New MX-5

[elvismiggell]

Cabsi said:

Colour really is a personal thing, but as I said, I'm not a fan of 'Blue Reflex Mica'

Good thing I am - that's what we've ordered!

I'll admit to being a little worried about the harshness of the Sport suspension for the 2.0 which is what we've gone for, but I figure if I'm going to buy a car like this, I may as well got for the 'full monty'. I'm doing the extended 'hamper day' on the 20th, so hopefully I'll get a taste of the Sport suspension then.

[ZedLeppelin]

elvismiggell said:

Cabsi said:

Colour really is a personal thing, but as I said, I'm not a fan of 'Blue Reflex Mica'

Good thing I am - that's what we've ordered!

I'll admit to being a little worried about the harshness of the Sport suspension for the 2.0 which is what we've gone for, but I figure if I'm going to buy a car like this, I may as well got for the 'full monty'. I'm doing the extended 'hamper day' on the 20th, so hopefully I'll get a taste of the Sport suspension then.

I drove the Mk4 2.0 sport for a few hours yesterday and the biggest criticism I have of it, is the overdamped suspension. The Bilsteins made the car skip over bumps instead of absorb and ride over them. It is far too harsh and unless you don't mind being juddered about, i'd ask the questions about changing your mind. Sorry but that's my honest opinion. The overly harsh suspension damping/Shock absorption, made the entire ride jittery to the point of me turning the car around and giving it back before the end of my planned test route. That is something I have never done before when test driving a car. This car would be great on a track or in places which have nice, flat roads (California) to wang about on but in England, the average backwaters B road is going to cause both occupants no end of teeth chattering bumpiness.

I'm hoping this confirms your suspicions and helps you and isn't intended to rain on your parade.

[Pickle77]

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.
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..... !?

[SFO]

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.
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..... !?

pics of the MX-5 in both group tests are of the SE-L .. as you say, black mirrors, and if you zoom in, no rear parking sensors either

Autocar got the technical and spec level wrong in the Caterham/GT86 comparison

[Cabsi]

ZedLeppelin said:

I drove the Mk4 2.0 sport for a few hours yesterday and the biggest criticism I have of it, is the overdamped suspension.

Seems to be a pattern developing. Do you think Mazda UK are reading this?

[Cabsi]

elvismiggell said:

Cabsi said:

Colour really is a personal thing, but as I said, I'm not a fan of 'Blue Reflex Mica'

Good thing I am - that's what we've ordered!

I'll admit to being a little worried about the harshness of the Sport suspension for the 2.0 which is what we've gone for, but I figure if I'm going to buy a car like this, I may as well got for the 'full monty'. I'm doing the extended 'hamper day' on the 20th, so hopefully I'll get a taste of the Sport suspension then.

You'll really enjoy the day, and you get to keep the cool bag and picnic blanket!

It would be sad if they were all Black, Grey, White and Red, but Blue reflex just struck me as a 'luxury' colour rather than a 'sporty' one . But, hey ho, we're all different (says the man who has a Purple car..).

But it would be good to see some bold primary colours on the MX5, as noted in an earlier posting. And I'd love to see one in Porsche Mexico Blue!

[Cabsi]

Cabsi said:

And I'd love to see one in Porsche Mexico Blue!

Isn't google wonderful. Here's an NA in Mexico Blue

http://www.jdmeuro.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/...

(Sorry for the thread hijack).

[ZedLeppelin]

Cabsi said:

ZedLeppelin said:

I drove the Mk4 2.0 sport for a few hours yesterday and the biggest criticism I have of it, is the overdamped suspension.

Seems to be a pattern developing. Do you think Mazda UK are reading this?

If Mazda UK are reading this, I'd imagine they've already planned the next iteration of mk4 2.0 sport, with reach adjustable steering wheel, glove box and adaptive dampers....and possibly a sporty sounding exhaust.....and an option to have the bloody screen removed from the dash.....and weighted steering...... a retractable hard top (requiring loss of boot space).....

In fact if Mazda UK are reading this, I'd like them to build an MX5, not a 'good all-rounder' sporty car ..... which isn't one thing or another. It's not a balls-out Jag XK type of car, or a handy little car for around town, or a ridiculously well though out rwd two seater.....they've had 25+ years to get it spot on and built an over damped best guess/ safe bet.

[elvismiggell]

Cabsi said:

elvismiggell said:

Cabsi said:

Colour really is a personal thing, but as I said, I'm not a fan of 'Blue Reflex Mica'

Good thing I am - that's what we've ordered!

I'll admit to being a little worried about the harshness of the Sport suspension for the 2.0 which is what we've gone for, but I figure if I'm going to buy a car like this, I may as well got for the 'full monty'. I'm doing the extended 'hamper day' on the 20th, so hopefully I'll get a taste of the Sport suspension then.

You'll really enjoy the day, and you get to keep the cool bag and picnic blanket!

It would be sad if they were all Black, Grey, White and Red, but Blue reflex just struck me as a 'luxury' colour rather than a 'sporty' one . But, hey ho, we're all different (says the man who has a Purple car..).

But it would be good to see some bold primary colours on the MX5, as noted in an earlier posting. And I'd love to see one in Porsche Mexico Blue!

We (I) have a thing for blue. Would prefer something a little more 'primary' like on the NC, but once we saw the shade in the metal on the sales guy's 6, we were happy with it. I'll admit there's probably a contrarian element of just wanting to be different!

[elvismiggell]

ZedLeppelin said:

elvismiggell said:

Cabsi said:

Colour really is a personal thing, but as I said, I'm not a fan of 'Blue Reflex Mica'

Good thing I am - that's what we've ordered!

