touring in an mx5 - ideas for luggage space-?parcel shelf

[carspath]

i am hoping to go on a little trip across the water in my series 1 mx5 , and am looking for ideas as to how i can increase the total luggage capacity of the car

the seat backs will need to be pushed all the way back , so there is relatively little that i can pack behind the seats

i have found 2 plastic containers with lids that fit very nicely behind the seats on the parcel shelf with the hood up

any ideas as to how these containers could be secured so that they dont move around on this 3.000 mile jaunt?

any thoughts as to how any bags/containers could be secured to the car's parcel shelf with the hood down and the tonneau cover in place ?

i'm not too keen on a boot mounted carrier ----thank you for posting any other ideas that might be out there

[Poko]

For le mans I stuck a non-slip mat on the boot, put my bag on there and secured it in place with a strap going length ways and 2 bungy cords..
Was absolutely solid and had no trouble! No scratches or expensive boot rack to buy either

Edit: My rollbar prevents me from putting anything on the parcel shelf; and using the bag/boot I was still able to fit all clothes, 4 man tent, sleeping bags, extras and something like 40 cans of beer bought on the ferry - I can't complain about lack of space in an mx5; there's loads!

Edited by Poko on Tuesday 15th January 22:30

[scrwright]

Soft bags are a must, you can get a fair bit of kit on the parcel shelf and in front of the seat on the passenger floor. Also worth ditching the space saver and getting a couple of tyre repair foam cans.

[Little Bob]

I've done a couple of weeklong trips to the 'Ring and across Europe - never needed much more than the boot space to be honest and that's with the wife and all her assorted equipment. Soft bags are best to squidge here and there, if desperate take out the spare and take tyre weld?

[Munter]

We packed direct into the boot. Just the tent and some bedding strapped to the roll bar.

[SmilerFTM]

I did a weeks camping travelling round Scotland in my 5 and had no probs with space. That aside have you looked at those vacuum bags for your luggage?

[Flying Phil]

Another useful trick is to use the hood cover over the parcel shelf - instead of it folded down you can reverse the folds to make it go up and the central popper can be "popped" on the wind deflector behind the seats. This also makes an even more effective wind deflector. This then gives even more covered space behind the seats on the parcel shelf.

Edited by Flying Phil on Monday 21st January 11:28

[furtive]

I've got a pair of "Jazz Bags" which fit on the parcel shelf and are amazingly roomy. Use them when I go to Le Mans. Sadly they don't make them any more. There is a "Deck bag" available from NZ:

http://www.mx5mart.co.nz/db.cgi?db=mart&uid=de...

[pewe]

SWMBO and I managed 16 days around Europe last year using only the boot space and despite having a luggage rack. I don't like leaving anything on view even if the top's up.
Still we've had good training having used Ryan-f*ck the passengers-Air for a few years.
Soft bags are the answer but I think keeping the spare (even if it is a get-you-home version) is pretty essential. There is of course space in the wheel well to take bits and pieces so the loss of space isn't that great compared to the insurance the spare provides.
Cheers, Pewe.

[VladD]

For Le Mans I get the tent and sleeping bags on the shelf behind the seats and everything else in the boot. Don't bother tieing anything down as the forces to remove such objects would have to be faily large. It does mean keeping the car in sight or putting the roof up when stopping for breaks though.

[furtive]

I put the tent in the boot and put lighter stuff that isn't going to kill me on the parcel shelf...

[Matbmx1]

Me and my girlfriend used my old motorbike panniers?

They are oxford ones they arent that old and you can use the straps that usually hold them to the bike to attatch to the style bar or cabin brace?

Ive used them on a bike at stupid speeds trying to catch a ferry on my old zx9 and they stayed put then so easily secure enough for an mx5 parcel shelf?

Something like this

http://www.mandp.co.uk/productinfo/558048/Luggage/...

can always grab some off ebay or just ebay these after?

[gdaybruce]

You could give this a try: http://www.boot-bag.com/mx5.htm

[SmilerFTM]

gdaybruce said:

You could give this a try: http://www.boot-bag.com/mx5.htm

How would something like that affect the feel of the car, especially when....er...being a bit enthusiastic round the twistys?

[gdaybruce]

SmilerFTM said:

gdaybruce said:

You could give this a try: http://www.boot-bag.com/mx5.htm

How would something like that affect the feel of the car, especially when....er...being a bit enthusiastic round the twistys?

Not sure because I've never needed one. So far I've managed to fit camping gear for two, including two tents, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, etc, for Le Mans trips into the boot, strapping additional items to the style bar behind the seats. Mind, that's only possible if you ditch the spare and take a can of sealent instead. The additional weight really didn't seem to make much difference to the handling, which I can confidently report remained balanced and fun. And so far, I've not suffered a puncture!

[SmilerFTM]

I did similar last year for a road trip round Scotland, I just saw that bag and curiosity got the better of me

[The Tea Boy]

SmilerFTM said:

How would something like that affect the feel of the car, especially when....er...being a bit enthusiastic round the twistys?

We did a 3k mile euro trip this year with a home brew boot bag, ie waterproof bag, nonslip matting and some luggage straps. Car felt fine, still got 126mph on the autobahn and still had a lot of sideways action in austrian alps too!

Matt

[The Tea Boy]

SmilerFTM said:

How would something like that affect the feel of the car, especially when....er...being a bit enthusiastic round the twistys?

We did a 3k mile euro trip this year with a home brew boot bag, ie waterproof bag, nonslip matting and some luggage straps. Car felt fine, still got 126mph on the autobahn and still had a lot of sideways action in austrian alps too!

Matt

[Poko]

As everyone's discussing it; this is my homebrew 'bootbag' for le mans. It did the same job as a bootbag, at a cost of only about £8 for some straps and a non-slip mat!
As others have said, I wouldn't say it alters the feel of the car much at all