Just bought an mx-5

[swansea v6]

Just returned to the jap side.....used to have an mx-3 v6. which i sold to buy an E36 325i coupe, but have just bought a Eunos, 1.6 mx-5, comes with all the toys air con, etc and cant wait to pick it up on thurs, will post pics asap

[jezgod]

I am just about to sell mine, cracking little cars and will DEFFO buy another next summer, enjoy :-)

[swansea v6]

any tips regarding these cars? eg what petrol to use, any tuning tips cheers

[Raify]

AFAIK, all the Eunos's are only mapped for normal fuel so no point putting super in. Plenty of info here: www.mx5oc.co.uk

[juzzyp]

Advance the timing to 14 degrees, very very easy to do and get a full geometry done on the car, look for Lanny settings or FM settings, these will make your greta handling car even better.

A geometry guru dialled in the FM settings and it's been a real HOON even since.

[swansea v6]

cheers for the quick replies, cant wait to pick it up, how exactly do you advance the timing?

Edited by swansea v6 on Tuesday 3rd October 12:13

[anonymous-user]

It's all explained on various posts on the MX5OC and Miata.net, but essentially, rather than turning the dizzy like on an older car, you turn the CAS (Cam Angle Sensor - on the back of the inlet cam on the 1.6) while using a timing light to get the marker on the crank pully lining up with the 14 degree marker on the cam belt cover.

[juzzyp]

We're doing an MX5 trackday in Donny soon, book on the intermediate session and you'll meet other nutty five owners like me!!

[swansea v6]

cheers for the replies, two days into ownership and what can i say??? should have bought one years ago when i had the chance brilliant brilliant cars.........one more question tho, where on your temp gauge does the needle sit? mine sits around half way while driving about town then moves up on the motorway??? odd....flushed the coolant system and fitted a new thermostat but still the same.....

Edited by swansea v6 on Saturday 7th October 19:07

[Pierscoe1]

mine (Mk2) sits bang in the middle at all times... but I don't know if it's the same on mk1's...

[anonymous-user]

That could be worth further investigation - on mine it sits just to the left of centre at all times. From what I've read, the guage is damped around the middle so if it starts climbing from there it's apparently getting pretty hot.

[slinky]

My MK 1 (picked it up on the 14/09) sits dead straight up..

Check your rad cap as well chap.. mine was fecked..

slinky

[swansea v6]

cheers checked rad cap, seems fine, just noticed that i dont have a tray underneath engine? was told this was essential for the cooling of the rad? could this be causing the high temps on the motorway?

[juzzyp]

There's loads of articles on it.

The MX5 temp sensor has no real play between temperatures, loads of articles on it, the oil temp sensor on later cars is basically a switch, there's no variance.

It's similar with the temp gauge which has a huge tolerance in the middle.

Quote a complex article but more here:

www.gravitydesign.net/saturn/miata/90-93MTGLP.cfm

[swansea v6]

ended up buying a new rad, rad cap and thermostat and all is well now!!!!!

[the gazman]

Yep
Very underated car the 5, I have a long term loner from MX-5 mad which I'm playing with to try different geo settings.
Its a different car completely to the Chimaera I also smoke around in but boy oh boy on the twistys, do I have fun.

[benjc]

juzzyp said:

the oil temp sensor on later cars is basically a switch, there's no variance.

It's similar with the temp gauge which has a huge tolerance in the middle.

I think you mean the oil pressure gauge Justin...

The undertray does make more difference than you'd expect. I saw 4deg cooler when on compared to when not. (Off boost 6omph sustained cruise, and before anyone asks I was running a link ECU which enables you to read water temps in exact deg c).

The stock temp guage (if working correctly) will move over dead centre if the engine temp gets above 102deg or so. Bare in mind that the "limp home" mode setting recommended by Flyin Miata is 116deg, so it's not that far off.