End of the summer

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Jobbo
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Jobbo »

Jimmy Choo wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2024 8:18 pm
Jobbo wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2024 7:23 pm The roof goes down and doesn’t come back up. Well, as far as I’m concerned - it works fine but I only drove it a couple of miles with the roof up today. Did 186 miles through the Mersey tunnel, along the top of the Wirral then into Chester and on to Wales via the Horseshoe Pass. Loving it.

More photos and more waffle tomorrow.

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Did you pick it up early or something? They've not put the topcoat on. :?
In the rare moments of sun you can see metal flake in the primer. I have in mind that I might wrap it in Laguna Blue so primer colour is probably right as an undercoat 😂
It’s the new colour for 2024 and I doubt it will make up a large proportion of sales so maybe in 20-30 years time it’ll be desirable. The Recaros have grey piping and there’s grey stitching elsewhere inside which goes with it nicely. I like it, despite it being the default choice due to lack of any interesting colours.
Shlergen
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Shlergen »

Off to BBR for some trumpets?! Hard to beat for the money; how does it compare to the mk1?
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Jobbo
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Jobbo »

It is obviously a descendant of the mk1 but it’s so much more usable in the 21st century. I loved the mk1 and even used both of mine as my sole car for a few weeks/month. But it’s like camping in comparison to the new one which can do motorways without frazzling your brain.

BBR… well I think a more rorty exhaust might be on the cards, and lowering- except that I don’t want it to be less usable. So I’ll wait and see before modding.
Last edited by Jobbo on Wed Jul 03, 2024 9:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mik
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Re: End of the summer

Post by mik »

Jobbo wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2024 9:06 pm It is obviously a descendant of the mk1 but it’s so much more usable in the 22st century. .
Great Scott.
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Jobbo
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Jobbo »

The reason there is no glovebox is that it has a Mr Fusion fitted there.
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Mito Man
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Mito Man »

I’m not a fan of primer on typical German cars but it works well on your MX5. Certainly much more unique than red or white so yeah, nice one.
How about not having a sig at all?
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nuttinnew
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Re: End of the summer

Post by nuttinnew »

Needs one of these

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with a longer timer though

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:roll:
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nuttinnew
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Re: End of the summer

Post by nuttinnew »

Reg; MX56 REY?
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Matty
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Matty »

nuttinnew wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2024 11:29 pm Reg; MX56 REY?
Apparently doesn't exist - you need to ask the DVLA to register it, usually turn up within 12-18 months.

I asked them to issue V637 GTA, which they did....after I sold my GTA :(
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Jobbo
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Jobbo »

I did actually look that plate up a couple of weeks ago to see if it was available 😄 Got one to put on it already though.
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duncs500
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Re: End of the summer

Post by duncs500 »

8-)

Looks great Jobbo, as founder and sole member of the Light Wheel Appreciation Society the wheels are too dark, but still lovely.

We'll have to get a meet in at some point so I can get a proper look.
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MikeHunt
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Re: End of the summer

Post by MikeHunt »

Jobbo wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2024 7:23 pm The roof goes down and doesn’t come back up. Well, as far as I’m concerned - it works fine but I only drove it a couple of miles with the roof up today. Did 186 miles through the Mersey tunnel, along the top of the Wirral then into Chester and on to Wales via the Horseshoe Pass. Loving it.

More photos and more waffle tomorrow.

Image
8-)

Great colour and the wheels really look great, especially with the brembos behind them. Enjoy!
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mik
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Re: End of the summer

Post by mik »

duncs500 wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2024 6:29 am
Looks great Jobbo, as founder and sole member of the Light Wheel Appreciation Society the wheels are too dark, but still lovely.
I like the colour (is grey a colour or a tone?), but I'd prefer not-black wheels too. Although I don't think Mazda offered that option? Can always go a shade or two lighter if you ever refurb them (like what I did on the 'vora).
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Jobbo
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Jobbo »

Sadly Mazda don't offer any spec selection other than the colour - so I had to have these wheels in this shade. They're actually a very dark grey metallic though they're basically black to all intents and purposes. They're one of the reasons I chose the grey paint; it's quite a light shade so contrasts with them better. I may well wrap the car and change the wheels in future anyway; it would be annoying if Mazda launch a special edition in the near future with Recaros, Laguna Blue paint and white alloys though :lol:

Too busy at work to write much guff yet. But as Mike pointed out the Brembos, I wasn't fussed about having them before I ordered and yet the brakes are absolutely brilliant so I'm glad I do. Flewy did a lot of work on my blue NA's brakes to bring it back up to scratch (new OE sized calipers, disks and pads all round, braided hoses) and the brakes on a new 1990s MX5 would not be a patch on this.
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Holley
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Holley »

That's perfect 8-)

Probably the only sub £50k petrol car I'd actually buy. Enjoy!
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Jobbo
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Jobbo »

Why am I so excited about getting a cheap no-frills mass-market roadster which has been in production for 8 years or so already? The fact that it's been around a while is probably part of the reason. It wasn't engineered to comply with regulations into the 2030s, nor in a world where everything is touch screen so it's a bit of a throwback. Mazda's update for 2024 hasn't changed much but the bigger (and more importantly, higher resolution) screen on the dash means it doesn't feel out of date. And as the rest of the world stops producing light, simple cars it stands out more, even at over £30k new these days.

There was something very joyful and back to basics about my mk1 MX5s. They were both classics, the first acquired at 17 years old and the second sold at 25. The second was bought because I missed the first, and both genuinely managed the trick of being perfectly reliable (even after being left in the garage for months) while costing buttons to run. Other than depreciation (which I don't care about because I'm never selling), the road tax, insurance and fuel economy on the new one look like they'll do the same.

Will this one be as joyful and back to basics? It's just over a tonne, so lighter than an Alpine A110 and only 10% heavier than the last Elises. It does have plenty of kit on it though; decent upholstery, really good air-con, servo brakes, PAS and things like auto lights/wipers and Carplay which were never on the agenda with an Elise or mk1. But it is completely manual (no auto-blip throttle even). The 6-sp gearchange is nice enough that you change it for fun without needing to - though even my recent rental Transit was like that. I wouldn't say the Emira was, and my old Elise with a 5-sp box required you to be in the right gear to make progress, so it wasn't a case of playing tunes with it.

The view out is a bit like my Elise S2 with the creases along the tops of the wheelarches framing the view. The alcantara seats are upholstered very similarly to my Race Tech spec Elise, to the extent that I found myself dangling my left hand onto the passenger seat, fondling it and getting a really nostalgic deja vu feeling. Getting in and out is actually more similar to the Elise than the mk1 too because the steering wheel really blocks the space between seat and dashboard. The wheel is adjustable but only up/down and I can't see that anyone would be able to get in at all if the wheel was below its highest setting. And the Elise comparisons continue with the performance. I know a 120bhp Elise isn't considered particularly fast these days but at just over 700kg, the 0-60 time was under 6s and it could be fully wrung out on the road. The new MX5 has 184bhp in 1050kg so almost identical power to weight ratio and an extra gear to make use of the extra power. It's a great amount of power for the road; even running in and avoiding using full throttle or more than 4000rpm I overtook a few things yesterday. It isn't compromised by the lack of power as a mk1 is. It it light enough to leap away from the line too, like my old Elise - lack of inertia is a great thing.

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Since I bought it in Liverpool I got the train up there and drove home via the Mersey Tunnel, then New Brighton/Hoylake/West Kirby because I'd never been to the Wirral. I didn't want to sit on the motorway so then headed into Wales (via Chester to pick up a Cinnabon for my wife), trying to find quiter roads but failing a bit because even the B-roads have school buses on them on a weekday afternoon in term time. My navigating was a bit rubbish because I didn't plan a full route and Google Maps doesn't show B-roads like an OS map (whoever produces a Carplay app with 1:50,000 scale OS maps, I'll buy it), so I first stopped at the Ponderosa cafe then headed to Corwen and the B4401 towards Bala. Before reaching Bala I turned off down the B4391 over the mountains to LLangynog - always a favourite in the past and I have a photo of my Elise on there so stopped in what I hoped was the same lay-by. Looking back now it was, but I didn't park in the same place - doh :lol: https://maps.app.goo.gl/g15GgBufAi8b9owy5
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So I have put 186 miles on it (without using a motorway), 90% with the roof off, already done some Evo meet roads of old and really wanted to take it out again today. It's done 39mpg so far; almost zero cruising in 6th because I'm varying the revs all the time and wasn't on that sort of road anyway. It is capable of being driven in a restrained manner but does goad you with short gearing and a sense of urgency. I'm looking forward to being able to use all the revs.

