Discussion
was at Mazda's South Downs day out today
very well organised with some friendly and very helpful people
started off in a 2L Sport Nav which had done nearly 2k miles. the engine felt much more responsive and eager than the new (50 miles) 2L I drove 2 weeks ago. Night and day difference. Running in the engine has transformed the feel; it felt athletic and awake. Any doubt in my mind about the 2L engne being a bit lazy and slightly overweight vapourised.
steering on straight ahead is lifeless, with lock and at speed, you can feel the car lean, but the steering remains uncommunicative and almost silent. accurate, yes, but not pin sharp. for me, the biggest disappointment of the car. however, the steering is OK, just not good or very good like many other aspects of the car.
power and torque was excellent, you can use much of the power a lot of the time, but you do run out of revs sooner than you expect
the Sport suspension is almost schizophrenic .. on smooth roads, it's perfect. in town at low speeds, it was brittle and at times downright annoying. on fast rutted or worn carriageways, it was too busy and unsettled such that you can feel the onset of very slight motion sickness
overall, for me the Sport suspension does not work well for UK roads
I took out a 1.5L SE-L when I returned the 2L early .. I had phoned ahead and they said I could.
SE-L suspension works beautifully on almost all roads, on almost all surfaces and at all speeds. the damping is near perfect; and only the worst potholes and bumps disturb its composure. in fact, we were going quite briskly on a tight country lane and felt a relatively sharp bump; which did not unsettle the car. on the way back down, I noticed I had in fact went over a small sleeping poiiceman type hump.
1.5L had 500 miles. Revvy and zingy, but the run in 2L was not anywhere near as poor as it felt a fortnight ago (the 1.5L from a fortnight ago was also new with around 50 miles). The 1.5L needs revs, and is absolutely fine until you want to overtake slighly fast (rather than dwadlers) traffic .. just not quick enough. the wider rev range is more enjoyable and I rarely felt as if I had run out of revs, which happened more often on the 2L
I may have imagined this, but on some bumpy roads, the 1.5L actually felt quicker, more keyed in and more alive and authentic than the 2L Sport. somehow, on those roads, the 1.5 felt real and present while the 2L was slightly detached and disinterested.
again, I may be imagining this, the 1.5L's steering felt more talkative, and more engaged than the 2L .. the harder dampers of the 2L reduces feel and engagement not materially, but appreciably
in the final analysis, for me, the 2L makes the car more usable over a wider range of road conditions, with a slightly but noticeably less eager and less smooth engine.
I would take a 2L in SE-L spec .. I think the 17" wheels will sharpen the handling without any unacceptable deterioration in ride and comfort.
PS. I preferred the cloth seats over the leather seats. The seats, while not uncomfortable, are not as good as they should be. the seatbase is too soft, and does not appear to be designed to suspend heavier folks!
very well organised with some friendly and very helpful people
started off in a 2L Sport Nav which had done nearly 2k miles. the engine felt much more responsive and eager than the new (50 miles) 2L I drove 2 weeks ago. Night and day difference. Running in the engine has transformed the feel; it felt athletic and awake. Any doubt in my mind about the 2L engne being a bit lazy and slightly overweight vapourised.
steering on straight ahead is lifeless, with lock and at speed, you can feel the car lean, but the steering remains uncommunicative and almost silent. accurate, yes, but not pin sharp. for me, the biggest disappointment of the car. however, the steering is OK, just not good or very good like many other aspects of the car.
power and torque was excellent, you can use much of the power a lot of the time, but you do run out of revs sooner than you expect
the Sport suspension is almost schizophrenic .. on smooth roads, it's perfect. in town at low speeds, it was brittle and at times downright annoying. on fast rutted or worn carriageways, it was too busy and unsettled such that you can feel the onset of very slight motion sickness
overall, for me the Sport suspension does not work well for UK roads
I took out a 1.5L SE-L when I returned the 2L early .. I had phoned ahead and they said I could.
SE-L suspension works beautifully on almost all roads, on almost all surfaces and at all speeds. the damping is near perfect; and only the worst potholes and bumps disturb its composure. in fact, we were going quite briskly on a tight country lane and felt a relatively sharp bump; which did not unsettle the car. on the way back down, I noticed I had in fact went over a small sleeping poiiceman type hump.
