2006 MX-5 2.0 Option Pack
Discussion
I took my first trip to Cadwell Park on Saturday, a circuit I've been looking forward to trying for a while.
A slight change to our usual line-up. The DC2 has been substituted for a Megane RS 250 Cup. I'm feeling rather outgunned nowadays.
It was a quiet day. I guess October days often are, I think someone said they'd counted just 35 cars. The weather in the morning was a bit of a mixed bag. The track was quite damp and greasy following sighting, I took it fairly easy whilst watching a Saxo spin and clatter the barrier behind me and then finding a Golf that had done the same around the next bend.
After a while, a nice dry line appeared and I started to get into a bit of a groove and learn the circuit. Only for it to then chuck it down. I didn't engage my brain to the changing conditions and had a bit of a moment cresting 'the mountain'. I caught it but it reminded me just how close the barriers are, I'm usually quite happy to push on in the wet but I bottled it. Happily, the rain stopped and held off for the afternoon.
I noticed once we stopped for lunch that my rear pads were down to the squealer pins. I should have changed them in advance but it completely slipped my mind. I'd obviously thought about it before the last track day as I had a new set of pads waiting in my trackday bag of bits.
I unintentionally managed to time the pad swap with a red flag.
There's something very enjoyable about blatting around a circuit with your friends in convoy.
Cadwell didn't disappoint, I can see why it's often referred to as a mini-Nordschleife. It's impressively technical for such a short circuit, the crazy elevation changes and blind crests make it very exciting and a pleasant change from all the mostly-flat circuits we have locally.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
A slight change to our usual line-up. The DC2 has been substituted for a Megane RS 250 Cup. I'm feeling rather outgunned nowadays.
It was a quiet day. I guess October days often are, I think someone said they'd counted just 35 cars. The weather in the morning was a bit of a mixed bag. The track was quite damp and greasy following sighting, I took it fairly easy whilst watching a Saxo spin and clatter the barrier behind me and then finding a Golf that had done the same around the next bend.
After a while, a nice dry line appeared and I started to get into a bit of a groove and learn the circuit. Only for it to then chuck it down. I didn't engage my brain to the changing conditions and had a bit of a moment cresting 'the mountain'. I caught it but it reminded me just how close the barriers are, I'm usually quite happy to push on in the wet but I bottled it. Happily, the rain stopped and held off for the afternoon.
I noticed once we stopped for lunch that my rear pads were down to the squealer pins. I should have changed them in advance but it completely slipped my mind. I'd obviously thought about it before the last track day as I had a new set of pads waiting in my trackday bag of bits.
I unintentionally managed to time the pad swap with a red flag.
There's something very enjoyable about blatting around a circuit with your friends in convoy.
Cadwell didn't disappoint, I can see why it's often referred to as a mini-Nordschleife. It's impressively technical for such a short circuit, the crazy elevation changes and blind crests make it very exciting and a pleasant change from all the mostly-flat circuits we have locally.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 13:20
Yes, really enjoyed it. Not sure if Cadwell or Anglesey is my favourite in the UK, but they're both up there.
Waze got creative whilst traveling up to our overnight stop in Lincoln on Friday and took me down a lot of single-track roads. I bottomed out on one of them so it seemed prudent to check underneath once home. It's usually just the rear PPF bolts on the resonator that catches.
Things were a lot more oily than I was expecting
Enough to leave a trail on the floor...
I removed the undertrays and traced the oil forwards, it appears to start at the front of the PPF and have run backwards. My guess is the seal at the back of the gearbox onto the propshaft.
Probably something I should have swapped during the clutch change, although it's been fine until now.
It looks like something I can sort just by removing the midpipe and prop, so hopefully no big deal. MX5 Parts don't sell a replacement seal for 6 speed NCs, a bit of research suggests it's the same seal as used on the NA and NB for a 5spd NC.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Waze got creative whilst traveling up to our overnight stop in Lincoln on Friday and took me down a lot of single-track roads. I bottomed out on one of them so it seemed prudent to check underneath once home. It's usually just the rear PPF bolts on the resonator that catches.
