Not another mx5...
Discussion
Around 9 years ago, I was trundling along the M5 in my first car, a vauxhall astra, when this little black car came screaming up behind me...two seats, roll bar, low to the ground, sounding like an angry wasp being eaten by a daschund. It was of course an MX5, from that moment, I knew I had to have one.
Fast forward to 2010 and I was finally in the position to buy my first fun car, at 24, the insurance was affordable, and I didn't need a particularly practical car in terms of size.
I set my sights on a mk2 MX5 as I was doing a fair bit of motorway commuting at the time, and wanted the slightly more refined drive...I decided on my price range and set to looking for "the one".
Having spent considerable hours trawling online ads, I eventually arranged to go and view a mk2.5 "phoenix" edition MX5 up near Leicester...I had a reasonable idea of what to look for (I'm fond of researching), so I set off in earnest.
Long story short, I was totally taken with the car, and wound up buying it, having neither viewed or test driven any others, I was now the proud owner of a 2002 mk2.5 1.6l Phoenix. The brown leather seats combined with the grey paintwork really worked for me, i think I was sold as soon as I saw the car to be honest.
Fast forward 4 years and 30,000 miles, and I'm still as in love as ever with this quirky little car...honestly can't see myself ever selling it. My vision for the car is finally starting to come together, and seems a good time to share.
I'm into modifying cars, but in a late twenties mindset, so things are fairly restrained.
Racing Beat backbox
Racing Beat type V rollbar
coilovers (nameless for partisan reasons)
fast road geo (which has dictated the ride height)
Rota Grid 15x7 (I'd love to buy volks or Rays, but I'm not a powerfully built company director)
She is shortly being treated to a new mohair hood (chocolate brown) as the vinyl one, at 13 years old, is starting to slide downhill fairly rapidly.
Future plans will be some debadging and smoothing, ducktail spoiler, then standalone engine management (probably MS2) next year running on the n/a setup whilst I decide whether to go turbo or supercharge.
I know the looks and mods probably aren't to everyone's taste... but ultimately, I love it
Fast forward to 2010 and I was finally in the position to buy my first fun car, at 24, the insurance was affordable, and I didn't need a particularly practical car in terms of size.
I set my sights on a mk2 MX5 as I was doing a fair bit of motorway commuting at the time, and wanted the slightly more refined drive...I decided on my price range and set to looking for "the one".
Having spent considerable hours trawling online ads, I eventually arranged to go and view a mk2.5 "phoenix" edition MX5 up near Leicester...I had a reasonable idea of what to look for (I'm fond of researching), so I set off in earnest.
Long story short, I was totally taken with the car, and wound up buying it, having neither viewed or test driven any others, I was now the proud owner of a 2002 mk2.5 1.6l Phoenix. The brown leather seats combined with the grey paintwork really worked for me, i think I was sold as soon as I saw the car to be honest.
Fast forward 4 years and 30,000 miles, and I'm still as in love as ever with this quirky little car...honestly can't see myself ever selling it. My vision for the car is finally starting to come together, and seems a good time to share.
I'm into modifying cars, but in a late twenties mindset, so things are fairly restrained.
Racing Beat backbox
Racing Beat type V rollbar
coilovers (nameless for partisan reasons)
fast road geo (which has dictated the ride height)
Rota Grid 15x7 (I'd love to buy volks or Rays, but I'm not a powerfully built company director)
She is shortly being treated to a new mohair hood (chocolate brown) as the vinyl one, at 13 years old, is starting to slide downhill fairly rapidly.
Future plans will be some debadging and smoothing, ducktail spoiler, then standalone engine management (probably MS2) next year running on the n/a setup whilst I decide whether to go turbo or supercharge.
I know the looks and mods probably aren't to everyone's taste... but ultimately, I love it
Looks lovely mate, I also have a Phoenix edition and If I had the choice it would have been in your colour, unfortunately I went ultra cheap with about 10 shades of black to the car!
How does the 1.6 perform on the mk2.5's? I've owned 2 1.8 mk2.5's and enjoy the extra power, but my old mk1 1.6 was really fun as the engine felt a lot more eager to rev than the 1.8's do.
How does the 1.6 perform on the mk2.5's? I've owned 2 1.8 mk2.5's and enjoy the extra power, but my old mk1 1.6 was really fun as the engine felt a lot more eager to rev than the 1.8's do.
mattshiz said:
How does the 1.6 perform on the mk2.5's? I've owned 2 1.8 mk2.5's and enjoy the extra power, but my old mk1 1.6 was really fun as the engine felt a lot more eager to rev than the 1.8's do.
Tbh I haven't driven the 1.8, but I find the 1.6 rev happy and plenty of fun... it just needs to be driven accordingly (ie. thrash the pants off it, she comes to life between 4-6k rpm). The lack of power is mostly noticeable on the motorway (overtakes and such), but I don't do a lot of carriageway driving these days.GravelBen said:
Looks good (though I prefer a proper braced rollbar rather than a stylebar).
Having had a couple of Mk1s in the past (standard and turbo) I quite like the idea of getting a Mk2 or 3 at some stage.
I take your point on those flimsy style bars. I had one myself before I got the racing beat bar...which is somewhat more substantial- three bolts at three points on each seatbelt tower, i was suprised at just how solid it is, it is really part of the structure of the car once installed. You can rock the whole car with your hand gripping the bar. I was also suprised at how much it stiffened the chassis, much improved. (though I prefer a proper braced rollbar rather than a stylebar).Having had a couple of Mk1s in the past (standard and turbo) I quite like the idea of getting a Mk2 or 3 at some stage.
It's not quite a TR lane bar, but it's a good halfway-house.
cheers chaps, yeah the grey does tend to come up a variety of shades depending on weather and photo!
She's going into the trimmers next weekend for a new mohair roof...I've decided to go for brown to compliment the interior and something a bit different.
Hopefully the gamble will pay off, but it should look pretty good
She's going into the trimmers next weekend for a new mohair roof...I've decided to go for brown to compliment the interior and something a bit different.
Hopefully the gamble will pay off, but it should look pretty good
In slightly more PH worthy vein, I've decided to book the car in with the folks at blink motorsport after xmas, call it a modest (ish) 30th birthday treat.
They do a "145" pack for the 1.6- port+polish head, race cams, megasquirt ECU and remap for a reasonable sum. This should free up about 35bhp, and make the car considerably more lively...then there is the option of going stage 2 further down the line, jenvey throttle body kit.
I really like the idea of a more raw and edgy n/a experience rather than going the usual turbo route, and she should sound epic too.
They do a "145" pack for the 1.6- port+polish head, race cams, megasquirt ECU and remap for a reasonable sum. This should free up about 35bhp, and make the car considerably more lively...then there is the option of going stage 2 further down the line, jenvey throttle body kit.
I really like the idea of a more raw and edgy n/a experience rather than going the usual turbo route, and she should sound epic too.
So, this weekend I undertook the journey to Swansea, to visit every mx5 owner's favourite roof trimmer, Jack Smith's.
I decided some time ago that I wanted a brown roof, to tie in with the interior and wheels, I was 99% sure it would work, but I was still a little nervous.
However, they did a fantastic job, and the shade of brown is pretty much perfect (pure luck really, the material comes from a third party supplier as "brown"). I am very pleased with the workmanship for the price.
Here she is-
I decided some time ago that I wanted a brown roof, to tie in with the interior and wheels, I was 99% sure it would work, but I was still a little nervous.
However, they did a fantastic job, and the shade of brown is pretty much perfect (pure luck really, the material comes from a third party supplier as "brown"). I am very pleased with the workmanship for the price.
Here she is-
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