Py2006's MX5 Thread!!! (I need advice)

py2006

Hi all,

My previous thread was locked on me as a couple of idiots were ruining it with idiotic comments.

So please keep this to all things MX5 or at the very least car related!

Now, as a quick refresher:

I recently bought a 99D MX5 1.8 Convertible (Japanese Import). It can with four new tires, nice rear spoiler, electric windows/mirrors, central locking, Bose speakers and a 6th gear! (hehe)

I haven't much knowledge of cars so any and all advice/hints/tips etc are welcome.

Thanks

franksm

Are you on the mx5ireland list ? I have lost track whether you are or not. That would be the best place for any specific question/answers. There's a guy there with a car identical to yours except for the 6-speed box, but there's also a guy with a 10th anniversary edition which does have the 6-speeds. You're covered, I bet

I think you had a question about the gear ratios ? The 6 on your car cover the same range as the 5 on the other cars - yours are much closer together. I once assumed that the 6-speed was just the 5-speed plus an extra gear, but I have been proved wrong (it's on www.miata.net somewhere) as the 6-speed just has closer ratios. Because of that, your 6th gear is much the same as our 5th gear - 4,000rpm at 120km/h would be about right.

The MX5 engine likes to be revved, so if it's not seeing anything beyond 5,000rpm often, then you're not using it properly

py2006

franksm wrote:

Are you on the mx5ireland list ? I have lost track whether you are or not. That would be the best place for any specific question/answers. There's a guy there with a car identical to yours except for the 6-speed box, but there's also a guy with a 10th anniversary edition which does have the 6-speeds. You're covered, I bet

I think you had a question about the gear ratios ? The 6 on your car cover the same range as the 5 on the other cars - yours are much closer together. I once assumed that the 6-speed was just the 5-speed plus an extra gear, but I have been proved wrong (it's on www.miata.net somewhere) as the 6-speed just has closer ratios. Because of that, your 6th gear is much the same as our 5th gear - 4,000rpm at 120km/h would be about right.

The MX5 engine likes to be revved, so if it's not seeing anything beyond 5,000rpm often, then you're not using it properly

Thanks for that. I am on the MX5Ireland list but I can't seem to stop all the messages coming into my email account. I tried changing it on the site but it made no difference. Do you find it hard to follow them posts aswell? The responses seem to be all over the place.

5000 rpm sounds good but it guzzles the peterol, lol!

franksm

It's probably no better in daily-digest form, then. I just have all the emails coming individually to my normal inbox, then siphoned off into a folder specifically for emails from yahoogroups.com

If you mean that the posts/replies are useless/jokey/repetitive, I'm afraid that's what it is like most of the time :rolleyes:

Over the past week or so, it has gotten crazy. Let's see how it goes over the weekend and then we can take it from there - it's worth mentioning it to the lads on Sunday about calming down the number of posts.

py2006

ah I dont mind the bit of banter. Its just that I got 3-4 replys to my post but they seemed to be scattered around the place. Not in any particular order! No big deal.

Where is the tech day?

franksm

py2006 wrote:

ah I dont mind the bit of banter. Its just that I got 3-4 replys to my post but they seemed to be scattered around the place. Not in any particular order! No big deal.

Where is the tech day?

One of the lads (Michael) said he would stop by the Pope's Cross in Phoenix Park at 1130 to see if there was anyone there that needed to convoy to the tech-day location. That's your best bet

Squirrel

This is very much so common sense, but keep an eye on the roofs condition. And also maybe look into getting a hard top for the winter

franksm

Squirrel wrote:

This is very much so common sense, but keep an eye on the roofs condition. And also maybe look into getting a hard top for the winter

Actually, that's a great idea. The hard-top transforms these cars into a snug little coupe. They become much quieter and refined with the hard-top; with the soft-top you still have the "close-to-the-road" feel and noise. Like having two cars for the price of one.

Good luck finding a hard-top though, some people have had to get them from the UK as they are in short supply in Ireland.

I don't know about the mohair (cloth) top fitted to later cars, but the vinyl top tends to shrink/crack just about the door glass - not a major problem, as you just need to replenish the hood material with some special stuff, ditto the rubber seals that the glass sits on.

Fabritzo

1.8, 6 gears, good man, do they have lsd too? The japs were even thoughtful enough to put the handbrake leaver in a convenient spot for ya.

py2006

lsd?

Squirrel

I assume he means Limited Slip Differential

py2006

Fabritzo wrote:

1.8, 6 gears, good man, do they have lsd too? The japs were even thoughtful enough to put the handbrake leaver in a convenient spot for ya.

Where is the handbrake in the non-japanese ones?? And what in the blue-hell is LSD?

Alun

The handbrake is in the same place regardless of whether it's LHD or RHD.

LSD stands for Limited Slip Differential. Google it for an explanation.

py2006

I was driving behind a red 90 WW reg MK1 on the M50 at about 2pm last Saturday! Was that any of you guys?

Squirrel

I wish, I'm only a passenger in my dad's MR2