Things were a lot more oily than I was expecting
Enough to leave a trail on the floor...
I removed the undertrays and traced the oil forwards, it appears to start at the front of the PPF and have run backwards. My guess is the seal at the back of the gearbox onto the propshaft.
Probably something I should have swapped during the clutch change, although it's been fine until now.
It looks like something I can sort just by removing the midpipe and prop, so hopefully no big deal. MX5 Parts don't sell a replacement seal for 6 speed NCs, a bit of research suggests it's the same seal as used on the NA and NB for a 5spd NC.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 13:21
The replacement seal and some more oil arrived the next day, speedy service as always from MX5Parts and Opie Oils. I also picked up a bulky amount of degreaser from ScrewFix.
Undertrays, exhaust and driveshaft off, plenty of cleaning...
The old seal has a metal surround that protrudes slightly, it's easily knocked out with a screwdriver.
The old seal looked ok. The gearbox oil level was also fine. I'm wondering if the oil actually came out of the gearbox turret, I remember topping it up when I changed the clutch so I'm wondering if I overfilled it. Maybe The Mountain was steeper than anything I've encountered at speed since then.
Oh well, a new seal can't hurt. With a little patience, it tapped in using the end of a 1/4" extension bar around the outer edge.
The crumbling exhaust heat shield has been annoying me for a while. Mostly because I seem to end up with a face full of fibreglass dust every time I work under the car...
I purchased some aluminium tape. Pricey at £8 a roll but it seemed very sticky and claims to be good to 250c.
The patched-up area looks a lot like tin foil. But at least it should keep the fibreglass in place.
I treated a few areas where the factory underseal had rubbed away under the undertrays with some rust converter and then a new coat of underseal. If you ignore the rear subframe it's looking quite presentable underneath now.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Undertrays, exhaust and driveshaft off, plenty of cleaning...
The old seal has a metal surround that protrudes slightly, it's easily knocked out with a screwdriver.
The old seal looked ok. The gearbox oil level was also fine. I'm wondering if the oil actually came out of the gearbox turret, I remember topping it up when I changed the clutch so I'm wondering if I overfilled it. Maybe The Mountain was steeper than anything I've encountered at speed since then.
Oh well, a new seal can't hurt. With a little patience, it tapped in using the end of a 1/4" extension bar around the outer edge.
The crumbling exhaust heat shield has been annoying me for a while. Mostly because I seem to end up with a face full of fibreglass dust every time I work under the car...
I purchased some aluminium tape. Pricey at £8 a roll but it seemed very sticky and claims to be good to 250c.
The patched-up area looks a lot like tin foil. But at least it should keep the fibreglass in place.
I treated a few areas where the factory underseal had rubbed away under the undertrays with some rust converter and then a new coat of underseal. If you ignore the rear subframe it's looking quite presentable underneath now.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 13:21
Accelebrate said:
J4CKO said:
I also have an M135i and find it doesnt really do much for me in terms of the drive, its very good but a bit sterile, very fast but seems a bit pointless, so fancying an NC to go with it, maybe even replace.
It depends what you're doing - on a longer run, carrying stuff or people, traffic light GP, engine noise and if you like torquey turbo power delivery the M135i is probably a much better car. An NC on standard suspension isn't amazing either.Once sorted they're great, but in a very different way. To me, it's a car for thrashing everywhere, enjoying the brilliant gearchange and nice steering, having the roof down, being able to track without worrying about having too much money tied up in it and having fun on the road without doing stuff that could put me in court. I never found the M135i or Golf R particularly exciting unless I was doing something illegal, you can probably only get away with that for so long!
Thank you both!
t out of it and not have to back off all the time.Would probably change the suspension anyway as part of the purchase.
My first spot, I feel honoured! 
I haven't used the Mazda a huge amount since things got so soggy. We took the Volvo over to Ireland last week and somehow seemed to dodge most of the rain. However, having spent good money getting a door dent I picked up during that trip repaired earlier this week the Mazda seemed like the safer choice to leave in the station car park yesterday.
