Discussion
Owned my MX-5 for two weeks now, but I've only been able to drive it since yesterday. The day I bought it, a power steering pipe sprung a leak and emptied all the oil all down the underside of the car and the drive!
It took two weeks to get it booked into my local garage due to my mechanic being busy over Easter. I could of taken it elsewhere, but I trust the guy and he always does a sterling job. Anyway, in the meantime I went on holiday.
But, this week, I'm on the road in it. Every mile produces more smiles! The car is a 1992 1.6 SE. It's a genuine UK car, having had two lady owners (and then me) from new. As far as I can tell, only 200 of this particular variant were ever made. It's black with tan leather, wooden wheel and dished alloys. Everything on the car is original, even the rather attractive alloys.
The sensation of speed is fantastic. You don't need to speed to have a smile from ear to ear. Turn in is pin sharp and the thing goes round corners beautifully. The gearbox is a joy to use and makes me want to change gear just for the hell of it!
Time to sell the Beemer, can't see me driving it again with the thrills on offer from the MX-5!
I've being driving it so much, I haven't even had chance to take a photo
It took two weeks to get it booked into my local garage due to my mechanic being busy over Easter. I could of taken it elsewhere, but I trust the guy and he always does a sterling job. Anyway, in the meantime I went on holiday.
But, this week, I'm on the road in it. Every mile produces more smiles! The car is a 1992 1.6 SE. It's a genuine UK car, having had two lady owners (and then me) from new. As far as I can tell, only 200 of this particular variant were ever made. It's black with tan leather, wooden wheel and dished alloys. Everything on the car is original, even the rather attractive alloys.
The sensation of speed is fantastic. You don't need to speed to have a smile from ear to ear. Turn in is pin sharp and the thing goes round corners beautifully. The gearbox is a joy to use and makes me want to change gear just for the hell of it!
Time to sell the Beemer, can't see me driving it again with the thrills on offer from the MX-5!
I've being driving it so much, I haven't even had chance to take a photo
Edited by RoofDownGlovesOn on Tuesday 17th April 21:43
I want an Elise! said:
Wigeon Incognito said:
Expect your fuel bills to go through the roof!
Oh good, it's not just me then !!
I think its almost worth getting a standalone ECU just to sort this out. My car gained 100bhp with a turbo kit and increased it's mpg at the same time. Now get 440km from a tank even with my silly low ratio diff that means motorway traveling is always over 4000rpm
Wigeon Incognito said:
Congratulations! I've had mine just over a year now and the grin hasn't faded.
Expect your fuel bills to go through the roof!
Expect your fuel bills to go through the roof!
I've just put a can of injector cleaner through my '94 RS and it's now producing very respectable economy. Did over 350kms to the last tank thrashing it with the roof down and so far on this one it seems to be doing substantially better than that sticking to 80 or so on the motorway and trying to avoid the rev limiter on the b-roads
It's significantly more efficient than the last couple of cars I've had - into the 30's (MPG) I'd say.
whats a km? I've had 4 fill-ups so far, and my MPG is as follows:
1: 27.95
2: 30.13
3: 29.20
4: 30.37
Giving an average so far of 29.41.
This has been mostly motorway driving, way above 4k revs, and I'd say the roof has been down about 60% of the time.
K
ETA: And I fully agree with RDGOs original post above - fun fun FUN.
1: 27.95
2: 30.13
3: 29.20
4: 30.37
Giving an average so far of 29.41.
This has been mostly motorway driving, way above 4k revs, and I'd say the roof has been down about 60% of the time.
K
ETA: And I fully agree with RDGOs original post above - fun fun FUN.
Edited by Kinky on Thursday 19th April 08:06
i love mine, got the 4 wheel alignment done a few days back and it feels better , celebrated with a few roundabouts , still feels a bit sluggish but sod it its still an absolute hoot to drive , i look at it as a running project .
Not going to bother with supercharging turbo etc , going to go the NA route , when ive got enough cash to buy another g/box and engine ,strip it port the head and carb it
, still feels a bit sluggish but sod it its still an absolute hoot to drive , i look at it as a running project . Not going to bother with supercharging turbo etc , going to go the NA route , when ive got enough cash to buy another g/box and engine ,strip it port the head and carb it
Roundabouts are a sheer joy! After four days' worth of driving, I'm starting to appreciate my car's full handling capabilities. The back end coming round is amazingly progressive and you really can leave some serious metal for dead in the bends. It stays so flat and is immensely controllable and adjustable.
I haven't lusted for more speed yet and I actually think the output of the revvy 1.6 is perfectly suited to the car. You definitely need to keep the revs to overtake, but that's half the fun! Second gear is comedy. The quoted 0-60 time of around 9 seconds perhaps doesn't represent an accurate picture of the car's performance. The car seems very low geared and I bet the 9 second time is due to having to grab third to get there. With 'normal' ratios, I bet the time would be low 8s. From a standing start, the MX-5 gets away very briskly and it's only after about 50mph that you're left for dead by the Germans - but only until the next bend
I really don't want to change anything about the car, I've put 800 miles on it in four days! Actually that's a lie - the sound system needs sorting and I have an untouched 4 channel amp and JL 5 1/4 inch high-end components sitting around doing nothing. I just hope they fit in the doors!
I haven't lusted for more speed yet and I actually think the output of the revvy 1.6 is perfectly suited to the car. You definitely need to keep the revs to overtake, but that's half the fun! Second gear is comedy. The quoted 0-60 time of around 9 seconds perhaps doesn't represent an accurate picture of the car's performance. The car seems very low geared and I bet the 9 second time is due to having to grab third to get there. With 'normal' ratios, I bet the time would be low 8s. From a standing start, the MX-5 gets away very briskly and it's only after about 50mph that you're left for dead by the Germans - but only until the next bend
I really don't want to change anything about the car, I've put 800 miles on it in four days! Actually that's a lie - the sound system needs sorting and I have an untouched 4 channel amp and JL 5 1/4 inch high-end components sitting around doing nothing. I just hope they fit in the doors!
Another morning in my unbroken fortnight of commuting with the roof down!!
Really enjoy mine - like a 60s time warp. That said, find it hard to believe all these claims they can keep up with chimeras or whatever over B-roads, don't think it covers gorund as fast as my ZS saloon. I've given up using full throttle in a straight line - doesn't seem to do a lot
Get the impression my car has got more understeery lately. Maybe some residual stress in the bushes has worked itself out changing the geometry a little. Either way it's way overdue a new set of tyres and 4 wheel alignment anyway. Still good fun though.
Really enjoy mine - like a 60s time warp. That said, find it hard to believe all these claims they can keep up with chimeras or whatever over B-roads, don't think it covers gorund as fast as my ZS saloon. I've given up using full throttle in a straight line - doesn't seem to do a lot
Get the impression my car has got more understeery lately. Maybe some residual stress in the bushes has worked itself out changing the geometry a little. Either way it's way overdue a new set of tyres and 4 wheel alignment anyway. Still good fun though.
chris71 said:
Another morning in my unbroken fortnight of commuting with the roof down!!
Commuting to work roof down always puts me in a bad frame of mind for the rest of the day. I enjoy it too much then really, really don't want to be sitting in my office.
I only put the roof down on the way home.
Strange?
Wigeon Incognito said:
chris71 said:
Another morning in my unbroken fortnight of commuting with the roof down!!
Commuting to work roof down always puts me in a bad frame of mind for the rest of the day. I enjoy it too much then really, really don't want to be sitting in my office.
I only put the roof down on the way home.
Strange?
Kind of understand. I always find I get rather unproductive when I'm excited about something (going out that night, driving home, whatever....) and don't concentrate on work so much.
That said, since submitting to the 9 to 5 grind, I need to take enjoyment wherever I can find it and if that means taking the b-road route to work in the morning, damn it, I'll just have to do so
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