby.

Nick

[Das68]

Looks a nice car, and similar to mine other than colour.

The first and by far the best mod I have made to mine was fitting the eibach pro kit springs , only cost £100.00 off ebay never used including postage. It transformed the ride and handling , I would still like to go further with the Meister R shocks and springs but it’s now “good enough” and I’m finding it hard to justify spending £1000.00 to make it any better.

I have also had 2 lotus Elise’s and 2 Caterham’s so know a little about suspension and how good it can be.!

2nd needs to be the exhaust so it makes the correct noise.

Unfortunately there is quite a bit of road noise ( I’m told it’s much worse with a hard top ), I’ve found a lot comes from the hood drain tubes, I’ve put foam in mine (common mod) and it’s makes a noticeable difference.

[Sabarras]

I’m based in Ingleby Barwick near Stockton on Tees. It takes about an hour to drive to Whitby on the main road but I think that with the Mazda, I’d go the twisty way through villages such as Kildale, Danby, etc
Fish and chips are great in Whitby, love that town.

[Dutchie]

I know Danby, not the other two. It’s a great bit of coast and hinterland. Many less visited villages to get lost in.

First upgrade I’d do is replace the aerial with a stubby one. Think I paid £17 for mine. Love the boot rack, looks good.

[Sabarras]

I completely in phase with you on the desired modifications, I will probably just fit Eibach springs to begin with, later maybe change the bushes and tweek the geometry.
If I decided to keep the car until it falls apart then I’d probably spend thousands and turn it into a supercharged track weapon.
If I can just improve the ride and handling that’ll probably be enough for a few years.

For the exhaust, I have done a lot of research about how to get the sound you desire, partly because I made some mistakes with my Mini and Elise exhaust choices, they were pretty loud and the tone was too deep, causing annoying drone at cruising speeds. The Mini had a 3" main pipe and twin 3" exits, it sounded amazing at high revs but coughed and sputtered low down (the system was by Play Mini).
The Elise had a singe inlet to twin pipes like the Mk3 MX5. I fitted a special silencer by Spintech Mufflers and had the cat back system custom made. Two 2" tail pipes with Megaphone oval tips made it sound great but it droned a lot just at 70-80 mph - legal French autoroute speeds, it was really quiet just over the speed limit annoyingly.
https://youtu.be/xcWuGUmy8As?si=me31sqauP_3Lz6lM

This is my exhaust sound research playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP-hGX0dhBqRdAStACcpfceLltusnYenh&si=68ghiqIWPEeo83Wb

With all my lessons and knowledge, I will probably fit the Skunkwork2 Alpha series equal length manifold to get the right high pitched sound then get a custom single exit system made by a specialist with a high flow sports cat, bottle resonator and a high flowing silencer. It should sound smooth but powerful and loud enough to hear but quiet enough not to annoy the neighbours.

[Sabarras]

Yes, they are a great idea. I just ordered one yesterday, my car will be parked in the drive and covered, no space in the garage unfortunately.

[Das68]

I have a go perform back box at present , it’s not too loud but although I was told they don’t drone, it does a bit ( but it sounds much better than stock )
I have just brought a used Larini which is meant to be the best back box for an Mx5 but i haven’t tried it yet.

On my mk2 Elise , I fitted a stage 1 lotus sports exhaust + the induction kit and it sounded fantastic, quiet when pottering around and great when you put your foot down or the revs got past 6000.

My first Elise was a Mk1 sport 160 and sounded great in stock form.

I have also upgraded the speakers and fitted a used pioneer head unit to the mx5 with apple car play, hands free and reverse camera ( eBay bargain £130 ) which has made the car feel much more modern.

[Sabarras]

I’ve seen those touch screens fitted they look great. it seems like so long ago that we used CD players in cars.
Do you have a link for the part that you fitted?

[Das68]

This is a link to the next version up to mine, mine is a SPH-DA130DAB rather than 160, brought used with the fitting kit, I also brought a rear view camera (from eBay) , was less than £10.00 from china!.

Mazda MX-5 2006-2008 Pioneer 6.8" Apple CarPlay DAB Stereo Upgrade Kit

[Wansbeck]

Lovely looking example. Congrats!

[Planet_Claire]

Get yourself known to the Tyne Tees area MX-5 Owners Club Tyne Tees | Facebook as they are very active. One of their social meets is at the Anson Farm, so not far from you.

[julesmx51]

Fully respect your decision to modify (a hobby and skill in itself for sure) but gosh this car looks really nice ‘as is’!!

[Sabarras]

Thanks, it’s not perfect but I’m amazed by how clean and well looked after the car is, the under bonnet area looks more like a low mileage car.

I only have subtle exterior mods planned because I also like the basic shape.
I do like the launch edition’s chrome treatment and I’d like to get some Z-Sport headlamps without the orange bits, some 25+30mm lowering springs and it will look the way I want.

Most of the future mods will be hidden performance upgrades apart from some silver lightweight wheels and tyres over a big brake kit

Here’s a Photoshopped side view of my plans:

[Sabarras]

Thanks for telling me about that, I’ve just made a request to join.

[julesmx51]

Yes, very discreet. I like!