I did encounter a bit of flooding yesterday morning, but thankfully nothing major. I wouldn't like to take it through anything particularly deep, I doubt the door seals would keep much out of the cabin and the air intake isn't particularly high.
The tyres that are on the set of wheels it's currently wearing are old and are getting a little hard. With a little more PSI in the rears than usual and a little less in the fronts it moves around easily at amusingly low speed. It's funny you should mention wet roundabouts - I got back from London quite late last night/this morning and became a little unstuck on an empty wet roundabout. I was surprised to see a set of flashing blue lights appear in my mirrors almost immediately afterward, and then a very relieved to see it was a paramedic when I pulled over!
I haven't used the Mazda a huge amount since things got so soggy. We took the Volvo over to Ireland last week and somehow seemed to dodge most of the rain. However, having spent good money getting a door dent I picked up during that trip repaired earlier this week the Mazda seemed like the safer choice to leave in the station car park yesterday.
I did encounter a bit of flooding yesterday morning, but thankfully nothing major. I wouldn't like to take it through anything particularly deep, I doubt the door seals would keep much out of the cabin and the air intake isn't particularly high.
The tyres that are on the set of wheels it's currently wearing are old and are getting a little hard. With a little more PSI in the rears than usual and a little less in the fronts it moves around easily at amusingly low speed. It's funny you should mention wet roundabouts - I got back from London quite late last night/this morning and became a little unstuck on an empty wet roundabout. I was surprised to see a set of flashing blue lights appear in my mirrors almost immediately afterward, and then a very relieved to see it was a paramedic when I pulled over!
Brilliant! Well great to see it in the flesh - definitely made me smile after a long day of crap roads and train delays! Keep an eye out for me if when you’re next there - a silver E46 330Ci Clubsport. Not as low as yours but I definitely had the same worry about wet feat with the deeper stuff (suspect I’d have had bigger issues if it got that deep!), but thankfully the worst had cleared once I got off the M40.
Edited by col1983 on Friday 15th November 20:57
Edited by col1983 on Friday 15th November 21:06
Things have been quite quiet in MX5 world recently. Thanks to a mild winter with minimal salt I've used it more than I usually would at this time of year for commuting, but being a newb parent has left me without the time or finances to do or buy anything particularly interesting.
I've booked another Nurburgring track day, but not until October. I'd like to change the manifold and get it remapped before then.
I have been going to quite a few car shows. I used to feel a bit selfish spending half a weekend indulging my own interests, but it's now positively encouraged - as long as I take the boy and give his Mum a peaceful morning. Happily, he seems to quite like it.
First up was the Jan Sunday Scramble at Bicester Heritage...
The following weekend I thought I'd give the Banbury Classic Car Meet a try. A small meet outside a well known greasy spoon cafe on an industrial estate. I decided to give the boy his first outing in the Mazda. It seemed to go down well, the sound of a noisier exhaust is apparently a good reason to giggle your head off.
The owner of the Lotus explaining how he has a smaller toolbox that he bolts in whilst racing to hold his false teeth - "you can't wear them whilst racing"...
A friend appeared whilst I was walking around. I didn't manage to spot the owner, hello if you ever read this
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
I've booked another Nurburgring track day, but not until October. I'd like to change the manifold and get it remapped before then.
I have been going to quite a few car shows. I used to feel a bit selfish spending half a weekend indulging my own interests, but it's now positively encouraged - as long as I take the boy and give his Mum a peaceful morning. Happily, he seems to quite like it.
First up was the Jan Sunday Scramble at Bicester Heritage...
The following weekend I thought I'd give the Banbury Classic Car Meet a try. A small meet outside a well known greasy spoon cafe on an industrial estate. I decided to give the boy his first outing in the Mazda. It seemed to go down well, the sound of a noisier exhaust is apparently a good reason to giggle your head off.
