New MX5

[Beedub]

Don't get me started, I'm trying to resist I've already fitted bipass pipes to the back boxes, made a couple of homemade modifications to the airbox, lined the hood where it's prone to tearing and added hydraulic bonnet struts. When I have time, I'm going to modify a spare timing chain tensioner and I'm waiting on LED lamps to be delivered. I'm fighting the urge to spend my SC fund on the forced induction for the wrong car :lol:

I'm enjoying the cheap world of mods for the fiesta!! car is turning into a little monster! most fun I've had in terms of bang for buck motoring for a very long time!

 

[BMWZ4MC]

I bet it is - a high power to weight ratio and short wheel base are always a fun combination. The only thing that puts me off going back to a conventional hot hatch for some cheap fun is that I would miss the RWD + LSD combination too much. Nothing like getting the rear a little sideways...especially when the alternative is understeer under power!

 

[mj2k]

Don't get me started, I'm trying to resist I've already fitted bipass pipes to the back boxes, made a couple of homemade modifications to the airbox, lined the hood where it's prone to tearing and added hydraulic bonnet struts. When I have time, I'm going to modify a spare timing chain tensioner and I'm waiting on LED lamps to be delivered. I'm fighting the urge to spend my SC fund on the forced induction for the wrong car :lol:

The old business card mod, with front clips tucked in, or has it moved on in the 8 years since I had mine? Loved mine, a butch when the rear goes, but so much fun when it did - see the M as similar but more torque, lower red line, but an extra 100hp

Liking the idea of the 1.5 as a great, not going to loose licence whilst in the fun zone, type of car

 

[Beedub]

I bet it is - a high power to weight ratio and short wheel base are always a fun combination. The only thing that puts me off going back to a conventional hot hatch for some cheap fun is that I would miss the RWD + LSD combination too much. Nothing like getting the rear a little sideways...especially when the alternative is understeer under power!

honestly i thought the same, but completely not tbh, the speeds and ease of being a hooligan you can reach in a sorted Fwd car is nuts, don't think my z4 could live with it on a country lane without scraping its belly everywhere or ending up in a tree! What i do not like however is the way the fwd have oversteer engineered in, it feels unnatural and uncomfortable to me, i really don't like how easily it moves around at the back, as my usual input from the rwd cars isn't what you do in FWD. the Tq steer is bad too.

all i want is a some brake upgrades, quaife Diff, 220hp and ill be happy, all this can easily be done for under 1k..... pretty impressive! the same for the z4 would be 6! lol

 

[BMWZ4MC]

The old business card mod, with front clips tucked in, or has it moved on in the 8 years since I had mine? Loved mine, a butch when the rear goes, but so much fun when it did - see the M as similar but more torque, lower red line, but an extra 100hp

Liking the idea of the 1.5 as a great, not going to loose licence whilst in the fun zone, type of car

I tried a few things (including running with the airbox lid removed) but I don't like the induction whistle and it suffers from heat soak in traffic if it's alowed to entrain air from the engine bay. I also don't want to lose the ram air effect of the stock system. My current set up uses some ducting to conduct cold air into the airbox and I've also covered the outer surfaces of the airbox with a heat reflective membrane. It seems to run better now so I'll probably keep it as it is.

I bet it is - a high power to weight ratio and short wheel base are always a fun combination. The only thing that puts me off going back to a conventional hot hatch for some cheap fun is that I would miss the RWD + LSD combination too much. Nothing like getting the rear a little sideways...especially when the alternative is understeer under power!

honestly i thought the same, but completely not tbh, the speeds and ease of being a hooligan you can reach in a sorted Fwd car is nuts, don't think my z4 could live with it on a country lane without scraping its belly everywhere or ending up in a tree! What i do not like however is the way the fwd have oversteer engineered in, it feels unnatural and uncomfortable to me, i really don't like how easily it moves around at the back, as my usual input from the rwd cars isn't what you do in FWD. the Tq steer is bad too.

all i want is a some brake upgrades, quaife Diff, 220hp and ill be happy, all this can easily be done for under 1k..... pretty impressive! the same for the z4 would be 6! lol

I used to have a 306 XSi as a student and that was great fun. The power produced by its 2L engine was dismal by modern standards but the chassis was really well balanced. It certainly went down a country road far faster than the 225bhp Audi TT coupe that I replaced it with. By balancing the lift-off oversteer and on-power understeer I could chuck it around roundabouts modulating the back end just with the throttle :evil: Controlling over- and understeer in a FWD car is very different prospect from a RWD car though. Several of my friends from school and student days wrecked their cars by going into a bend too hot then panicking mid bend and standing on the brakes...

I wish that I could improve the brakes and gain power in my ///M to that extent with just £6K :lol:

 

[Jaw]

I bet it is - a high power to weight ratio and short wheel base are always a fun combination. The only thing that puts me off going back to a conventional hot hatch for some cheap fun is that I would miss the RWD + LSD combination too much. Nothing like getting the rear a little sideways...especially when the alternative is understeer under power!

honestly i thought the same, but completely not tbh, the speeds and ease of being a hooligan you can reach in a sorted Fwd car is nuts, don't think my z4 could live with it on a country lane without scraping its belly everywhere or ending up in a tree! What i do not like however is the way the fwd have oversteer engineered in, it feels unnatural and uncomfortable to me, i really don't like how easily it moves around at the back, as my usual input from the rwd cars isn't what you do in FWD. the Tq steer is bad too.

all i want is a some brake upgrades, quaife Diff, 220hp and ill be happy, all this can easily be done for under 1k..... pretty impressive! the same for the z4 would be 6! lol

I think hatches are so well rounded now they have got a weird feeling of going fast as it is even without being hot, currently having my first trip into fwd hatches in years in a corolla daily driver. I KNOW it's not fast being a 1.8 but it is suprisingly nippy. 7 speed cvt is crazy responsive for what it is and it just seems to flick you from A to B faster than it probably is. I've had a couple of rides in my mate's RenaultSport 200 (non turbo) and the all round performance of that thing is phenomenal. You can still feel the dynamical differences being fwd and I'd miss the rwd slippiness too, but the power understeer wasn't what it used to be!

 

[Mad Professor]

If you want a fun RWD roadster as a weekend toy costing buttons which won't depreciate and is cheap and chips to run ,then I would always go for a mk 1 Eunos . The mk 2 and mk 3 iterations are nice but I always felt a bit underpowered and didn't feel as sharp as the mk1 .Just personal preference .

 

[Mowflow]

Tend to agree with that having had a 1.8 eunos. Both the 1.6 and the 1.8 are meant to be good with the only one to avoid being the later UK spec mk1 1.6 with the detuned hairdryer instead of an engine.

I also had a mk2.5 Nevada which was quite nice, a mk2 1.6 which was utterly horrendous and a mk2 10th anniversary which was very, very good as it had the 6 speed box, bilsteins, mazdaspeed cam and Torsen LSD as standard.

I've never had any interest at all in the Mk3 and am not THAT interested in this new model. The appeal is a well sorted chassis, steering that can't be matched in anything these days and a relatively rev happy NA engine. They just don't need bags of power to be fun. To me they make perfect sense as a circa £1k purchase for a bit of fun, maybe some track days and a bit of skidding if you get an LSD equipped model. I'm a decidedly average driver but i could look like hero in my 10AE holding big controlled slides for what felt like ages.

 

[Ricardo1992]

Last car I owned was a mk 2 MX5 and I must admit, it was a great wee car to drive. Always put a smile on my face and had a gearbox to die for! The looks of the new mx5 I personally love. They have made it look mean rather than the typical "happy faces" of the previous versions. But I personally don't mind that! It seems that it will always be an affordable convertible for most people which is what makes it such an attractive car to buy. Hence the popularity.