A long-overdue update since my initial post a good while ago. My MX-5 has just reached its 5th birthday, with almost 3 years and 18,000 of its 24,000 miles in my ownership. It’s still as much fun to drive as it was the day I got it – well, a bit more actually since I put new tyres on it about a year ago, of which more later. When I got the MX-5, I hadn’t expected to do many long trips in it but it’s proven surprisingly capable and comfortable, (if not hugely refined!) in spite of its diminutive size. On one occasion, I did over 400 miles in a day in it, about half of that with the roof down. It’s been down south to Hampshire and Dorset a good few times as my mother, well into her 80’s, loves a trip out in it. This year, my sister and I enjoyed a road trip called the “Celtic Classic” which was a 6-day 1,000 mile trip to Ireland, the highlights of which included driving the Causeway Coast and the northern part of the Wild Atlantic Way, as well as getting to park on the slipway where the Titanic was built in Belfast. Below - getting it on the beach was easy. Getting it off, after the sand had dried out was a little more entertaining... There was enough space for all our stuff but little room for duty-free on the way home! It's seen its fair share of north Wales, Shropshire, the Peak District and the Staffordshire Moorlands as well. A copy of Simon Weir’s book, Bikers’ Britain, has also provided numerous entertaining and picturesque drives out. Below - parked (very carefully!) next to some expensive classics in Ireland. Ownership costs have been reasonable so far, given the enthusiasm with which it’s driven. I swapped the tyres front to back about halfway through their life so that I could replace all 4 at once at around 18,000 miles. I was never completely happy with the factory-fit Bridgestone Potenza S001’s: they were fine in the dry during summer but progressively lost grip in the cold and were anything but confidence-inspiring when cold combined with wet. That said, a few low-speed moments over a couple of winters with them taught me a good deal about how the car handled. They were replaced with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s at about £500, and these have been worth every penny. Softer sidewalls improved the ride a little and provide a more progressive feel as the limit approaches. But far better than that, the increased level of grip available in cold wet conditions has been a revelation. A good decision. The front brake pads were also replaced at the same time, for about £100. YouTube showed me it was a simple enough job to DIY, but with the parts costing ~£75, I thought I’d PSE instead…Pay Someone Else . Annual main dealer servicing costs less than £200, and both VED and insurance are reasonable. All that adds up to 57p/mile, of which 15p is fuel, 13p maintenance, VED and insurance 7p, with the balance as depreciation based on an estimated trade-in value. Fuel consumption is averaging 42 mpg: on the motorway 50 is just about achievable, but this drops to low-30s when having fun on the twisties. Downsides to date have been few. Perhaps most annoying is the Soul Red paintwork, which in spite of the colour (which I love, especially in the sun), has to be the thinnest, most brittle paint I’ve ever experienced on a car. Had I bought the car new I would have had paint protection film applied all over the front end to protect against stone chips. Not only does it chip easily, it is also difficult to touch up as it requires the metallic base coat and a pink-coloured lacquer. I have a complete knowledge of every single chip as they appear because the car does get cleaned, polished and spruced up a fair bit: it’s been displayed on the Owners’ Club pitches at the Silverstone Classic a couple of times and at various events locally at places like Tatton Park. This year’s Silverstone Classic had all 7 of Lewis’ Championship winning cars on display as well. Gratuitous photo… It's also been possible with a USB stick to reprogram some aspects of the MazdaConnect system (their version of iDrive) to display some interesting info. So on demand I can see various details like those below (max revs next to top speed) and even how many litres of fuel remain in the tank. Interesting how the air inlet temperature rockets up to 50°C+ when stood in traffic on a hot day. On the reliability front, I had high expectations given its Japanese origins. However, the offside rear wheel bearing needed replacing not long ago – fortunately covered under the Mazda extended warranty. The dealer had never heard of a wheel bearing on one of these failing before, so parts had to come from abroad. Underneath the car – in common with many Japanese marques – the rustproofing is minimal so some surface rust is starting to appear, in part no doubt a consequence of it being used all year round. Below - some areas underneath are protected with no more than a coat of primer. For that reason, I guess I’m not so surprised at how many owners use them as summer / dry weather cars only – but I’m too addicted to the driving experience to miss out for months at a time. It’s also quite common for owners to get the car treated with Dinitrol to preserve it, something I’m looking into later this year as this one, like my G30, is also a keeper for now.
Lovely write up and excellent photos. Really does sound like an enjoyable ownership experience. I’d be looking to treat that underside for sure, stop that rot in its tracks.
I had a run in with one of these MX5s a few weeks back. We were driving along the A456 between Kidderminster and Leominster, some lovely twisty sections, I’d overtaken the red MX5 (same shape as yours) on a stretch of uphill dual carriageway, he then tried sticking to my rear end once the road became single lane. In the very twisty (national speed limit) parts he was more than able to keep up with the heft of the 440, but as soon as the road opened up he disappeared in my rear view. Most entertaining.
Yep, they're not actually that powerful. Normally aspirated engines, 1.5 with 132 bhp or 2.0 with 160 or 184 depending upon year, not much torque either, so you have to keep them above 5k to get the best from them, which is 2nd and 3rd on UK roads. My G30 is far quicker in a straight line but the MX-5 even with me in it is little more than 1100kg so it changes direction easily. I was doing something similar in the MX-5 in Ireland, except the other guys were in Astons...all good fun.