The owner of the Lotus explaining how he has a smaller toolbox that he bolts in whilst racing to hold his false teeth - "you can't wear them whilst racing"...
A friend appeared whilst I was walking around. I didn't manage to spot the owner, hello if you ever read this
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 13:22
One of my friends bought a facelift MK3 MR2 recently and was a bit disappointed to find that it didn't have ISOfix. I think he's bought a seatbelt based seat so he can take his son out in it. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to drive it at some point, I'm interested to see how they compare.
I won't make a habit of taking my son out in the NC until he's a bit more substantial. That said it's probably a lot safer than the British Leyland stuff that I was driven around in as a baby
I won't make a habit of taking my son out in the NC until he's a bit more substantial. That said it's probably a lot safer than the British Leyland stuff that I was driven around in as a baby
I recently took my first trip to the well known MX-5 tuner BBR... To collect a manifold... But it's not what you'd probably expect if you're familiar with their NC tuning packages...
…a used Racing Beat manifold, the same manifold that’s fitted in the Super Cup race series - https://www.racingbeateurope.com/mazda-mx5-nc-2006...
BBR had removed it from a car they’d purchased to develop a soon-to-be-released ITB kit. They’d swapped it for their own manifold. I enquired if the Racing Beat would be for sale, made them an offer and found myself collecting it later that week.
The standard manifold is hidden behind no fewer than five heat-shields. This is because it includes one of two toasty cats. I’m led to believe that removing one of them should still leave me with a car that will pass an MOT emissions test, but may fail under the new rules if the tester is aware of how many cats an NC left the factory with. Time will tell.
There are plenty of good guides online for changing an NC manifold, so I won’t write another. I found the Good-Win Racing guide the most useful - https://mossmiata.com/media/instructions/904-935.p...
I would add that I found that by removing all but the lower rear heat shield and both O2 sensors in situ I was easily able to remove the original manifold without having to move the alternator or tilt the engine by removing a mount. The heat shield bolts are a little tricky but not impossible to remove. I found a 10mm flex-head ratcheting spanner very useful for some of the lower bolts.
Here’s everything I removed before attempting to remove the manifold:
Some of the 15mm nuts that hold on the manifold are also a little fiddly to reach. A deep offset ring spanner is your friend.
The flaws of the standard manifold can clearly be seen once it’s removed, each of the four primaries is pinched before it enters the cat, heavily restricting the flow:
The RB Manifold has the same lower flange that connects to the mid-pipe springs and bolts as the original. The studs need to be moved over. Mine were quite rusty so I was half expecting them to snap. Surprisingly, with a deep 13mm socket and an impact gun they both came out cleanly.
The heavily banana’d primaries on the new manifold that supposedly result in an even flow into the collector are unique to the RB manifold. They do present one small issue, they foul on a bracket that’s attached to the bell housing.
You can see the issue more clearly during a test fit. It does fit, but rubs very slightly and apparently makes quite a bit of noise if left unmodified. I think a new RB manifold comes with a couple of bolts to replace the bracket, my used one didn’t.
I’ve no idea what the bracket is for, it didn’t appear to serve any purpose on my unmodified car.
I treated it to some fettling with a hacksaw and bench grinder.
The next part to modify was the primary O2 sensor that sits before the cat on the original manifold. The bungs on the new manifold are lower so it needs to be extended.
You can buy extension leads but they’re massively overpriced for what they are, they also then leave plastic connectors near hot manifolds. BBR kindly included some wire, crimps and heatshrink. I don’t seem to get on very well with crimps so I soldered the connections and covered them with waterproofed heatshrink.
I covered the whole thing with some heat-resistant fibreglass sleeving like the original.
There’s a second sensor that essentially just confirms if the cat is functioning correctly or not. I had originally planned to extend the wires on that one too, then get a sensor-holding bung welded after the cat in the mid-pipe and install it there. However, I’ve got the car booked in to be remapped next month and the sensor can be disabled by coding it out, so that seemed like less hassle. I’ll have to live with a check engine light until then.