1.5L had 500 miles. Revvy and zingy, but the run in 2L was not anywhere near as poor as it felt a fortnight ago (the 1.5L from a fortnight ago was also new with around 50 miles). The 1.5L needs revs, and is absolutely fine until you want to overtake slighly fast (rather than dwadlers) traffic .. just not quick enough. the wider rev range is more enjoyable and I rarely felt as if I had run out of revs, which happened more often on the 2L
I may have imagined this, but on some bumpy roads, the 1.5L actually felt quicker, more keyed in and more alive and authentic than the 2L Sport. somehow, on those roads, the 1.5 felt real and present while the 2L was slightly detached and disinterested.
again, I may be imagining this, the 1.5L's steering felt more talkative, and more engaged than the 2L .. the harder dampers of the 2L reduces feel and engagement not materially, but appreciably
in the final analysis, for me, the 2L makes the car more usable over a wider range of road conditions, with a slightly but noticeably less eager and less smooth engine.
I would take a 2L in SE-L spec .. I think the 17" wheels will sharpen the handling without any unacceptable deterioration in ride and comfort.
PS. I preferred the cloth seats over the leather seats. The seats, while not uncomfortable, are not as good as they should be. the seatbase is too soft, and does not appear to be designed to suspend heavier folks!
Cabsi said:
So if I was ordering tomorrow, I'd take the 2.0 SE-L and get the seats re-trimmed with some of the £2,600 saving. I could probably live with the stereo.
this is exactly what my dealer offered for £1000 .. with the benefit of a much wider range of leather colourslucky you for getting the 2L SE-L .. I forgot to ask, as I was so keen to try out the 2L Sport comprehensively
MX-5 2L SE-L wins Autocar's under £30k handling test 
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/ev...
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/ev...
Pickle77 said:
SFO said:
MX-5 2L SE-L wins Autocar's under £30k handling test
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/ev...
I hope I'm not being too 'anorak', but I'm not sure which 2l MX5 Autocar were testing tbh.http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/ev...
I can see that the black mirror caps and dark wheels should denote SE-L, and that the seats appear to be cloth, but in the item comparing the MX to the Caterham and the GT86, the cars' stats at the end state the MX to be a Sport-Nav.
However, there's no mention of Bilsteins, and the accuracy of their stats descriptions is called into question by their stating that the torque for the 2l. is 148, whereas I believe it's actually 198!
So.....
!?Autocar got the technical and spec level wrong in the Caterham/GT86 comparison
Tron Kirk said:
SFO said:
only the 2L Sport has the Bilstein dampers. 1.5L SE, SE-L and Sport have the same suspension
2L engine feels much livelier once run in.
Yes, but the 1.5 lacks the strut brace and the LSD - so there's basically three different setups:2L engine feels much livelier once run in.
1. All 1.5s
2. All 2.0s bar the Sport
3. The 2.0 Sport
(I think)
elvismiggell said:
dpop said:
SFO said:
correct. wonder whether the 2L Sport has anything else different from 2L SE-L apart from Bilsteins
I am under the impression that the only other differences are in terms of equipment/trim and safety nannies..Sport has lane departure warning system, auto dimming mirrors etc etc
DeaconFrost said:
A few other negatives threw themselves up too. There is literally no storage space inside the cabin. I put my phone in the tray near the AC and that was it. The cup holders fill the cupboard behind you between the seats and if you use the cup holders they block the opening of the cupboard. The cupboard between the seats is basically filled if you put the key in it. I don't like driving with my wallet in my back pocket but there was literally nowhere to put it - I had to just hand it to my girlfriend to hold. I could see the lack of any storage being a bit of a pita on a daily basis.
there is an additional cubicle behind each seat too. perhaps the cupholders can go there, along with the instruction manuals etc?Cabsi said:
I've been thinking about the 2.0 Sport suspension debate a little more, and I'm wondering if the slow damper reactions are amplified by lower ambient temperature?
When we drove the Sport at the original Cotswold event it was early in the morning and I remember having the heated seats and heater on. I only say this because my NC2 Sport Tech suspension was temperature sensitive and on really cold days the Billie dampers felt very brittle. On a hot day it felt much more 'fluid'.
Just a thought..
tyre wall stiffness also affected by ambient temperature?When we drove the Sport at the original Cotswold event it was early in the morning and I remember having the heated seats and heater on. I only say this because my NC2 Sport Tech suspension was temperature sensitive and on really cold days the Billie dampers felt very brittle. On a hot day it felt much more 'fluid'.
Just a thought..
elvismiggell said:
I'm wondering whether you could have Mazda change the springs?
(Seriously, I know NOTHING about this, but couldn't you in theory put softer springs in a 2.0 Sport and get a better ride at the cost of a smidge of the performance?)
I thought it was only the shock absorbers (Bilsteins).(Seriously, I know NOTHING about this, but couldn't you in theory put softer springs in a 2.0 Sport and get a better ride at the cost of a smidge of the performance?)
There must be folks who want the Bilsteins but not Sport spec, and folks who want Sport spec but not Bilsteins ...
Gassing Station | Mazda MX5/Roadster/Miata | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff