97' Mx-5 Mk1 1.8
Discussion
I know everybody is probably bored of mx5/eunos related posts on here, but its the first interesting car ive owned so im fairly proud of it! To be honest after owning a 1.2 corsa B and an Astra 1.4 I decided I wanted something a bit more fun!
Its one of the last mk1's and is a UK car on an R reg, with no power steering! The steering is actually far heavier than I was expecting but having never driven anything without it previously there was nothing to compare it too. Mechanically its completely standard, although the suspension is feeling a bit tired so an upgrade is on my mind (nothing too drastic as I live in an area with too many speed bumps). Interior has red and black leather mk2 seats, roll hoops and a Nardi Torino wheel.
The lack of pics is down to the weather and the fact that a rear view would give you a chance to see the damage I managed to cause to the rear window. Typical mess up by somebody new to convertibles, lets just say a very cold, brittle rear window and not following Mazda's instructions to unzip it first lead to a minor disaster.
It was actually bought a couple of days before Xmas so ive driven it a few hundred miles now and im really starting to enjoy driving it, it stil feels eager and pulls pretty well and even with the tired suspension its still fun around the B roads. Grip wise, I wish it had it had a bit more, (given that its been cold and wet ive probably experienced it at its worst).
Insurance is a bit higher than I would like, but being 19 (20 in May) I wasn't really expecting anything that great.
Roll on summer and some slightly better weather, there must be the odd sunny day, surely......
Its one of the last mk1's and is a UK car on an R reg, with no power steering! The steering is actually far heavier than I was expecting but having never driven anything without it previously there was nothing to compare it too. Mechanically its completely standard, although the suspension is feeling a bit tired so an upgrade is on my mind (nothing too drastic as I live in an area with too many speed bumps). Interior has red and black leather mk2 seats, roll hoops and a Nardi Torino wheel.
The lack of pics is down to the weather and the fact that a rear view would give you a chance to see the damage I managed to cause to the rear window. Typical mess up by somebody new to convertibles, lets just say a very cold, brittle rear window and not following Mazda's instructions to unzip it first lead to a minor disaster.
It was actually bought a couple of days before Xmas so ive driven it a few hundred miles now and im really starting to enjoy driving it, it stil feels eager and pulls pretty well and even with the tired suspension its still fun around the B roads. Grip wise, I wish it had it had a bit more, (given that its been cold and wet ive probably experienced it at its worst).
Insurance is a bit higher than I would like, but being 19 (20 in May) I wasn't really expecting anything that great.
Roll on summer and some slightly better weather, there must be the odd sunny day, surely......
Edited by Ruffy94 on Thursday 30th January 00:54
Edited by Ruffy94 on Thursday 30th January 00:56
Lovely little cars - they're popular on here for good reason. Really enjoyed my Mark 1 in the few months I had it before I sold it to go travelling, so much so I'm considering picking up another when I return! I'm sure you'll have a great time especially when the weather picks up a bit!
What's happened to the roof/screen exactly?
What's happened to the roof/screen exactly?
Just forgot to unzip it when I put it down, it's now got a split running vertically down the middle of the screen. Ive taped it up and luckily it doesnt seem to be letting any water in. Seems to be a couple of options of either sending the panel away and having a new window machined in or an entire roof. But as the car sits outside it will have to wait until the weather is better!
Identical to my old one! You can keep them red rather than pink with a bit elbow grease!
I made this mistake of purchasing cheap coilovers for mine when one of the shocks starting leaking. If you intend to drive the car how intended then do not do this. The standard set up is fantastic as is and the ride height on yours looks ok.
Keep the drain holes clear that run down into the sills and if you can clean out the bottoms of the front wings as they collect alot of crap and subsequently rust out too. Make sure the alignment is ok and then enjoy using its nearly 7000rpm rev range as much as possible! Driven hard on a twisty road, they can still upset the newer stuff and I guarentee you will be having more fun than anybody else.
I made this mistake of purchasing cheap coilovers for mine when one of the shocks starting leaking. If you intend to drive the car how intended then do not do this. The standard set up is fantastic as is and the ride height on yours looks ok.
Keep the drain holes clear that run down into the sills and if you can clean out the bottoms of the front wings as they collect alot of crap and subsequently rust out too. Make sure the alignment is ok and then enjoy using its nearly 7000rpm rev range as much as possible! Driven hard on a twisty road, they can still upset the newer stuff and I guarentee you will be having more fun than anybody else.
At the moment its a very deep red (light in the pic doesn't do it justice). Hopefully it's not too tricky to keep it looking good, my dad used to own an astra in a very similar colour that used to fade completely every few weeks despite extensive polishing!
Definitely keeping a close eye on it corrosion wise as it has to live outside and its my daily driver. It did have a health check at Sulston Hills in leighton Buzzard a couple of weeks back and they reckoned that the sills had been done pretty recently, so thats one less thing to worry about.
Definitely keeping a close eye on it corrosion wise as it has to live outside and its my daily driver. It did have a health check at Sulston Hills in leighton Buzzard a couple of weeks back and they reckoned that the sills had been done pretty recently, so thats one less thing to worry about.
dondan said:
Extensive polishing ain't a great idea on any car... polishing then protecting correctly will do a lot more for the car in the long run.
Sorry, I used polishing as just a general term, it was waxed etc. But his route to work is mainly back roads, so it needed regular cleaning as well and with any regular cleaning you start removing the products. Plus, I think the previous owner had a thing for the automatic car washes so im guessing that the condition of the paint may have deteriorated slightly!
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