I've had a notion for an MX5 for a few years now and wonder if anyone could give me any tips, comments, opinions, etc.

I would be going for a brand new one, possibly with the folding hardtop roof ?

would be used as a second car, ( replacement for wife's Toyota IQ ) but would hope to put a good few miles on it as well.

what do you think ?

Iain

Two of my friends have them and swear by them. They have that "retro" appeal to them and tend to be seen as British sports cars as they should have been built!

They are reliable, viceless and a whole heap of fun. The only slight niggles in my experience are the inevitable fact that there is not a lot of room - either in the car or under the bonnet when you are working on it (servicing of course as they never seem to break down) and the soft top is a bit of a faff to put up and down. The latter problem would go away if you get the folding hardtop.

Don't get one of the lowering kits!...my mate has one and I can't get a trolley jack under it! John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

I knew a couple of people with MX5s and they both liked them, but both said they're rubbish in snow/ice, so take the FL2 if the weather's looking bad!

Had one as a fun car for the past 7 years, never given a problem, fun to drive once you get used to rear wheel drive, try www.mx5life.com for info, advice etc.

thanks for the prompt and useful posts guys, may go and have a look this afternoon if SWMBO is in a good mood

Iain


ps one of the problems we have in this area is that every franchise is being taken over by Arnold Clark and they are not the best of dealers to put it mildly.

but would do no harm to see the cars and perhaps have a test drive, etc

That's a strange coincidence! I have just been trying to format a hard drive to download stuff from my HDD and while I was trying to do it I had the TV on. The programme was Robbed, Raided, Reunited and one of the items was about seven cars which were nicked in a night raid on Arnold Clarke in Aberdeen. John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

My daughter used to have one - special edition jobbie direct import from Japan with tuned engine, lowered suspension, braced chassis and goodness knows what else! Went like the proverbial off a shovel and was GREAT fun. Totally reliable, economical and generally a lovely car.

My wife and I looked at a couple before she bought the VW. Too low for us to get in and out of these days I'm afraid. Very small inside with not much boot - but then, it's a fun car, yes?

Go get one  Ours - 2008 Stornoway Grey HSE Auto
Tricia's - 2006 Royal Blue Beetle Cabriolet Auto
Mine - 2014 Vespa GTS 300 Super Sport Matt Black
Ours - 2007 White Bailey Pageant Champagne

My wife has one. Great car if you like that sort of thing!

I personally think the canvas top makes it look much like a proper sports car - although the MG beardies would probably not consider it a proper sports car......

Hi Iain,I've got the Mk 3 MX5 with soft top.
I had the lowering kit fitted as it didn't look right as standard ( in my opinion) it also need needed the geo sorting which made it handle better.
It's not that easy to get out of ( getting in is a case of flopping down)
Benefit of soft top is how quickly you can put it down or get it up if things get a bit wet! Though over about 30 mph you can leave the roof down in the rain & stay dry.
as others have said it's not very good in snow, which is one reason I'm thinking of changing to the Freelander (plus I want something different) if I could afford to I'd keep both.

MX5 superb car. almost bullet proof. If you want some fun pop out to california and buy a super charger kit, shed loads cheaper than the UK.

Then they really go like a rocket ! as long as you have a strong heart !

went to dealer yesterday had a look and a test drive in a 2L SE demo model with folding hardtop.

difficult to really get a proper feel of the car in a short test drive as totally different driving experience, but overall pretty impressed, especially with the folding roof which takes 12 seconds to open or close and is incredibly smooth.

while on a short motorway stretch in 6th gear doing about 60mph I was looking for another gear as it seemed to be revving a bit high. ( probably used to the FL2 which is so quiet at 60mph )

will give it a lot of thought and do some more research, but I think the 2L sport-tech model with folding hardtop would meet our needs.

thanks for the replies and info

Iain

It's a sports car it does rev high, they don't really come on song till at least 3500 revs , you get used to it.

Tandemman wrote:

It's a sports car it does rev high, they don't really come on song till at least 3500 revs , you get used to it.

that's what I was thinking, first "sportscar" I've driven, so a whole new driving experience for me.

always been a hot hatch, 4X4, type of guy

thanks

Iain

Mx5s have a light flywheel to make them rev up faster than a normal type car this results in a loss of momentum and this is compensated for by running at higher than normal revs, it's all about having as little inertia as possible for faster engine response.

Tandemman wrote:

Mx5s have a light flywheel to make them rev up faster than a normal type car this results in a loss of momentum and this is compensated for by running at higher than normal revs, it's all about having as little inertia as possible for faster engine response.