MX5 as an everyday car

I’ll drop you a mail tomorrow!

I’ve got a Mk1 mx5 and for a 20 mile commute if you don’t need to carry much they would be great fun. The paint and body is a bit knackered on mine but that’s not really a worry. One thing I would say if you want to use it a a daily driver in all weather make sure you get one with a hard top and heated window. I’m 6’3″ and it’s pretty small, at some point I intend to do a lotus elise seat conversion which frees up a lot of space.

I’ve had three Mk1s at various points over the last 10 years. The current incarnation is a 1993 import with a jap body kit on and looks like this:

Until January I was doing 60+ miles daily on the commute to the station and back. Done without missing a beat.

Mk1’s suffer from tinworm on the sills and arches but neither a big job to sort, Mk2 rust issues can be more expensive and terminal. Insurance is dirt cheap, they’re grand to drive, easy to maintain and work on, engines will go for 250,000 miles if looked after and if you buy well you shouldn’t lose any money on one should you sell (I sold both prior cars for more than I paid for them).

Mpg isn’t great compared to ‘modern’ cars but that’s to be expected, especially if you’ve a heavy foot 🙂 I’d have thought the 1.8 would be worse than the 1.6 in this regard. With the use of a boot-rack you can get a surprisingly large amount of kit on board.

As mentioned previously I’d recommend getting a hard-top, preferably with a heated rear screen – you’ll appreciate it in the wet and cold. And a wind-break thing for when the roof is down – you’d be amazed how much airflow comes back into the car from between the seats.

Oh, and to go back to the OP : the commute across twisty Sussex roads first thing in the morning, watching the sun rise with the roof down is a nice way to start the day.

My daily commuter is a 1994 1.8i and my daily commute is 14 miles each way (mainly twisty, narrow b-roads).

Yes, when I’m tired it can be a bit crashy and bumpy, but I still can’t imagine changing it for anything else. I’m 6ft and whilst there’s masses of leg-room, I do find that I’m a bit short on head room with the hood up. I’ve fitted heated heated seats from a Mk 2.5, though, which are appreciable thicker in the cushion than the originals which doesn’t help. Just as well the roof is rarely up.

Otherwise it’s brilliant. Great fun on those roads (might be a little under-gunned on more open, A-road type drives), has a cracking heater, and it’s really reliable to boot. An evening drive home in winter, in the dark, with the roof down and the heater on full is joyous thing!

Also drove to the Alps for the Passportes du Soleil last year, 2-up with bikes and kit. Sure, you need to pack carefully, but the journey just added to a great holiday (Penzance to Les Crosets, via south Wales – 1,000 miles each way and the roof didn’t go up once).

Just do it….!!

woffle – I like that a lot. Was late for a conference call because I was inspired to head to autotrader to seek out the only car I;ve ever really felt sad about selling*.

*not incl my first car, a Mini a year older than me which I did loads of work to and left in my parents’ garage, only to return from university one summer to discover they’d sold it….

We had a Mk2 that was an everyday car until a van punted it down a sliproad on the motorway. Only reason it wasn’t replaced with another is because we have bit of a motoring bucket list and replaced it with a Porsche 944.

Anyway, good to drive, not ridiculously expensive to run, not when you can buy them so cheap. We had a 1.8iS which gains you a LSD for a bit more drive, not sure if this helped in the snow, its snow capability was limited by ground clearance in other people ruts rather than traction we found. Was pretty standard with some sensible improvements to ignition and air-flow.
We also had a mohair roof – quieter than vinyl and you don’t have to warm it up before folding on a cold day to avoid cracking the hood. You will put the hood down on cold sunny days as the heater is a furnace.
If we got another we would go for something near identical again.

The paint and body is a bit knackered on mine but that’s not really a worry.

I see that as a positive – a 5 is not a car to be too precious about – it’s about the fun. Used to go to owners meets, and the pristine special editions always made me feel a little bit sad – not the ethos of the car for me.

OP – you should do a track day with it (when the last of the tyres need using up) – it’s a hoot to see how fast it can take corners.

woffle – I like that a lot. Was late for a conference call because I was inspired to head to autotrader to seek out the only car I;ve ever really felt sad about selling*.

Cheers. Zoom Engineering Frog-eye front end (bumper and light units). I think there are two or three in the UK.

Elsewhere : +1 for mohair roof.

you have to watch they don’t become a ‘project’ 🙂 Mine has travelled some way from it’s vanilla S-Special specification. If you want the Torsen LSD / Bilsteins etc then look through the Jap editions – there was a plethora of options available and if you go for the Mk1’s they’re easy enough to find if you’re patient and hang on for a good one. My advice, for what it’s worth, is that if you’re looking at a Mk2 / Mk 2.5 then get it up on ramps with someone who knows what they’re looking for as rot isn’t always visible when on the floor. There have been plenty of cars that have been lovingly garaged and pampered only to get to MOT time to find that they have chassis rails that are beyond repair.

There is a very active owner club and various forums / FB groups that are a great resource for advice / parts et al. Some people do some rather interesting things to their 5’s with V6/V8 transplants, superchargers and turbos etc – you’re pretty much limited to what your budget allows. I’ve got an japanese tuned 1600 engine with twin carbs, forged pistons, hi-rise cams, lightened flywheel etc that I was hoping to transplant into mine but going to have to sell it as can’t really afford to keep it and fit it 🙁

I remember J Clarkson saying the MX5* was the best British sports car, and as his persona is obsessed with power it must mean the MX5 must be doing a lot else very well indeed to get the plaudit.

(*don’t know which model, but they’re all playing the same game)

Also drove to the Alps for the Passportes du Soleil last year, 2-up with bikes and kit. Sure, you need to pack carefully, but the journey just added to a great holiday (Penzance to Les Crosets, via south Wales – 1,000 miles each way and the roof didn’t go up once).

@PZ – that’s a very compelling advert for the car !

… on arrival at Les Crosets (hope the image works):

Should add that I did the return journey in one 21-hour hit (bar food/fuel/chunnel stops), and was remarkably fresh and non-achy at the end.

🙂

Will it still be fun after commuting on fast, twisty country roads every day or will I come to hate it?

That’s what it’s best at.

If you can cope with poor luggage space and lack of refinement at motorway speeds, buy one. I don’t use my hardtop at all.

No one has mentioned the supreme, perfect gear shift yet 😀

No one has mentioned the supreme, perfect gear shift yet

Then you get a short-shift kit for it and it gets even better!

Some of those bike packing photos are a bit messy, I managed a neater solution in my Midget which is half the size!

Wheels off, spin the bars, forks go over the back of the seat, wheels either side, then put the roof up. Needs the window cracked open an inch to let the bars through.

Only things I’ve seen go wrong are:
Rust (they’re 20 years old)
Imobilisers/electrics
Like any car they don’t like being stood still for long periods, make sure it actualy gets used over the winter. If you waxoil and underseal it then being stood still will do more damage than salt ever will.

We bought one after I found I really liked driving my wifes’ cappuccino (which is the size of a small shoe).

Clean by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

I like the electric hardtop – with it up, it’s fine to drive 100s of miles if that’s your thing. It is quite noisy tho on the motorway. I’ve been using it for commuting 30 miles on mainly country roads and it’s been fantastic fun. Ours is only the 1.8 so it’s not really *fast* but brilliant fun especially now it has 4 new tyres. Agree gear shift is fab, and it’s just a blast to drive with the roof down on a sunny day.

Going to upgrade the audio/speakers at some point but otherwise just leaving it alone and driving it. I’m 5ft11 with short legs/long torso and it’s fine.

You lot need to pack this in. We have no need for a 2 seater (we’re a family of 3) and yet all the reminders like

the supreme, perfect gear shift

are making me yearn for another. Want. Want. Want.

(has to be a mk1 or mk2 – never been huge a fan of the FIL’s mk3s (he’s had three of them after a mk2.5) nice though they are)

Alex – Ive been a Cappuccino and MX5 Mk3 owner and I didn’t think the Mk3 came close to the Cappuccino for smiles per mile.

Don’t upgrade the audio, get the suspension sorted. Get Eibach springs fitted which return the Mk3 to the correct ride height. All uk Mk3 have higher springs, but they don’t tweak the wheel geometry at the same time which means it doesn’t handle as well as it should.

Get springs and Geometry rechecked and it will transform the handling. Don’t go to Kwik Fit etc they wont even know about all the suspension changes that are possible.

Unfortunately it still doesn’t solve the problems of the Mk3 having no soul, the seating position being to high, the ABS kicking in far too soon. Don’t get me wrong its still a very good car, just not as good as it was 🙁

I ran a mk3 MR2 for 18 months as an everyday car, it was absolutely fine and made commuting a pleasure on country roads (my commute) but not on 2 hr motorway commuting (my wifes), even OK for a decent weekly shop so long as there is was no passenger of course. And yes you can get a bike in it, (sort of)

I’ve just accepted that its time to sell it as we news two proper cars to shuttle the kids around in.

<shameless plug>
I’f you’re interested i just happen to have an ad in the classifieda right now
</shameless plug>

BTW before buying mine read all of the “mx5 vs mr2″ guff, the went and drove some and for me no comparison, the MR2 feels far more alive, plus at 6’1” I also fit into it unlike the mx5

Update!

I didn’t buy an MX5 three months ago ‘cos MrsMonkey didn’t get the job. Boo. However! She now *has* got a new job, starting in January and we will need a second car.

The MX5 hunt starts afresh!

Just missed a rather nice looking Mk2 with FSH for £1,500, so I’m keeping an eye out…

We love an update !

I love updating!

Hopefully next update will involve a car…