MX5 mk1 first impressions - do these sound normal?
Discussion
Hi,
Right, had my first decent drive of my eunos on Saturday and a few things came to light. Haven't driven many, so wonder if you guys could comment. I work for a car manufacturer, so used to being quite pedantic on the way cars drive, so probably exagerating a few of these! The car in question is a 1994 1.8 eunos (thought to be an RS-limited) fitted with a strut brace, LSD and bilstein shocks.
* Steering feedback (of the wrong kind!) - seemed to jolt quite badly over bumps and potholes. Admittedly, this was over rather rough rural b-roads, but was rather more than I was expecting. Is this normal? Did stop on better roads, but only where they were billiard table smooth.
Scuttle shake was quite noticable at the same points, but not that much more than I'd expected from a convertible. Only thing I can find is a very slight movement in the steering column if you pull the wheel downwards hard - maybe a column mount is getting a little tired?
* Brakes - seeemd to be ok, but required quite a lot of pedal effort to slow down. Slight "shhhh" noise on the right hand side if you put them on light to moderately (haven't checked the pads yet and it was standing for a while beforehand) and the front left did seem to lock first.
* Dampers - felt a bit floaty and pitched noticably over undulations. It has factory pattern Bilsteins, so maybe these are due for replacment? (cars only done 56,000 miles, so they might be the original ones even)
* Driving impressions - cornering feedback was relatively good provided you didn't hit a bump mid corner, which seemed to overwhelm the steering feel. Balance was surprisingly understeery - it would tighten it's line under accleration, but to provoke it further (in the dry), it seemed you had to lift off slightly on entry and then get straight onto the gas. All seemed to be quite benign though, even lifting off slightly only caused it to tuck in mildly. Wasn't sure of tyre pressures, so I was running 26 psi all round, age/state of the tyres, dampers and alignment are also unknown. Little bit floaty at high speed (120kph+) on the motorway, but I presume this is a combination of old dampers and some lift from the standard front end (might look into a subtle lip soiler before tracking it I think....)
* Headlights - seem to work well, but they vibrate a little on their mountings creating a sort of (very slight) strobe effect on the roadsigns I approached in the dark! Is this normal?
* Stereo - even though this isn't a fault with the car, the bloke who sold it to me has suceeded in losing the facia panel for the stereo! Can anyone suggest what to do (other than moan at him) can I get a replacment facia? Is there a way I can identify what head unit it is (no obvious markings - it's a single CD, so maybe 'standard' mazdaoption?)
Just a few minor niggles. Really enjoyed it though - got lucky with the weather and was out by 8:30 in glorious sunshine on one of my all time favourites roads on Saturday. Sounds nice although very quiet compared to the cars I've driven recently (only wind noise above about 50mph!) and revs freely. The interior is fantastic, it looks great and I'm even getting used to having the indicators on the wrong side!! The hood even seals.....
Right, had my first decent drive of my eunos on Saturday and a few things came to light. Haven't driven many, so wonder if you guys could comment. I work for a car manufacturer, so used to being quite pedantic on the way cars drive, so probably exagerating a few of these! The car in question is a 1994 1.8 eunos (thought to be an RS-limited) fitted with a strut brace, LSD and bilstein shocks.
* Steering feedback (of the wrong kind!) - seemed to jolt quite badly over bumps and potholes. Admittedly, this was over rather rough rural b-roads, but was rather more than I was expecting. Is this normal? Did stop on better roads, but only where they were billiard table smooth.
Scuttle shake was quite noticable at the same points, but not that much more than I'd expected from a convertible. Only thing I can find is a very slight movement in the steering column if you pull the wheel downwards hard - maybe a column mount is getting a little tired?
* Brakes - seeemd to be ok, but required quite a lot of pedal effort to slow down. Slight "shhhh" noise on the right hand side if you put them on light to moderately (haven't checked the pads yet and it was standing for a while beforehand) and the front left did seem to lock first.
* Dampers - felt a bit floaty and pitched noticably over undulations. It has factory pattern Bilsteins, so maybe these are due for replacment? (cars only done 56,000 miles, so they might be the original ones even)
* Driving impressions - cornering feedback was relatively good provided you didn't hit a bump mid corner, which seemed to overwhelm the steering feel. Balance was surprisingly understeery - it would tighten it's line under accleration, but to provoke it further (in the dry), it seemed you had to lift off slightly on entry and then get straight onto the gas. All seemed to be quite benign though, even lifting off slightly only caused it to tuck in mildly. Wasn't sure of tyre pressures, so I was running 26 psi all round, age/state of the tyres, dampers and alignment are also unknown. Little bit floaty at high speed (120kph+) on the motorway, but I presume this is a combination of old dampers and some lift from the standard front end (might look into a subtle lip soiler before tracking it I think....)
* Headlights - seem to work well, but they vibrate a little on their mountings creating a sort of (very slight) strobe effect on the roadsigns I approached in the dark! Is this normal?
* Stereo - even though this isn't a fault with the car, the bloke who sold it to me has suceeded in losing the facia panel for the stereo! Can anyone suggest what to do (other than moan at him) can I get a replacment facia? Is there a way I can identify what head unit it is (no obvious markings - it's a single CD, so maybe 'standard' mazdaoption?)
Just a few minor niggles. Really enjoyed it though - got lucky with the weather and was out by 8:30 in glorious sunshine on one of my all time favourites roads on Saturday. Sounds nice although very quiet compared to the cars I've driven recently (only wind noise above about 50mph!) and revs freely. The interior is fantastic, it looks great and I'm even getting used to having the indicators on the wrong side!! The hood even seals.....
It did feel a bit that way, yes, but it's only done 50,000 miles (general condition seems to substantiate this - very quite engine, very nice interior/exterior, excelletn gearchange etc) I'm told the bushes and (Bilstein) shocks should barely be run in at this age? ....which is odd, I thought they only did about 30,000 miles.
I've been driving rather more modern, much quicker machinery lately, so maybe I'm just asking a bit much? Don't mean that in a condensending way - I love driving it - just wonder if the experience should be a bit more retro than I was expecting
I've been driving rather more modern, much quicker machinery lately, so maybe I'm just asking a bit much? Don't mean that in a condensending way - I love driving it - just wonder if the experience should be a bit more retro than I was expecting
Must admit, I don't think the current turn in on mine is any better than the mk3 I drove last summer.
Do wonder if I was just driving it a bit timidly - it seemed to respond rather better to being thrown around (presumably that compresses the bushes etc to the point they're no longer flexing too much) but I've driven too many cars that'll put you in the hedge for treating them like that!!
Do wonder if I was just driving it a bit timidly - it seemed to respond rather better to being thrown around (presumably that compresses the bushes etc to the point they're no longer flexing too much) but I've driven too many cars that'll put you in the hedge for treating them like that!!
Hi Guys,
Lot of good info there
I suspected the dampers (if they're original) would be on their way out by 59,000 miles, but someone on the owners club forum said they'd be fine at that distance. It certainly feels under damped if you do a 'slalom' down the road - a bit wallowy. It also pitches more than it should do over bumps (nodding the nose!)
It's possibly the softest sprung car I've ever driven - certainly in terms of anything sporty and the ride height appears to be normal, so I'm assuming it's on standard springs, although how fresh they are after 13 years remains to be seen.
Last night I took it out for a drive in an area heavily populated with roundabouts. On the upside, I now have a good idea how it handles when turning right, not so sure about the other way
There is a sort of tugging on the steering wheel than only becomes obvious under hard-ish cornering (within the limit of adhesion, but quick-ish) to start with it felt like the steering was weighting and unweighting, but I think it was actually pulling very slightly in alternate directions. It seemed to be more or less rythmic on a fixed radius corner (roundabout) which made me wonder if it wasn't an unbalanced wheel, but I figured that would be dependant on wheel speed rather than anything else. Wonder if it's play in one of the steering balljoints or maybe the rack? What do you guys reckon? Either way, I'd bet that was linked to the steering kick back!!
Lot of good info there
I suspected the dampers (if they're original) would be on their way out by 59,000 miles, but someone on the owners club forum said they'd be fine at that distance. It certainly feels under damped if you do a 'slalom' down the road - a bit wallowy. It also pitches more than it should do over bumps (nodding the nose!)
It's possibly the softest sprung car I've ever driven - certainly in terms of anything sporty and the ride height appears to be normal, so I'm assuming it's on standard springs, although how fresh they are after 13 years remains to be seen.
