MX5 over the winter..
Discussion
What happens to them? Do you keep driving it, hard top it, or lock it away for the cold months?
I'm thinking of picking one up now towards the end of the summer, when hopefully they might be a bit cheaper.. but I dont know if it would be wise as it might not get driven much. I could be moving to England this year to go to University, but I'd imagine I would be home quite a bit - holidays etc.
I just really want one.. and now I have the cash to buy one.
I'm thinking of picking one up now towards the end of the summer, when hopefully they might be a bit cheaper.. but I dont know if it would be wise as it might not get driven much. I could be moving to England this year to go to University, but I'd imagine I would be home quite a bit - holidays etc.
I just really want one.. and now I have the cash to buy one.
ds and drive them year round.
hornetrider said:
Munter said:
Hard top on.
This, imho, is the biggest mistake 5 owners can make. There is nothing quite like whipping the top down on a crisp winter's morning, heaters on full, and going for a blast in the countryside. Awesome.
Conor D said:
Is it big money to repair rust?
Depends how far you let it go. Mine had dodgy arches to begin with; 20,000 miles later, including a typical Scottish winter, and the bill for the sills alone was £500. Add to that a rotten wishbone (£30 each + my own time, I replaced both rears) and buggered chassis rails (another £150 or so). Conor D said:
What are they like to rustproof? Price wise..
£60 odd quid for a dinitrol kit, a bunny suit, goggles, gloves, and some wire brushes. About 8 hours of dismantling, pressure washing, scrubbing and de-rusting, followed by the actual coating. Garages will quote from £100 for a sloppy one-day spray on job with no prep work, to a couple of hundred for a proper thorough going over. It's time you're paying for though. There's a great sticky at the top of this forum for DIYers Messy, but it might just get through the next MOT... I'll be doing a lot of business miles over winter so might have to get some snow socks/chains to keep me mobile - pirouetting around car parks is great fun until you realise you're stuck at the bottom of the hill leading out
Last year i drove it all winter, the year before I bought it - in November.
This year i'm seriously considering finding somewhere to put her for the winter and getting a hack.
A motorway only commute is no fun at all in the dark and the snow and the rain.
My other option is a hardtop.....
But as other have mentioned - nothing beats those crisp cold blue sky winter mornings with the roof down.
This year i'm seriously considering finding somewhere to put her for the winter and getting a hack.
A motorway only commute is no fun at all in the dark and the snow and the rain.
My other option is a hardtop.....
But as other have mentioned - nothing beats those crisp cold blue sky winter mornings with the roof down.
What they've all said - use it, enjoy it and get the hood down on any nice days. We've had ours (a 2000 car) for the the last 2 and a half years, have used it daily throughout and it has stood outside. Regularly make sure the hood drain holes are clear using a flexible rod as they tend to block up, which causes more rust in sills than anything else.
For the winter, aside from prep and rustproofing, get at the underside, right up inside and around the wheel arches (particularly inside the arch lip) regularly with a hose to get the salt off - each weekend at least. Do this anyway when you get the car righy inside the arch lip and you'll be amazed at how much cr*p comes out of the wheel arch on most cars. If you've got good wheels look after by cleaning them regularly in winter (or buy a second hand set off ebay to put on over winter).
Otherwise, just enjoy driving it all year round and make sure you've got decent tyres on it - chinese ditchfinders or semi-slick tyres aren't exactly great in the wet let alone on snow or ice. Oh and if it's the S model with an LSD, they are are pain n the proverbial - as one wheel slips/spins, it puts more power to the other one which then slips/spins....
MG Mark
For the winter, aside from prep and rustproofing, get at the underside, right up inside and around the wheel arches (particularly inside the arch lip) regularly with a hose to get the salt off - each weekend at least. Do this anyway when you get the car righy inside the arch lip and you'll be amazed at how much cr*p comes out of the wheel arch on most cars. If you've got good wheels look after by cleaning them regularly in winter (or buy a second hand set off ebay to put on over winter).
Otherwise, just enjoy driving it all year round and make sure you've got decent tyres on it - chinese ditchfinders or semi-slick tyres aren't exactly great in the wet let alone on snow or ice. Oh and if it's the S model with an LSD, they are are pain n the proverbial - as one wheel slips/spins, it puts more power to the other one which then slips/spins....
MG Mark
Edited by MG Mark on Tuesday 10th August 06:27
+1 for all year round driving! It add another dimension of enjoyment to these cars. The soft top is fine in the winter, plenty cosy enough because the 5 has such a good heater. I did buy a hard top in the spring- but that was a security issue. The hard top is good but the downside is it irritates the hell out of me when I want to just drop the roof & go topless.
GravelBen said:
MG Mark said:
Oh and if it's the S model with an LSD, they are are pain n the proverbial - as one wheel slips/spins, it puts more power to the other one which then slips/spins....
Better than just one spinning and not going anywhere!Gassing Station | Mazda MX5/Roadster/Miata | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff