Good luck with gearbox longevity if you fit a supercharger. As I understand it even the latest gearbox revision (the 5th I think) is right on the limit of the standard ND2 engines torque output.
Yeh, getting that sorted at install would be a must.
Its the reason why torque was lowered on the nd2.
I remember having an old rover 800 whose gearbox imploded on me back in the day. Fun times
1 Like
My ND1 turbo (with a v5 gearbox fitted) is doing fine so far, fingers crossed ofcourse.
1 Like
Thanks, I don’t plan on installing a turbo as this car will be a big step up in terms of performance - I won’t feel the need to squeeze more performance out of the engine.
I hope you don’t mind me asking, but as a matter of interest what sort of torque figures are you running, and is it limited in the lower gears in any way?
The reason I asked is originally it was my intention to turbocharge an ND2, but stories of gearbox woes put me off completely - I even considered and researched using a manual diff (for the LSD) with an auto box, as iirc the auto box is safe ish to 275 lbs ft, more than enough in 1100 kg.
1 Like
No problem, its running 248 bhp and 240 lbs ft, as said its got a v5 gearbox in and needed a stage 1 clutch to handle the extra power in my case as the standard clutch was slipping. I don’t know about the torque delivery, but it doesn’t feel like it is limited in the lower gears, although i will admit most of the time I am careful how hard i push it in the lower gears, as most gearbox failures have occurred when changing from 2nd to 3rd. I also run a gearbox cooling scoop and 75w140.
If you like the ‘beetle back’ look of the RF, fair enough, but what really put me off it (and I had an NC Roadster with foldy hard top for 14 years) was that unlike my Roadster, with the roof down it’s not an open top. it’s a Targa top. That’s fine if you’re fine with that, but do consider it before you choose. I went for the ND 2.0 soft top, a new one I’ve had about a year now and I love it!
I’ve recently “upgraded” my NB to an ND as I now drive into the office once or twice a week. It’s a 120 mile round trip into Canary Wharf, London. I miss the NB, which was a lot of fun, but I have to admit the ND is a lot more comfortable with a lot less miles and is much more practical for commuting. It’s a 2017 ND1, the 1.5. I had a very particular ND in mind, but if and when they became available they sold very, very quickly - hence making do with the ND1.
Good luck with the car hunt, you’ll never look back!
Thanks for the advice all!
Went for a 2019 RF ND2, I’m very excited!
Any advice for any first things to do when I get it?
2 Likes
congratulations !
The ND2 engine is so much more fun than the ND1, I switched and never looked back.
A must-have for an rf is a smart top controller. They way the roof lowering switch works as standard is a pain. Cost 400ish, but it’s the best thing i fitted to mine.
If you’re fairly tall a set of seat lowering brackets, im 6 foot 2. And with them fitted, i no longer smack my head on the roof when it gets bumpy
2 Likes
Just put fuel in and drive it, simple as that.
1 Like
exactly what I was going to say, did the OP really need to ask that question 
First thing I did was put the hood down but this is an RF!
Good colour though!
1 Like
Hmm, it depends on how long you want to keep it.
PCP for three years? Just enjoy driving it like you stole it. But beware of rapid loss of license points.
However the first thing I did on our new (keeper) Mazda3 while it was still shiny clean underneath was to pay for the box sections and cavities to be injected and the underbody protected, all with Dinitrol stuff.
Why? I read the docs that come with the car. The Mazda rust warranty is utterly worthless because it specifically excludes corrosion caused by salt!
Then it was thrown into all-weather daily use. With any luck it will last as long as our children still let us drive!
I was lucky with finding our second-hand NC already having been treated, so it has simply been driven lots, mostly top down in the summer.
2 Likes
I haven’t heard about ND having rusting issues, I thought that was on earlier models. Or is that only because the earlier models are the only ones which have had enough time to rust!
All car bodies usually last eight years or so, many ten; as with even the rotten unprotected British cars from the 1950’s, 1960s and 1970s. Quite a few make twelve or fifteen given sympathetic owners and appropriate care regularly washing away UK salt from underneath.
Mazda are not much different from many of the rest, except for having thinner paint and not much of it underneath apart from primer and scattered bits of anti-stone-chip. So without much underbody protection they have the potential to deteriorate sooner and faster when given a layer of salt.
But it will not happen overnight, and the less salt exposure the longer they last.
The worst aspect is that the rot is hidden, so that beautiful shiny second-hand (old) Mazda with a year of (dodgy?) MOT might well be just a layer of paint and filler hiding catastrophic rust underneath.
When looking in 2012-2014 I walked away from maybe two dozen gleaming but crusty MX5s less than six-eight years old (last NBs, early NCs) before finding one without rust (sills, chassis rails, wheel arches, brake and power steering pipes, etc).
An example.
My bought new in 1996 (1997 model) Vectra-B had zero rust when I scrapped it at 20 years old after the cambelt-tensioner spring broke in the engine for its first and final breakdown. That car was factory undersealed, wax injected and galvanised, and I always hosed down the underside to minimise salt and mud build-up.
Mazda only do a quick electro-dip, and no wax injection and no all-over underseal; certainly none was on my Mazda3. I doubt any untreated Mazda left out in all weather and driven all year round would have zero rust after twenty years.
1 Like
Congratulations, RF looks fantastic and a great colour choice. After enjoying your first drive post some pictures 
.
1 Like
Which lowering brackets did you go with?
I did exactly this 11 months ago going from a Ford Focus to a 2017 MX 5 hard top. The first time I drove a MX5 was when I picked it up from the dealer. I wondered at the time whether I had made a really bad error. The MX5 is totally impractical with small boot no glove box and generally no storage. Then there was the totally different driving position and the problem of getting in and out of the car without looking totally stupid.
However I adapted quickly, realised I didn’t need to keep that much stuff in the car, got used to the driving position and learnt how to get in and out in style.
And most importantly whatever kind of day I’ve had at work, when I leave and see my MX5 it always brings a smile to my face. The focus never did that.
In conclusion it was the best decision I’ve made. It’s made driving so much more fun. Definitely go for it, you don’t realise what you are missing.
2 Likes