I'll admit to being a little worried about the harshness of the Sport suspension for the 2.0 which is what we've gone for, but I figure if I'm going to buy a car like this, I may as well got for the 'full monty'. I'm doing the extended 'hamper day' on the 20th, so hopefully I'll get a taste of the Sport suspension then.

I drove the Mk4 2.0 sport for a few hours yesterday and the biggest criticism I have of it, is the overdamped suspension. The Bilsteins made the car skip over bumps instead of absorb and ride over them. It is far too harsh and unless you don't mind being juddered about, i'd ask the questions about changing your mind. Sorry but that's my honest opinion. The overly harsh suspension damping/Shock absorption, made the entire ride jittery to the point of me turning the car around and giving it back before the end of my planned test route. That is something I have never done before when test driving a car. This car would be great on a track or in places which have nice, flat roads (California) to wang about on but in England, the average backwaters B road is going to cause both occupants no end of teeth chattering bumpiness.

I'm hoping this confirms your suspicions and helps you and isn't intended to rain on your parade.

Problem is that both of us consider heated seats to be fairly essential luxuries now. While I appreciate this is supposed to be a 'wrap up warm' sports car, having that on the Sport but not the SE-L is probably a large part of what persuaded us.

I guess we'll be looking for new options to swap over once we get the car. Never done anything like that, so perhaps it'll be a fun first time experience?

[Pickle77]

SFO said:

pics of the MX-5 in both group tests are of the SE-L .. as you say, black mirrors, and if you zoom in, no rear parking sensors either

Autocar got the technical and spec level wrong in the Caterham/GT86 comparison

Yes, well spotted re. the sensors SFO - I hadn't looked at that photo.
Good news for us SE-L supporters then (except that sometimes Autocar seem to be talking out of their exhaust pipes! )

[Gandahar]

The more I see the pictures of the new MX5 the more I like it, can't wait to see it in the flesh.

[Tron Kirk]

This month's Car mag has a test of the 2.0 SE-L vs the GT86 Aero and a 2.0l TT of some description. The MX-5 wins, of course, but their question at the end is whether to pick the faster 2.0 or go for the "more charismatic" 1.5.

The sort of question that internet forums were designed for really.

(Having driven both Sport models, I went for the 1.5 without a second thought)

[Gandahar]

I'm still scratching my head over the move to electronic steering. I just do not get this "it saves fuel" thought. I hope it's not because it costs a lot less than hydraulic and the bean counters have their say. Does it save weight?

I don't see why Mazda cannot do a Clubsport package for the 1.5 that junks this for hydraulic steering, ups the rev limit and you have the choice to also remove air con and the heavy standard seats. Perhaps even move the battery to the boot space and reduce the ££. Like the old Porsche 968 ClubSport.

Porsche make a lot out of giving a more sporty version of their cars, Mazda should do likewise. Halo effect and more money to them.

[Tron Kirk]

Quote from the Car test:

"in comparison to the zingy, high-revving 1.5-litre alternative, the 2.0-litre MX-5 lump seems a touch too much like it was destined for a Mazda 6 and ended up in a sports car by mistake."

[ZedLeppelin]

Tron Kirk said:

Quote from the Car test:

"in comparison to the zingy, high-revving 1.5-litre alternative, the 2.0-litre MX-5 lump seems a touch too much like it was destined for a Mazda 6 and ended up in a sports car by mistake."

I'd say that Mazda have mangled together a car out of ideas randomly taken from the spare ideas list, rather than build a real car with its own identity. Mazda got it right with the Mk1 and then got drawn into redesigning it because that's what's supposed to happen. See BMW 'mini'. The 2.0 isn't right for the car at all and feels imbalanced and a bit disconnected. Still, who cares?

[300bhp/ton]

Tron Kirk said:

Quote from the Car test:

"in comparison to the zingy, high-revving 1.5-litre alternative, the 2.0-litre MX-5 lump seems a touch too much like it was destined for a Mazda 6 and ended up in a sports car by mistake."

I haven't driven the 1.5, but I really could not complain about the way the 2.0 made its power or felt. And anyone claiming a Mazda 6 has throttle response like the MX-5 is talking utter trash tbh and simply looking for something to moan about.

[Richyboy]

I signed up for info about this car ages ago and nothing lol. I really want one but think I will wait for them to sort out the bilsteins and fit the brembo brakes from the US version.

[Cabsi]

ZedLeppelin said:

Tron Kirk said:

Quote from the Car test:

"in comparison to the zingy, high-revving 1.5-litre alternative, the 2.0-litre MX-5 lump seems a touch too much like it was destined for a Mazda 6 and ended up in a sports car by mistake."

I'd say that Mazda have mangled together a car out of ideas randomly taken from the spare ideas list, rather than build a real car with its own identity. Mazda got it right with the Mk1 and then got drawn into redesigning it because that's what's supposed to happen. See BMW 'mini'. The 2.0 isn't right for the car at all and feels imbalanced and a bit disconnected. Still, who cares?

Seems a bit harsh...

I think the 2.0 engine is fine, and I'd bet with the usual ECU and manifold upgrade so the engine isn't being strangled for emissions management, the proper character (and much better performance) will be unleashed. With the smaller capacity engine they could afford to be more free with their tuning.

As far as the suspension is concerned, they've fallen into the same trap as Audi etc and not developed the sports suspension for UK roads.

[300bhp/ton]

Maybe its because I'm coming from something else, but I thought the MX-5 rode very well. Unless it wasn't a sport that I drove (dealer said it was).

I drove it on this road:


And this road with road humps:



It managed them lovely IMO.