Likes and dislikes so far?
- The Recaros are lovely and the leather parts are upholstered in what feels like a nice nappa leather, not some cheap stuff. Very pleased I got these. They are a bit tight across the arse but that just means you're held in well. Though they could still do with being a bit lower.
- The size. It's a plus and a minus; it's got a boot so not totally impractical but it is small in the cabin, I kept smacking the windscreen with my fingers when waving at other traffic and hit the peak of my cap on the header rail a few times. Did I mention it's small? It's comfy though, and there's room to twirl your arms to steer so the use of space is well planned. It doesn't feel as narrow as a mk1 (I'm sure it isn't) but there's still space in a lane to choose your position without crossing the white line - unlike my Audi for instance.
- The roof is a thing of beauty. Sorry John, the RF really is not the right choice. It goes down or up just like that; it's sprung to make it one-handed and latches immediately in the up or down position. And the one time I had the top up, I looked in the mirror and noticed the rear window was big and glass; it's so well engineered. Unlike the mk1 there are no exposed clips when it's down. Just brilliant.
- It feels so planted on a dual carriageway. This could be a decent motorway companion; rather unexpected. It loved the twisty roads in Wales but the last few miles to home were normal roads and compared to the mk1 which is buzzy and feels like it's reaching the edge of its operating envelope beyond 80mph, it just feels solid.
- The brakes. I mentioned them above but they are brilliant. Normally brakes just slow you down so aren't even something I would comment on; in this I actively noticed how good they are (feedback, power, weighting of the pedal - everything).
- The electric windows. Annoyingly they drop (quite a bit) when you put the hood up and down but don't go back up automatically. And they're not one-shot up which feels a bit 1990s.
- It's not as rock solid as you might think for a more recent convertible - the rear view mirror shakes a bit, for instance. That gives it a bit of mk1 character so I quite like it.
- The ride is pretty good but it does feed back some types of minor surface imperfection even on what look like newly surfaced roads. The steering is not as talkative as the mk1, but equally you don't feel like you have to hang onto the wheel like a mk1 :lol: I think the steering is the most notably modern thing about it.

I could guff on all day about it - I really do love it more than I even expected. That's despite it being a nothing car, you see them all the time, it's mass-produced and virtually everyone has already owned one. And the reason why it's so good is exactly that - Mazda have had the experience, sales and profit to hone it into what it is now. My garage photo below looks like I collect cars which fit that description.

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Oh, and I'm quite amused that the plate has both M and X in it. If I'd bought it in 2025 then it'd be even better. It's going to get another registration which my wife bought simply to get that into our names, then that's going on retention and M1OWK is going on it. Meow, ok?
V8Granite
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Re: End of the summer

Post by V8Granite »

There is an old lady who drives one of these locally, her other car is a Type C Impreza.

Excellent reasoning for buying one, a small car with no faffery but with CarPlay sounds pretty perfect to me.

Dave!
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Beany
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Beany »

I can see one of this generation of MX-5s being on my list next time I come to change cars - one of the reasons I've been a bit cool on MX-5s is because I tried a 1.8 Mk2 when I had the Puma, and it felt fucking wooden compared to the zingy, hyperactive thing that was the Puma - the engine in particular being really, really disappointing in comparison - it's not that it didn't feel hot like the Puma does (mostly due to power delivery and gearing in it's case) it didn't even feel warm.

With 180bhp at 7500rpm and about a ton, I think that'd easily cover that, and it not being a hyper cossetted, screen filled tech nightmare appeals too. No one shot leccy windows though? Goodness. :lol:
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John
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Re: End of the summer

Post by John »

Love the colour 8-)

The lowering springs will improve the car no end. The large gap from tyre to arch is reduced so the car looks better plus the comedy body roll is much less.

The RF in my opinion is the better looking car with the roof up but is obviously more of a targa with it down than a full on convertible. I sold it last month so don’t care anyway :lol:. The only reason being that I’d had it two years and I’m fancying a change. Mine needed rear hub bushes and the lcd display replacing. Mazda dealers (like many) are hopeless too.
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Jobbo
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Re: End of the summer

Post by Jobbo »

Beany wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2024 2:09 pm I can see one of this generation of MX-5s being on my list next time I come to change cars - one of the reasons I've been a bit cool on MX-5s is because I tried a 1.8 Mk2 when I had the Puma, and it felt fucking wooden compared to the zingy, hyperactive thing that was the Puma - the engine in particular being really, really disappointing in comparison - it's not that it didn't feel hot like the Puma does (mostly due to power delivery and gearing in it's case) it didn't even feel warm.
I've not driven a mk2 MX5 but I imagine the 1.8 was pretty similar to the 1.8 in my second mk1. It definitely felt less enthusiastic than the earlier 1.6 despite apparently having 10% more power. Got to pick your MX5 engine carefully I think.

The 184bhp version is about 2019 onwards, Bean, and there are plenty of them around in the £15k region, such as: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 6261138965
Got to be careful that you don't find a late-registered 160bhp model though. And I was offered a 2019 184bhp for £14k-ish last year so I'd expect prices to have been a bit lower; buy in winter. And put some rust protection on it.
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