The GF - 2019 ND2 RF 2.0l Sport Nav+ Auto

General Discussion Forums Readers Rides
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Hi all, new to posting but have been lurking since November.

I’d like to introduce you to The Girl Friend.
Named because the original number plate began with GF and I’ll clearly be spending all my money on her :laughing:

A joke that fell flat with my wife, who initially wasn’t keen on me having it due to buying it whilst she was away… (something about a midlife crisis and living dangerously :roll_eyes:)

Until that is, she saw how much pleasure it brings me and I took her out for a spin one sunny day. Now she understands why I’ve been calling it the Sunday Lunch car and is all in favour of me having it!

It’s an MX5, every mile brings a smile! :blush:

Thing is, I’ve been on something of a medical adventure these last few years and it’s left me thankful to be alive, albeit with a few mobility issues. Every moment is precious and not to be wasted. There’s no point delaying your pleasure for some mythical point in the future when everything is “perfect” .

I fell in love with the RF the moment I saw the first images in 2017. It reminds me of the Datsun 240z which was parked on my street as a kid. I drooled over that every morning on the way to school, just as I drooled over the RF.

Those mobility issues however have left me unable to drive a manual these days. I can shuffle one around a parking lot if needed but soon tire if I have to drive more than a few miles. An auto wouldn’t be my first choice, and the MX5 desperately needs a DCT box, but what it has is ok for my use case, a toy for the weekend on the twisties.

It’s not a track weapon but I do have an upgrade path in mind as I fettle it to bring more precision and finesse. I’m looking for an OE+ outcome. A “sprightly GT” feel where I’m as comfortable taking my wife away for a weekend in it, just as much as I am throwing it around the B-roads at the weekend

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It was stock when I bought it in Nov 2024 with 9,871 on the clock. Overall it’s in great condition with just a couple of small rust blisters underneath (that I can see ofc) and some light swirls in the paintwork

I’ll be taking care of those issues later in the year with a Dinitrol underbody coating and some paint correction/protection.

Since then I’ve swapped the rear cluster and side repeaters for smoked ones and bought some new rims. When the paint protection is done I’m going to swap in black badges. If you knew me you’d know everything has to be black :laughing:

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The old stock rims have my “winter” tyres on, Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3.
The new rims for the summer, are Team Dynamics Motorsport Pro-Race LT, with Bridgestone Potenza Sport

I got the Team Dynamics rims because they only weigh 7.5kg each, less than stock and so removing some unsprung weight

As I mentioned in another thread I recently had an alignment done to the Flyin’ Miata figures which has massively improved the handling. It now feels like the rear is glued to the road. Unfortunately during that alignment, it was discovered one of the bushings on the FOS was spinning and preventing the camber from being adjusted properly so the front end still needs a bit of work.

I’m now looking into replacing the bushings all round and weighing up sticking with rubber or moving to poly.

I’ve put a mild Versatuner remap on it to open up the bottom end torque and let it rev more freely at the top end. This has helped with getting a bit more life out of the long gearing of the auto

Currently, I’m very happy with it. Actually, that’s very much an understatement. I’ve fallen in love…

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I’m not going to do anything else but the bushes and protection this year. I wanted to drive it for a full year to get a feel of it and work out how I want to tweak things before any real mods but I do have a path mapped out through brakes, bracing, intake and exhaust, suspension, LSD, and finally, in several years time, a BBR Super 220 engine rework. I’d go for their new supercharger upgrade but I don’t think the auto box would handle it. 220bhp is as much as I’d dare put through it and tbh absolutely plenty for my use case.

That’ll do for now. I’ll update this thread as I go along detailing the changes I make.

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Hi DaveS23, Mrs DaveS23 & the Girl Friend/Sunday Lunch Car :handshake:

Yep…I was all into black cars until I fell in love with Bullit NB 1.8 Icon [orange] in 2007

Yep…I’d be pretty annoyed if I was your missus and you’d bought something without consulting me

But as a female lover of the MX-5 I’d have just been annoyed at not being involved in the choosing :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Just wondering whether Mrs DaveS23 drives ??

And if so would you allow her to take the MX-5 out for a spin ??

You never know she may become a convert :wink:

I certainly feel safer in Bullit [road grip etc] at 70 mph than some so called ‘safer’ saloons :thinking:

Sez me [aged 67 years with mobility issues but can still manage a manual gear box for now :crossed_fingers:]

Totally concur: “Every moment is precious…no point in delaying…mythical point in the future”

:owl:

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nice. sounds like the right path with all the mods.

Do the auto mx5 not have an LSD? The auto abarths do and use same gearing (I’ve got an auto abarth diff in my manual 2,0). I track mine though, I doubt you’d notice it much on the roads with the restrictive speed limits we have.

ARB’s are always a good idea - only negative is the cost, the prices have gone a bit nuts since covid.

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Hi Bullit2005, in answer to your questions, yes my wife does drive but she’s not the most confident. It’s a means of getting from A to B, not something she derives pleasure from doing, in and of itself. She’s not shown any interest in driving the MX5 but ofc if she did, she’d be welcome to give it a spin.

I did my advanced driving with IAM last year, I’ve been trying to encourage her to do it as I think it will massively help her confidence. Maybe if I persuade her to do that things will change and she’ll want to take The GF out.

Regarding buying it without her input, we sold a business we ran together when I got ill. Paid off a load of debt, went on a much needed holiday when I was well enough, and then split the remainder to do with as we pleased. We never really took anything out of the business for ourselves, so this to me is my reward for 10yrs hard work and coming out the other side of a cancer battle.

My wife being disgruntled about it didn’t last more than a couple of hours in truth. She could see why I was doing it and has had to live with me saying how much I wanted an RF every time we passed one :laughing:

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Hi DC04R, thanks.

No unfortunately the auto’s don’t get an LSD. I don’t know why Mazda decided that when the Abarth’s do.

Maybe it’s the same reason why the auto is only available in the RF not the rag top, they wanted the RF to be more of a GT car (less trackable due to roll cage fitment) and they feel the auto box doesn’t need an LSD as a result :man_shrugging:

Completely agree that it’s not really needed on our roads at such low speeds. It’s in there as the penultimate upgrade because if I do go for a 220bhp (or greater) remap, I’m going to want to make sure that power gets put down on the road properly rather than spinning out

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Hi again

We have some things in common !

My late hubbie was perfectly confident on his Honda 70cc Moped. Tried everything from buying him Xmas Pressie driving lessons to part training as a driving instructor to enable him. [At least your missus passed her test :+1:]

With the benefit of hindsight perhaps I shouldn’t have been so pro-active with late hubbie ??

It’s totally about confidence. I guess I was fortunate in 1979 as I was a newbie police officer and trained by them via Roadcraft. Never got around to doing the Advanced Driving [just their ‘Driving Panda Cars & Transit Van’ Tests] …so Hats Off to you doing IAM [on me Bucket List] :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

I do recall having a scary but fun hour doing a ‘Are you capable of driving a PSV’ [watch that overhang as you turn a corner] back in the days when females didn’t do such things !

So I totally get the confidence thing

Also similar … re ‘reward for sacrifice’. Sold my house/paid off debt and rewarded myself with Bullit to move in with late father as 24/7 Carer so he didn’t have to go into a home as he’d become a danger to himself and others. [He’d been left brain damaged after severe heart attack] …but survived prostrate cancer after removal :+1:

You will find you are not alone here on the Forum re cancer or mid life crises and getting an MX-5 or their appreciation of your works so far

You just might have to wait a bit [once they’ve woken up] to your post :wink: :rofl:

Kindest to you and especially Mrs DaveS23 [have you shown her my posts ?]

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You should absolutely do the Advanced. With that prior training, it’ll just be a refresher for you but honestly, I’m of the opinion we never stop learning. Thinking we know it all is the arrogance that gets us unstuck at the worst moments.

At least he had you there. Many don’t

That I can well imagine! What else are we supposed to do? :laughing:

Thank you, and the same in return.
She’s away at the minute, hoping the weather holds long enough for a drive out together when she gets back.

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Hi Dave,
After some medical issues I’ve decided to enjoy my ‘golden years’ and got “Red 4” (my fourth red car, so seemed apt!)
Wife wouldn’t entertain me getting a motorbike :disappointed_face: to blow away the mid-life crisis, so a Soul Red MX5 RF was an acceptable alternative. While I wish it did look like a 240Z it is more like a shrunken Corvette C3 Stingray to my eye (not that I’m complaining, as I loved that style of 'Vette) or a 70’s Opel GT (which I lusted after while living in Germany).
I have no plans for any upgrades - I drove it over 1200 miles up to Inverness just after getting it and it performed flawlessly and was a joy to drive on empty winding Highland roads, even during torrential downpours I had to ‘sail’ through en route over Glenshee - I did consider an auto but that manual gearbox is just a masterpiece.
I’ll only get rid of it now when I can no longer get in and out of it with ease…

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I can definitely see the Stingray more than the 240z looking at it. That was off my radar tbh, but clearly not the designers at Mazda :laughing:

Like you, I’m only getting rid of this when I can’t get in and out of it. The “with ease” bit is debatable already, I’m waiting for the day I’m stuck and have to call my wife to fish me out! :laughing:

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Bless you Dave for your feedback…most welcome :hugs:

As a consequence …decided to visit GP re ‘side effects’ of one of the meds I’m on which I’ve put up with for some time because every drug has side effects

Go figure…managed to get next day appt …albeit with a registrar [medical degree plus two years experience but now learning to be a GP under supervision] …the last registrar I saw we weren’t even on the same page ! But this one listened and we are trying new meds…Yay :crossed_fingers:

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Well done! :clap: