RE: Mazda MX-5 (NB) | Spotted
Discussion
Mr Miata said:
I’ve had four MX-5s and the mk2.5 sport was by far the most enjoyable. The handling was amazing on a open country road.
The NC and ND were noticeably bigger and heavier, like comparing a professional darts player to Mo Farah.
The only criticism I had of MX-5s was they always felt underpowered. And now embarrassed by hot hatches.
The ND is shorter than the NB but a bit wider. The ND2 is reasonably powered, it has the same 0-62 and 0 - 100MPH times (6.5s, 15s odd) as my old 300bhp 4.2 Jaguar XJ8 and has that wonderful trick of making you feel like you're going to die well within the speed limit.The NC and ND were noticeably bigger and heavier, like comparing a professional darts player to Mo Farah.
The only criticism I had of MX-5s was they always felt underpowered. And now embarrassed by hot hatches.
I have also got to spend some time in a 2.0 NC recently and it does feel like a much bigger and more "serious" car than my NA or ND but I enjoyed the engine a lot, it wasn't a duffer like the cast iron thing in the NA and NC.
If your interest lie in straight line heroics it's always going to disappoint, but I hounded a Civic Type-R into a ragged understeery mess on a fun B road the other day without trying to hard though
Bowman99 said:
Let me give some background to my low mileage MX5. Firstly I bought the car because I liked the look of it but it never really took me away from my main passion cycle racing, I have been cycle racing and training nearly all my life and still compete at club level, I am 62 now and still have an ftp of 266 over a full hour. Although the car hasn't done many miles, I have. Several years after I bought it, I priced what I would get for it and to tell you the truth it wasn't worth selling for the poultry sum I would get. I now have other interests and cars like a motorbike, E Class Mercedes, lwb campervan and an electric car.
I was told by a car salesman across the road that it was the worst thing I could do to a car, keeping it garaged up all the time. A few years later because of my cycling I was still ultra fit, thin and very healthy as is my MX5 to this day. The man I got advice from however wasn't, he suffered a heart attack and died because of his sedentary lifestyle. My car will probably be passed on to my son in the end, I am told that after the NA getting in short supply my nb will be the next to rise in value. Who cares, my health is the most important thing to me, money isn't. I am not short of a bob or two as I get older, time is the thing in short supply now.
This is an odd post, even for Pistonheads I was told by a car salesman across the road that it was the worst thing I could do to a car, keeping it garaged up all the time. A few years later because of my cycling I was still ultra fit, thin and very healthy as is my MX5 to this day. The man I got advice from however wasn't, he suffered a heart attack and died because of his sedentary lifestyle. My car will probably be passed on to my son in the end, I am told that after the NA getting in short supply my nb will be the next to rise in value. Who cares, my health is the most important thing to me, money isn't. I am not short of a bob or two as I get older, time is the thing in short supply now.
hucumber said:
This is an odd post, even for Pistonheads
I don't think so. There was a question as to why own a sports car and deny oneself the pleasure of driving it. The owner has explained that he has other hobbies to enjoy and other cars to drive, so the MX-5 serves a small slice of his overall enjoyment, but still a valued one at that. Also there's no point selling it today when it's probably at the lowest value it'll ever reach, and will be worth a lot more in the future either to his son to drive or to sell. If you've got ample money and storage space, why sell?Put it this way, I feel I understand why he's got such a low mileage NB a lot better following that latest post.
It was more the bragging about how fit and healthy he is and the mention of someone who disagreed with what he was doing dying of a heart attack that I was referring to. Whilst its not something I would do, I totally appreciate the reason for the keeping the car like that. I expect in the not too distant future when most of the NBs have rusted away (including my old one) that he will indeed see the value rise
People need to be extra careful with mx5’s. They rust from the inside out. Iv seen a mk2 with a genuine 17k miles look absolutely mint. Not until the under seal was removed it was rotted. Chassis rails and both inner / outer sills. It’s not the salt, rain, wet that rots them. It’s the humidity. Need to make sure all drain holes are clear and so on. 
My project. Welder from Santa is needed.
My project. Welder from Santa is needed.
Bowman99 said:
The point of the cycling remarks is that I only kept fit and healthy cycling by not driving everywhere and thus the reason for an immaculate MX5, surely that is easy to understand, even for an intellectual type such as you.
May not be as immaculate as you think if it’s sat unused in a garage. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff