RE: Mazda MX-5 1.5 (ND): PH Fleet
Discussion
Rawwr said:
sr.guiri said:
I once owned a Fiat 124 Sport Spider - an original. Fantastic car. A mate took a photo of me in it once with the roof down - what an idiot I looked - he bloody published it on Facebook too
I sold it not long after that. Don't understand the UK fascination with convertibles, especially considering the s
t weather. Why look a dick when you don't have to If being perceived as a dick by people like you is the price of having fun in an MX5, it's the bargain of the century.
Rawwr said:
sr.guiri said:
I once owned a Fiat 124 Sport Spider - an original. Fantastic car. A mate took a photo of me in it once with the roof down - what an idiot I looked - he bloody published it on Facebook too
I sold it not long after that. Don't understand the UK fascination with convertibles, especially considering the s
t weather. Why look a dick when you don't have to If being perceived as a dick by people like you is the price of having fun in an MX5, it's the bargain of the century.
LG9k said:
LG9k said:
"...vain."?
Such a shame Honda doesn't make something similar but with vtec.
Such a shame Honda doesn't make something similar but with vtec.
I went from a Mk 1 MX-5 is as new condition after 30k miles to a brand new 2006 Honda S2000 - BIG mistake.
Honda seemed bulky, had to be thrashed to make it go & with very few comforts for the £26k it cost me. Too raw for me.
The current MX-5 has no appeal in whichever form, to my eyes its an ugly little runt.
I agree with everything written in the artlcle, I love my 1.5 nd and have done 29k mile in it so far. Still need to try the nd2 to see if it warrants a trade in.
May I recommend to other nd drivers the "stubby" aerial, it makes the car look alot less like a radio controlled toy!
May I recommend to other nd drivers the "stubby" aerial, it makes the car look alot less like a radio controlled toy!
Edited by xu5 on Friday 5th April 17:06
sr.guiri said:
It's a shame that it will be bought my mainly overweight red faced men wearing baseball caps, and having the roof down ALL THE TIME.
That'll be a significant proportion of the PH membership, then. You have a problem with that?...and yes, I have an MX5 and the wind is in my hair as often as possible.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It's just depends on what you want. I really enjoyed the 1.5 because it is a car that makes you smile and enjoy the drive, without going particularly fast, and by that a very satisfying and relatively unique way to do motoring, and real good fun in most real life driving/traffic/speed limit reality. You're never looking for opertunities to enjoy the capabilities a few seconds here or there, no you are enjoying the whole journey. Something like that, a sweet drive. And fun just because it is not fast, you give it some more of the time. But if you have regular access to open roads and can bump up speed quite some, then the new 2.0 is pretty sure the one to get, and the limits of the 1.5 may frustrate, depending on expectations. Could be fun wringing it's neck all the time though...
sr.guiri said:
It's a shame that it will be bought my mainly overweight red faced men wearing baseball caps, and having the roof down ALL THE TIME.
I once owned a Fiat 124 Sport Spider - an original. Fantastic car. A mate took a photo of me in it once with the roof down - what an idiot I looked - he bloody published it on Facebook too
I sold it not long after that. Don't understand the UK fascination with convertibles, especially considering the st weather. Why look a dick when you don't have to
Why are you so keen to sneer at people? Has it ever occurred to you that they might actually just be enjoying themselves, rather than worrying if they're impressing people like you? I once owned a Fiat 124 Sport Spider - an original. Fantastic car. A mate took a photo of me in it once with the roof down - what an idiot I looked - he bloody published it on Facebook too
I sold it not long after that. Don't understand the UK fascination with convertibles, especially considering the st weather. Why look a dick when you don't have to
They're not doing you any harm, so I can't understand your hostility.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
For the same reason the previous 2 MX5's I bought were the smaller engine versions. I drive it on the road, real roads rather than boring motorways, so ultimate speed is not needed. With the smaller engine I can spend more time chasing the red line and working the fantastic gearbox without having to spend so much time looking at the speedo and worrying about how many points that is.Simply put the smaller engined cars are more fun.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Each to their own. I actually preferred the 1.0 Fiesta with 125bhp to the ST I now have as a road car. I can't even red line 3rd gear with breaking the speed limit by a significant amount. It's great having the power to easily overtake but that's where the fun ends with regards power.Interesting comments on power to weight & the ND .... we run a NA 214bhp ND and at circa 203bhp/ton it feels properly nippy and I never really crave more power ... BBR / Mazda torque delivery helps with this.
Conversely we also run a torque dip removed 86 with 205bhp. ... circa 165bhp/ton as the 86 is about 200kg heavier. We love the 86 to bits and for us it's plenty quick enough for b road blasts but I won't lie jumping in the Mazda that bit extra feels nice.
I'd agree 200bhp/ton is a pretty good sweet spot for road use but we still have a lot of fun with only 165 in the 86 !!
Conversely we also run a torque dip removed 86 with 205bhp. ... circa 165bhp/ton as the 86 is about 200kg heavier. We love the 86 to bits and for us it's plenty quick enough for b road blasts but I won't lie jumping in the Mazda that bit extra feels nice.
I'd agree 200bhp/ton is a pretty good sweet spot for road use but we still have a lot of fun with only 165 in the 86 !!
Well I'm in a somewhat nostalgic mood myself after taking delivery of a couple of boxes of rather lovely Roero Arneis. Being in charge of quality control has its occasional benefits, the stuff has to be sampled after all .
Thinking of how Mazda has evolved over the last two decades somehow made me think back to heroes of my youth -- mainly Lancia. For me, there's a parallel. Relatively small maker, big potential for innovation, engineering led where finances allow. Beautiful execution that can take precedence over financials.
No other major brand has anything close to the MX5. The bean counters say: NO!
. Thinking of how Mazda has evolved over the last two decades somehow made me think back to heroes of my youth -- mainly Lancia. For me, there's a parallel. Relatively small maker, big potential for innovation, engineering led where finances allow. Beautiful execution that can take precedence over financials.
No other major brand has anything close to the MX5. The bean counters say: NO!
By chance we just got one for wife, dealers doing a £199 deposit, £199 month pcp with interest free and a big discount only on entry level 1.5 model.
Driving it yesterday after coming out of my supercharged v8 f type I expected it to feel slow and boring, but its a bit of a relevation - feels light / agile, glides over bad roads, nippy. reminds me of an elise mk2 I used to own which felt similar - car just feels right.
Looks wise its just the 4wd wheel arch gaps / ride height that needs sorting...
bennno said:
By chance we just got one for wife, dealers doing a £199 deposit, £199 month pcp with interest free and a big discount only on entry level 1.5 model.
Driving it yesterday after coming out of my supercharged v8 f type I expected it to feel slow and boring, but its a bit of a relevation - feels light / agile, glides over bad roads, nippy. reminds me of an elise mk2 I used to own which felt similar - car just feels right.
Looks wise its just the 4wd wheel arch gaps / ride height that needs sorting...
@Cmoose are you reading this? Well put.Driving it yesterday after coming out of my supercharged v8 f type I expected it to feel slow and boring, but its a bit of a relevation - feels light / agile, glides over bad roads, nippy. reminds me of an elise mk2 I used to own which felt similar - car just feels right.
Looks wise its just the 4wd wheel arch gaps / ride height that needs sorting...
As for looks, on silver 16" wheels, ride height looks fine to me. All too often optioned 17" black rims are supposed to make it look better but have the opposite (optical) effect...
If I had the space, I would get a ND 1.5 as my fun/commute car in a heartbeat, the fact that our daily handles quite nicely and has >250bhp/tonne detracts not one bit from the ND's appeal.
Edited by Onehp on Saturday 6th April 06:44
Its as per my first post, its a suprisingly well engineered car thats good / fun to drive.
I just googled it and Clarkson came to the same conclusion and also noted the 1.5 was the better engine.
I am normally far more biased towards highest power and all the toys, but think this works well in boggo spec.
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