Last night I took it out for a drive in an area heavily populated with roundabouts. On the upside, I now have a good idea how it handles when turning right, not so sure about the other way
There is a sort of tugging on the steering wheel than only becomes obvious under hard-ish cornering (within the limit of adhesion, but quick-ish) to start with it felt like the steering was weighting and unweighting, but I think it was actually pulling very slightly in alternate directions. It seemed to be more or less rythmic on a fixed radius corner (roundabout) which made me wonder if it wasn't an unbalanced wheel, but I figured that would be dependant on wheel speed rather than anything else. Wonder if it's play in one of the steering balljoints or maybe the rack? What do you guys reckon? Either way, I'd bet that was linked to the steering kick back!!
Los Angeles said:
Chris71 said:
There is a sort of tugging on the steering wheel than only becomes obvious under hard-ish cornering
Tramlining allied to the suspension having been lowered? I thought tramilining was when it seeks out ridges etc? This even occurs on marble smooth, fresh tarmac. I am 99% sure the car has standard suspension - it happily climbs onto the 'pavment parking' zones near me and simply doesn't look any lower than all the other MX5s going around. If it has been dropped it's very slight. Didn't feel like tramlining as I understand the word (although it does do that too) this was a steady left/right tug (or weighting/unweighting) on the wheel as you went round the corner seemingly independant of the surface.
My bet is play in either the rack or ball joints.
Surely I'd want to test the rack etc first - theres no point getting the alignment check done at £100 or whatever and then finding all the precisely set measurments are +/-10% because of play in the rack or something?
Bloody hell - hope it's not a rack - just got quoted £890+VAT +fitting Eek!
Bloody hell - hope it's not a rack - just got quoted £890+VAT +fitting Eek!
Dont worry, I'm very keen to rectify this with a geometry check rather than £1000's worth of new PAS rack
It does feel like something mechanical though and it only really seems to apply on right hand turns. Without a track (or a contra-rotating roundabout!) I don't often have the oppurtunity round here to drive it enthusiastically round a left turn(!) but the steering seems to be better that way round. Would be surprised if it's just alignment, but I agree that (and some decent tyres) would be a good start and it is something I need to get done at some stage. WIM aren't a great distance away as I spend my weekends in Enfield anyway.
PS It's running the standard 15" RS-LTD BBS alloys - I'm told these are well worth having, so presume they offer quite good unsprung weight?
PPS - Anyone got a number for Tony at WIM? I tried emailing a while back and didn't get any response.
It does feel like something mechanical though and it only really seems to apply on right hand turns. Without a track (or a contra-rotating roundabout!) I don't often have the oppurtunity round here to drive it enthusiastically round a left turn(!) but the steering seems to be better that way round. Would be surprised if it's just alignment, but I agree that (and some decent tyres) would be a good start and it is something I need to get done at some stage. WIM aren't a great distance away as I spend my weekends in Enfield anyway.
PS It's running the standard 15" RS-LTD BBS alloys - I'm told these are well worth having, so presume they offer quite good unsprung weight?
PPS - Anyone got a number for Tony at WIM? I tried emailing a while back and didn't get any response.
Edited by Chris71 on Wednesday 7th March 12:09
Hmm, doesn't feel like bumpsteer. Have since tried the 'bounce' test and realised just how bad the front shocks are (one is leaking fluid!) and one of the springs is sagging. Got a garage to inspect the rack, track rod ends, wheel bearings etc and they're all sound apparently.
Got a mahoosive shopping list together and I'm going down to my parents house (with a nice warm, dry, well stocked workshop) to give it a thurough service with a new cambelt. I'm also fitting new suspension on all four corners. After much deliberation I think I'm going for KYB AGXs, FM springs and superpro bump stops
Got a mahoosive shopping list together and I'm going down to my parents house (with a nice warm, dry, well stocked workshop) to give it a thurough service with a new cambelt. I'm also fitting new suspension on all four corners. After much deliberation I think I'm going for KYB AGXs, FM springs and superpro bump stops
One of my shocks is leaking and the same spring is sagging, so had to go straight for a new set. Going to do a comprehensive service on the car whilst we've got it in the workshop too (just order £220 of various service bits, ouch!)
Also bought myself P5's set of flying miata springs and KYB AGX dampers.
Afterwards I will get a new set of tyres and then take it for a geo set up at WIM. Alternatively I might get the geometry done, then do a track day with the current tyres to finish them off, then fit a new set.
Also bought myself P5's set of flying miata springs and KYB AGX dampers.
Afterwards I will get a new set of tyres and then take it for a geo set up at WIM. Alternatively I might get the geometry done, then do a track day with the current tyres to finish them off, then fit a new set.
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