Mazda MX-5: PH Carpool
The answer to everything? It is for this week's PHer...
Car: Eunos Roadster (Mazda MX-5)
Owned since: June 2011
Previously owned: "I'm a serial car buyer but of the 30 plus I've owned the highlights are a modified 1990 Mini Cooper, several MK2 Golf GTIs, a 1989 VW Transporter panel van I turned into a camper, a 16v Corrado and my current daily, an FN2 Civic Type R."
Well it began as £1,200 of summer fun...
"My mum had one a few years ago and a co-worker had a BBR Turbo one for a while as well. They had always been on the radar and during a period of stress I decided that spending £1,200 on a bit of summer fun would be a good idea. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? What follows is a tail of bank account beating, a dissatisfied wife and a MK2 MX-5 entering the household fleet."
What I wish I'd known:
"Just how damned addictive they are. It's not just the well documented driving fun, but the community and the off the shelf upgrade parts as well that bring so much to the ownership experience. I can only liken it to the classic Mini scene, it's a really diverse mix of owners from those wanting a standard mint condition car to those wanting a stanced out street scraper via those who like to compete in motorsport. All these different people get along through a shared interest in the same car and help each other out. It's much less beardy than it sounds (although I do have a beard...).
I had done my research, knew they rust and areas to look at and was keen to buy a good one by viewing plenty and driving as many as I could. I bought the first one I saw. Luckily that rash decision turned out to be a good one, mostly.
What I hadn't accounted for was that the ever patient MrsHorneyMX5 would be less than enamoured at yet another car in the fleet, especially one she quite fancied herself. After her initial furious reaction she actually went out and bought a MK2 10th Anniversary for her daily drive two months later.
... end result is a little more serious!
Things I love:
"The sound of the charger on wide open throttle, the bangs and flames from the exhaust, the looks it gets due to the aforementioned noises and the general go-kart nature of it on the road. That and that it surprises some quite exotic machinery."
Things I hate:
"Rust. I bought it rust free but sadly the English weather is starting to take its toll and this year it will need it's first bit of surgery on the sills and wheel arches. Other than that I really can't fault it. Someone asked me recently what I would replace it with and I honestly think for the money there's not much else that ticks the pace and driver feedback boxes as well as a forced induction MX-5. Maybe one day I'll be able to afford a Caterham or a Lotus Exige, but until then I suspect the MX-5 will be staying put."
Costs:
"I paid £1,200 for the car and over the last three and a half years I've ploughed probably three times that again into it with the supercharger, wheels, suspension, seats and all the associated bits. I don't want to add it up because it's not important, it's worth every penny."
The Eunos certainly gets out and about
"Apart from using it in autosolos and track days it gets dragged out to the occasional PH Sunday Service, numerous car meets, weekend drives out and sunny work commutes. We took it to Spa in September 2013 for the six hours weekend too. It certainly isn't a garage queen."
What next:
"2015 is all about ratcheting up the level of competition. I visited Autosport International in January and acquired all my kit (thanks to MrsHorneyMX5 for the helmet for my birthday) to take the car hillclimbing and sprinting. I've booked myself onto the Gurston Down Hillclimb school in May to get some idea! There's a steep learning curve ahead as the car in its current state breaches some of the class rules for road going cars."
See Nick's autosolo vid here.
We had 2 V-Specs - one after the other - many moons ago. Went from a reluctant purchase because 'er indoors had always wanted one, to being one of the favourite cars I've ever owned. Only pipped by . . . the 2.0 NC I own now!
I prefer my Eunos pretty much as standard though. Bought it for peanuts, since then I've had fitted, a clutch, coilovers (the only mod), a fresh hood, a rebuilt engine, and two sills and rear arches. Apart from that, it's just service items and lots of oil.
260,000kms on the clock, half of them with me driving.
I did the gurston school day in April 2014 and it was a very good day. Ended up getting about 15 runs on the day and some really useful pointers on my driving, can't recommend it enough. Taught by some very experienced people, who should be able to clear up any queries you might have about MSA regs.
I've just finished my first season of hillclimbing and sprinting, competing in a few Farnborough MC sprint events and a lot at gurston down. The supercharger will push you into a class with very fast cars at most events, but at events like wiscombe park the classes are 1800 CC - 2600 CC so your car would be very competitive. I think there is a BBR turbo that does quite well there.
Missed mine ever since I had to sell it for something sensible.
The only issue I ever had was the appealing economy (more related to the tiny tank I think).
Lovely car OP.
I might push the button on one of these one day. However, by the time I get round to it, the Mk1s will probably be rising in price!
Anyways, I like the OP's car
Anyways, I like the OP's car
With the MkIV hitting the showrooms there's a nostalgia around the orignial Mk1 and although plenty of Mk1 MX5's we're produced they've reached rock bottom price wise and good rust free cars are now commanding a higher price.
It came to the stage where i needed Forced Induction in some form to make any decernable difference on track, however, the cost for the extra performace (220hp) at the time seemed high for the benefit, so for less cost i bought a 5 litre V8 TVR with a quoted 340 HP for less cost than buying FI for the MX. That has also been updated handling wise but not to the extent of my MX.
I still miss it - great car & would like to have kept it. Glad the new one is trying to get back to the original concept.
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