Here’s everything I removed that won’t be going back in. I wish I’d weighed both manifolds, I’d imagine there’s a decent weight saving.
The internet suggested the original gasket can be reused many times. Mine didn’t look too great, it probably would have been fine but for the sake of £20 it seemed easier to swap it and forget about it.
The new manifold went in easily. After this photo was taken I added some heat reflective tape to the plastic casing on the top of the alternator. BBR said they’ve never encountered any issues with heat, but I had it lying around so it seemed prudent.
Here’s the heat shield that protects the brake and AC lines reinstalled. It seemed a bit of shame to cover it up!
I took a test drive out to Caffeine & Machine. There’s a very noticeable difference in throttle response and torque, it’s much more noticeable than I expected. I’m looking forward to the next track day as I think it’ll make a big difference to how eager the car feels coming out of slower corners.
Most people tend to get a manifold and remap fitted together as part of a package and don’t get to compare each change incrementally. I hope I’m not disappointed by the results from the remap as I wasn’t expecting the manifold alone to feel so different.
It also makes some nice noises once warm, and some not so pleasant ones. I’ve never been particularly happy with the MX5Parts/ILM backbox so it might be a good excuse to fit something else.
…a used Racing Beat manifold, the same manifold that’s fitted in the Super Cup race series - https://www.racingbeateurope.com/mazda-mx5-nc-2006...
BBR had removed it from a car they’d purchased to develop a soon-to-be-released ITB kit. They’d swapped it for their own manifold. I enquired if the Racing Beat would be for sale, made them an offer and found myself collecting it later that week.
The standard manifold is hidden behind no fewer than five heat-shields. This is because it includes one of two toasty cats. I’m led to believe that removing one of them should still leave me with a car that will pass an MOT emissions test, but may fail under the new rules if the tester is aware of how many cats an NC left the factory with. Time will tell.
There are plenty of good guides online for changing an NC manifold, so I won’t write another. I found the Good-Win Racing guide the most useful - https://mossmiata.com/media/instructions/904-935.p...
I would add that I found that by removing all but the lower rear heat shield and both O2 sensors in situ I was easily able to remove the original manifold without having to move the alternator or tilt the engine by removing a mount. The heat shield bolts are a little tricky but not impossible to remove. I found a 10mm flex-head ratcheting spanner very useful for some of the lower bolts.
Here’s everything I removed before attempting to remove the manifold:
Some of the 15mm nuts that hold on the manifold are also a little fiddly to reach. A deep offset ring spanner is your friend.
The flaws of the standard manifold can clearly be seen once it’s removed, each of the four primaries is pinched before it enters the cat, heavily restricting the flow:
The RB Manifold has the same lower flange that connects to the mid-pipe springs and bolts as the original. The studs need to be moved over. Mine were quite rusty so I was half expecting them to snap. Surprisingly, with a deep 13mm socket and an impact gun they both came out cleanly.
The heavily banana’d primaries on the new manifold that supposedly result in an even flow into the collector are unique to the RB manifold. They do present one small issue, they foul on a bracket that’s attached to the bell housing.
You can see the issue more clearly during a test fit. It does fit, but rubs very slightly and apparently makes quite a bit of noise if left unmodified. I think a new RB manifold comes with a couple of bolts to replace the bracket, my used one didn’t.
I’ve no idea what the bracket is for, it didn’t appear to serve any purpose on my unmodified car.
I treated it to some fettling with a hacksaw and bench grinder.
The next part to modify was the primary O2 sensor that sits before the cat on the original manifold. The bungs on the new manifold are lower so it needs to be extended.
You can buy extension leads but they’re massively overpriced for what they are, they also then leave plastic connectors near hot manifolds. BBR kindly included some wire, crimps and heatshrink. I don’t seem to get on very well with crimps so I soldered the connections and covered them with waterproofed heatshrink.
I covered the whole thing with some heat-resistant fibreglass sleeving like the original.
There’s a second sensor that essentially just confirms if the cat is functioning correctly or not. I had originally planned to extend the wires on that one too, then get a sensor-holding bung welded after the cat in the mid-pipe and install it there. However, I’ve got the car booked in to be remapped next month and the sensor can be disabled by coding it out, so that seemed like less hassle. I’ll have to live with a check engine light until then.
Here’s everything I removed that won’t be going back in. I wish I’d weighed both manifolds, I’d imagine there’s a decent weight saving.
The internet suggested the original gasket can be reused many times. Mine didn’t look too great, it probably would have been fine but for the sake of £20 it seemed easier to swap it and forget about it.
The new manifold went in easily. After this photo was taken I added some heat reflective tape to the plastic casing on the top of the alternator. BBR said they’ve never encountered any issues with heat, but I had it lying around so it seemed prudent.
Here’s the heat shield that protects the brake and AC lines reinstalled. It seemed a bit of shame to cover it up!
I took a test drive out to Caffeine & Machine. There’s a very noticeable difference in throttle response and torque, it’s much more noticeable than I expected. I’m looking forward to the next track day as I think it’ll make a big difference to how eager the car feels coming out of slower corners.
Most people tend to get a manifold and remap fitted together as part of a package and don’t get to compare each change incrementally. I hope I’m not disappointed by the results from the remap as I wasn’t expecting the manifold alone to feel so different.
It also makes some nice noises once warm, and some not so pleasant ones. I’ve never been particularly happy with the MX5Parts/ILM backbox so it might be a good excuse to fit something else.
Nicely done. Looks good on those wheels too 
I had bbrs GT back box with the bbr manifold and loved it. Just the right amount of noise when pushing on but nice and quiet around town and on the motorway. Very expensive new and therefore hard to find 2nd hand though....
I have been lead to believe the IL bacbox with the manifold can be a bit intrusive
I had bbrs GT back box with the bbr manifold and loved it. Just the right amount of noise when pushing on but nice and quiet around town and on the motorway. Very expensive new and therefore hard to find 2nd hand though....
I have been lead to believe the IL bacbox with the manifold can be a bit intrusive
drgoatboy said:
Nicely done. Looks good on those wheels too
I had bbrs GT back box with the bbr manifold and loved it. Just the right amount of noise when pushing on but nice and quiet around town and on the motorway. Very expensive new and therefore hard to find 2nd hand though....
I have been lead to believe the IL bacbox with the manifold can be a bit intrusive
Thanks! I wasn't sure how they'd look at first, but your old wheels get quite a few positive comments. I should probably treat them to some new tyres soon, but the slightly hard Rainsports are a lot of fun!I had bbrs GT back box with the bbr manifold and loved it. Just the right amount of noise when pushing on but nice and quiet around town and on the motorway. Very expensive new and therefore hard to find 2nd hand though....
I have been lead to believe the IL bacbox with the manifold can be a bit intrusive
I'll have a look into the BBR exhausts, they're close enough to me that I might be able to ask to hear one before I purchased. The car is being remapped at a GoPerform dealer next month so I'll investigate that too. The Moss Cobalt exhaust is also tempting for the price.
Accelebrate said:
Thanks! I wasn't sure how they'd look at first, but your old wheels get quite a few positive comments. I should probably treat them to some new tyres soon, but the slightly hard Rainsports are a lot of fun!
I'll have a look into the BBR exhausts, they're close enough to me that I might be able to ask to hear one before I purchased. The car is being remapped at a GoPerform dealer next month so I'll investigate that too. The Moss Cobalt exhaust is also tempting for the price.
I have the Cobalt back box (rest of system standard). Sound is subtle, nice burble on the overrun. However, can't recommend it as the tail pipes have started to go rusty after only a few months.I'll have a look into the BBR exhausts, they're close enough to me that I might be able to ask to hear one before I purchased. The car is being remapped at a GoPerform dealer next month so I'll investigate that too. The Moss Cobalt exhaust is also tempting for the price.
Out of interest, did you disconnect the battery to 'reset' the ECU when you changed the manifold? I have a manifold to go on at some point and was wondering if it was necessary.
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