RE: 2019 Mazda MX-5 - official!

[Honeywell]

That’s an incredibly interesting post.

I’m in a position to pull the trigger on a 718 around £50k but keep thinking that a MX BBR 200 for £30k less would be almost as much fun and the spare £30k is a share in a pretty impressive glider plus a BMW F 850GS with gold wheels. A slightly better toy box,

Do you really find the Mazda as much fun as a Ferrari?

[renmure]

I probably need to be careful here so as not to appear flippant for the hell of it.

As far as the Ferrari goes, I like owning a Ferrari. It's my second one (an F355 GTB was first) and if you are "into" Ferrari's then you get a lot more from owning your own Ferrari than just the miles you are driving it. That's really only worth paying for if (a) you're into it and (b) you can afford it. I don't think you could really say you get that from a Mazda so I appreciate I'm in a fortunate situation here.

As far as Porsche goes, The 987 Spider would be my 2nd Porsche (a 996 Turbo S was first) but I'm not a Porsche "fan" in the same way and the only Porsche cars that give me the same buzz as Ferrari would be the current GT3 / GT2 RS type cars but they are fairly serious money and limited availability.

So, is the Mazda as much fun as the Ferrari.. definitely not. Driving a Ferrari is a fairly special event every time you drive it... but a lot of the time that's a double edges sword. Today I took my MX5 on a 10 mile, roof down, shades on, cross country blast on the back roads into town today, did a bit of shopping then took a slightly different route back... just because I could. I then did a 15 mile B-road blast to work in the afternoon, parked up in the company carpark then enjoyed the same drive home. I'll probably do something similar tomorrow ... and the next day... and a lot of the nice sunny days during this week and the next and... I'll probably stick the roof down and enjoy the car all through the year including bright sunny winter days and even the odd (some might say very odd) late winter evening run under clear, dark skies and stars.

Would I do the same in the Fezza? No. Maybe once or twice but doing normal stuff in a special car where much about the day is all about the car is ace occasionally, but like steak pie and chips, I wouldn't want it every day. I'm not even meaning that for me a B-road blast in an MX5 is x/10ths of the same drive in a Ferrari as it's not really comparable. Guess my point was that a great drive in the Mazda is still a great drive and great experience and there's not been too often I can think of where I came back thinking I picked the wrong car.

Anyhow.. a pic 'cause pics are nice. My NC before it changed into an ND.

[Honeywell]

Thank you for that elaboration and the picture. Much appreciated.

I enjoy a range of vehicles, a full fat Rangerover, a big engined BMW, a classic tractor, a trails bike etc etc. Nothing of the price point of your garage. A Ferrari is beyond my pocket but I actually don’t mind or care anymore. A Porsche isn’t.

My brains, my inner Spock, my angel says buy an MX5 and tune it a bit. My dick says buy a
Boxster.

You’re helping my brains.

[renmure]

Honeywell said:

My brains, my inner Spock, my angel says buy an MX5 and tune it a bit. My dick says buy a
Boxster.

You’re helping my brains.

haha. I must be getting old!

Anyhow, the sensible answer is to do whatever it takes to get a share of the Glider.

[Honeywell]

I’ve many years of gliding and other flying in the logbook and yes it’s way cooler and more fun than simple cars! It’s very useful for me to have confirmation that stretching to scratch a £50k exotic car itch isn’t really worth quite the effort. Particularly when one has other itches,

thank you.

[BIST0]

Honeywell said:

I’ve many years of gliding and other flying in the logbook and yes it’s way cooler and more fun than simple cars! It’s very useful for me to have confirmation that stretching to scratch a £50k exotic car itch isn’t really worth quite the effort. Particularly when one has other itches,

thank you.

Why not get a nice 981 Boxter with the proper 6 cylinder engine for about 30k (much nicer sound, more special than 718, won’t depreciate as fast) and then put the change into the other toys?

Having said that, one of my cars is a BBR 300 bhp NC MX5. It is HUGE fun, especially when well sorted with suspension package etc etc.

[p1stonhead]

Honeywell said:

That’s an incredibly interesting post.

I’m in a position to pull the trigger on a 718 around £50k but keep thinking that a MX BBR 200 for £30k less would be almost as much fun and the spare £30k is a share in a pretty impressive glider plus a BMW F 850GS with gold wheels. A slightly better toy box,

Do you really find the Mazda as much fun as a Ferrari?

