Discussion
Well it was my choice of ECU when I went turbo. They did RRP for £450, however they have just been discontinued (3 weeks ago so some dealers Thor / RogueMotorsport) may still have stocks, fitting on a 1.6 a plug & play loom is avaiable, 1.8 you need to splice into the existing loom, a G4 the sucessor is £700. Then you need the ECU setting up / mapped, all depends how technical you are, plenty of people on mx5nutz will map themselves, however generally the professionals tend to charge about £300. Really its not worth it unless you are supercharging or turboing at the same time (or plan too).
Edited by Herman Toothrot on Sunday 7th September 16:33
Fair enough - thanks.
TBH I would love to something like this on the Saab as, although it was pretty advanced for its time, it's prehistoric now (boost control, fueling, ignition all controlled by separate systems). Some people have gone Megasquirt or fitted Saab DI from later cars but there's no easy solution.
TBH I would love to something like this on the Saab as, although it was pretty advanced for its time, it's prehistoric now (boost control, fueling, ignition all controlled by separate systems). Some people have gone Megasquirt or fitted Saab DI from later cars but there's no easy solution.
Herman Toothrot said:
hcanning said:
Mk1 MX5s are dreadful on the motorway. Noisy, unrefined and high-revving. I definitely would not recommend one for frequent long distance trips. As a fun car however, they're unparalleled 
Totally Agree.I use my Mk1 for an 80 mile motorway commute everyday. It really isn't a problem.
I can still hear the radio, the fuel consumption doesn't drop below 30mpg, and I've never felt 'unsafe' when battling with the lorries/vans etc. Then you have all of the advantages when you get off the motorway at the other end.
The fact it revs a bit high isn't such a bad thing either because you actually sit in the powerband, meaning the disadvantage of meagre power is negated somewhat.
I think that when I bought the car, it was less happy to sit at the speeds I expect of it. Once you've done a handful of journeys it quickly seems to bed into being happy at a brisk pace.
Even hacking down the Autobahns it has never felt particularly out of place, although those pop up headlights do make very effective air brakes at high speed!
I'd rather have a Mondeo/Vectra for motorway slogs simply because they were designed with that in mind. Them MX-5 was designed to be a B road sports car.
I wouldn't buy an MX-5 for motorway slogs in the same way I wouldn't buy a Vectra for B road antics. It's all about the right tool for the job. while the Vectra may be some fun on a twisty road, I'd always want to be in something more suitable and the same applies to motorway journeys in an MX-5.
Plus, remember that the MX-5 is an old car. It's possible to get more suitable - and modern - machinery to do the job.
I wouldn't buy an MX-5 for motorway slogs in the same way I wouldn't buy a Vectra for B road antics. It's all about the right tool for the job. while the Vectra may be some fun on a twisty road, I'd always want to be in something more suitable and the same applies to motorway journeys in an MX-5.
Plus, remember that the MX-5 is an old car. It's possible to get more suitable - and modern - machinery to do the job.
An MX-5 doesn't have to be an old car you know - they are still making them! Mine is 7 years old and is great on the motorway due to having the Mk2.5 6-speed gearbox which makes motorway work much more relaxing and overtaking is easy with nearly 200 lb/ft of torque 
I had a Mk1 1.8 Berkeley before this car and I didn't have any problem with motorway driving. I do regular trips from Wokingham to Norwich and occasional trips to Scotland and never felt that the car was too slow or too uncomfortable for these long distances - certainly no slower or less comfortable than my boring car - Focus 1.8 Zetec.
I had a Mk1 1.8 Berkeley before this car and I didn't have any problem with motorway driving. I do regular trips from Wokingham to Norwich and occasional trips to Scotland and never felt that the car was too slow or too uncomfortable for these long distances - certainly no slower or less comfortable than my boring car - Focus 1.8 Zetec.
MX-5 Lazza said:
An MX-5 doesn't have to be an old car you know - they are still making them!
Not early Mk1s they aren't...As I said, it's about the right tool for the job. If sports cars could do everything, everyone would be driving sports cars.
But they can't.
So they're not.
Edited by Fruitcake on Tuesday 9th September 08:33
Fruitcake said:
I wouldn't buy an MX-5 for motorway slogs in the same way I wouldn't buy a Vectra for B road antics. It's all about the right tool for the job. while the Vectra may be some fun on a twisty road, I'd always want to be in something more suitable and the same applies to motorway journeys in an MX-5.
I take your point but the MX-5 is more than adequate on the motorway whereas the Vectra is less than adequate as a fun car.I know which part of my driving is more important to me, so MX-5 wins.
Even a two car argument doesn't hold water for me, if I was buying a second car I'd rather buy a second fun car - hence why I bought my Porsche (which is arguably a more suitable motorway car, but I still prefer to use the MX-5).
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