Me too. Im in the process of deciding what 911 I want and had sort of settled on a 997 GTS for about £50k to buy in about 6 months time.

But you can get a 2017 RF for about £20k these days. I think I need to go have a test drive and see whats what!

[tankplanker]

I love mine but stock it isn't as sorted as a stock Boxster or 911 cab as the lower purchase price means the MX-5's setup can be a bit variable between different cars, more than Porsche manage. If you are after a sharp handling car then upgrading the suspension and having it setup properly will make a big difference. Better tyres wouldn't hurt either, a touch wider as well if you are increasing the power much over 200 BHP would be my preference.

With my current cars (new XC90, Golf R, Locost 7 and the MX-5) I could have gone down the single or dual car route and had a much more expensive and faster main fun car (GT4 and a Octavia Estate for example). However I know with the current speed enforcement both in the UK and in France being what it is something much faster is just going to land me in hot water. I'm also not rich enough to consider regularly tracking something as expensive (to me) as a GT4, and I'm not going to drive fast enough to fully exploit a GT4 on the road speed cameras or no speed cameras as it is simply too capable for what I personally deem safe enough for the road.

The MX-5 is enough for the road for me to have fun in and not be facing prison time for properly pushing it. It is just about large enough for a week away for two (if you pack sensibly). It is cheap enough to not worry about depreciation and well built enough to keep it going long enough depreciation doesn't matter anyway.

[horsemeatscandal]

greenarrow said:

Absolutely.

Compared with a Caterham 7 it might be heavy, but compared to nearly anything else its light!. Just over 1000KG for a proper car, i.e .something with doors, windscreen, modern day crash protection and modern comforts.

Its basically gained only about 50-75KG in weight since launch in 1990. Name me another sporty car that has put on such a small amount of weight since then.....I think the 911 has only put on about 100KG or so since 1990, but Im struggling to think of anything else. Certainly not a Golf GTI or equivalent. They've put on nearly half a ton!

I’m biased but does the Swift Sport count as ‘sporty’? I mean, it’s right there in the name.....

Mk1: 1105kg
Mk2: 1045kg
Mk3: 975kg

(Figures from AutoTrader so may differ elsewhere)

All the while adding more gadgets and safety features!

Back on topic, love the MX-5 and it’s whole ethos but can’t help but think I’d prefer the 124 because Italian. Plus, despite popular opinion, I think it looks pretty good.

[coppice]

The 124 only looks good if you are lucky enough to be too young to remember how exquisite the original was . Like many other homage cars (eg Ford GT , every successive 911 ) the newer car looks porky and ill resolved . And have you heard a 124 Spider? It sounds like somebody farting in the bath . And FOUR exhausts- the equivalent of an oversized cod piece

[horsemeatscandal]

coppice said:

The 124 only looks good if you are lucky enough to be too young to remember how exquisite the original was . Like many other homage cars (eg Ford GT , every successive 911 ) the newer car looks porky and ill resolved . And have you heard a 124 Spider? It sounds like somebody farting in the bath . And FOUR exhausts- the equivalent of an oversized cod piece

I’m not sure if I have seen an original 124 in the metal to be honest. Agree, nice looking cars but to a layman it just looks like a 1960s sports car e.g. Spitfire or MGB. Blasphemy I know, and of course many will disagree but they’ll likely be the enthusiasts.

The current design I think is relatively original. The rear however isn’t the best, for some reason reminds me of the new Fiesta.

As for the exhausts and noise, it’s horses for courses, but I was specifically referring to the Fiat version whereas I guess you’re referring to the Abarth.

[bazza white]

I wish they would do the club edition they did in the states with the bbs wheels or a kuro edition for the ND.


184 bhp sounds lovely in an mx5 though

[TurboHatchback]

The Crack Fox said:

"traffic sign recognition" - how does that work, then? A symbol on the dashboard informs you of a roadsign in front of you? Isn't it better to watch the actual road, and actual roadsigns, instead of gorming at the bloody dashboard? How the fk does that improve anything for anyone?

Plenty of people seem incapable of seeing or comprehending speed limit signs so maybe the car displaying them on the dash might help? I'd be turning that feature off myself. Heated seats and cruise control would be great but all the rest of the gubbins I'm not really interested in.

[Plipton]

I love these cars and would have one in a heartbeat if only they'd put the pedals in front of the driver rather than a 3 yard stretch to the right. I test drove one and was aching for hours down my left side from the awkward driving position. Why, oh why, can't they get something so simple right when they seem to have the car 99% nailed elsewhere!

Yes I know the transmission tunnel is in the way but there must be a way to improve the ergonomics. And what about that lump in the floor behind the driver's left foot? One compromise too many I'm afraid.

[coppice]

Odd - I'm an overweight 5-11 with longish legs and find the driving position just spot on for me. Relationship between whee; , pedals and gear lever as good as just about anything I've driven and no feel of being skewed . I did learn to drive in a Triumph Herald - now that was seriously askew ..

[greenarrow]

horsemeatscandal said:

greenarrow said:

Absolutely.

Compared with a Caterham 7 it might be heavy, but compared to nearly anything else its light!. Just over 1000KG for a proper car, i.e .something with doors, windscreen, modern day crash protection and modern comforts.

Its basically gained only about 50-75KG in weight since launch in 1990. Name me another sporty car that has put on such a small amount of weight since then.....I think the 911 has only put on about 100KG or so since 1990, but Im struggling to think of anything else. Certainly not a Golf GTI or equivalent. They've put on nearly half a ton!

I’m biased but does the Swift Sport count as ‘sporty’? I mean, it’s right there in the name.....

Mk1: 1105kg
Mk2: 1045kg
Mk3: 975kg

(Figures from AutoTrader so may differ elsewhere)

All the while adding more gadgets and safety features!

Back on topic, love the MX-5 and it’s whole ethos but can’t help but think I’d prefer the 124 because Italian. Plus, despite popular opinion, I think it looks pretty good.

ha, ha, good try, but you're comparing a 2005 Swift with the current one, not the 1990 model!

The 1990 Swift GTI weighed around 850KG I believe, so the modern equivalent, like everything else has gained weight, albeit not massively.

Also, I quoted the weight for the heavier 2 litre Mk4 MX5. I believe the 1.5 without driver is supposed to be 975KG, which is just 26 KG more than the quoted weight for the 1.6 Mk1. You've got to admit that's pretty good.

[Lee540]

Quite liking the MX5 RF

[Kolbenkopp]

The Crack Fox said:

"traffic sign recognition" - how does that work, then? A symbol on the dashboard informs you of a roadsign in front of you? Isn't it better to watch the actual road, and actual roadsigns, instead of gorming at the bloody dashboard? How the fk does that improve anything for anyone?

Yup, that's pretty much how it works. Probably speed limits only tho. Got this on the Golf after activating it (VCDS -- I'm sad and like playing around with software ). It is a bit less pointless than I imagined but not a safety feature. More the opposite: can be useful to double check speed limit to make sure one has slowed down enough when the speed camera alarm gong comes on.

Imagine this crept in with the Lane Departure Warning system. That I suppose is NCAP / insurance relevant somewhere so there is an incentive for manufacturers to work on it.

So you already have a good camera on the windscreen and decent image processing power. What else can we make with it? Hm. Let's use it to recongnize speed limit signs. And why not for LED headlamps that can mask out oncoming trafic?

The stuff is all connected and usually at least dual-purpose. That's how the required camera ended up in my car, came with active light system I wanted to have.

[Leggy]

Funny how this all started as a copy of the Lotus Elan. Yet here we are Mazda selling bucket loads at a profit (I assume) and Lotus likely to not replace the Elise due to lack of demand for interpretation of a small sports car. May be they need to have another think.

[kambites]

Leggy said:

Funny how this all started as a copy of the Lotus Elan. Yet here we are Mazda selling bucket loads at a profit (I assume) and Lotus likely to not replace the Elise due to lack of demand for interpretation of a small sports car. May be they need to have another think.

I know this is often quoted out, but it's really not true. The styling of the mk1 as well as the suspension design might bear some resemblance to the Elan, but that's about it. In terms of market position and technology relative to its peers the MX5 has far more in common with the MGB than the Elan.

Mazda may have used the Elan as a design study for the mk1 MX5 but it was never intended to be a "modern Elan". People tend to forget that the Elan was really quite an expensive car - its price was close to that of the E-type than the Midget or Spitfire. The current-day Exige arguably quite accurately mirrors the market position of the original Elan; the Elise is a significantly cheaper car.


Anyway, looks like a lovely update. The new engine sounds like exactly what the car has been crying out for in terms of character and performance ever since the mk4 was released. Now lets hope they can sort out the oddly poorly resolved suspension calibration as well so that doesn't have to be fixed with after-market components to make it drive properly.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 21st June 20:10