Me and t'other half went to Bradford today and bought a Mk1 Mazda MX5 for her.

Its an R plate, full service history, uk model. Two former keepers.

she drove it back careful behind me in my cinq over the busy M62 to cheshire, rain, wind, cold and even fog, so no roof down then!!

So this afternoon and back here, I took it out for a drive, totally amazing!!! one of the best gearchange mechanisms I have driven, power is great from the 1.8, and although standard [for now] the exhaust was quite raspy.

The roof has a couple of small tears - the last owner of a number of years actually used it, and why not!!, but it was washed just prior to us going today and it was raining on getting there, no leaks, but a hood replacement is going to happen anyway, not a hard job and not too dear either.

85,000 miles, as above, backed up with history.

It has the tonnau [sp?] cover [thats the posh bit that gets lost, covers the frame etc when roof is down], spare wheel cover, has full closure cobra alarm/immo

So, what did we pay? it was up for £1,695, and we took it for £1,600, dealer gave free 3 month warranty too.

The wind in your hair, and sun on your face, great motoring ahead!!

Some pics taken at the dealers, yesterday:

£1600? !!! What a bargain, looks great! Nice summer motoring. Get them few niggles sorted and you should have it for years.

Wades said:

£1600? !!! What a bargain, looks great! Nice summer motoring. Get them few niggles sorted and you should have it for years.

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many thankings

yeah the price was good

we looked at one in stockport a couple of days earlier, that was same colour and uk spec, was a K plate, and he wanted £2150, had done 106,000 too, body in same condition, but hood only slightly better [looked recent]

nice.

i'm after an mgf (i keep getting outbidded damn it) but i've also been looking at mx5's a lot lately. its amazing how cheap they are these days. bargain motoring, if only we had the weather for it.

check this bargain out (i just missed it yesterday)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=190235567336&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=009

Excellent buy.

Emma has been looking at these loads as well recently, I know she enjoyed driving the MX5, and I think they are brilliant to drive.

What you want now, & you know you really do :devil:, is the Jackson Racing Supercharger kit. It's a bolt on job, but what sets it apart from older systems is that it disables the supercharger when on part throttle so drives exactly as Mazda intended, so same smooth running, same fuel economy etc, BUT open up the throttle & the by pass valve closes & that supercharger is instantly available, the extra fueling all controlled by piggy back device so stock ECU remains as is.

Argggg the more I write about it the more I want one now

J333EVO said:

what sets it apart from older systems is that it disables the supercharger when on part throttle

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what a good idea!

jug said:

i'm after an mgf (i keep getting outbidded damn it) but i've also been looking at mx5's a lot lately. its amazing how cheap they are these days. bargain motoring, if only we had the weather for it.

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she was orignally after an mgf, but looking where the engine is and access around it, or lack of it, was a problem, she had a rover 214 [similar engine design] that popped its h/g, also the mg has those daft hydraulic suspension things like the old metro's did, awful!! imo

Mazda, normal coil spring suspension, in line engine with access to both sides and the front of it. That will do for me!!

levemir said:

she was orignally after an mgf, but looking where the engine is and access around it, or lack of it, was a problem, she had a rover 214 [similar engine design] that popped its h/g, also the mg has those daft hydraulic suspension things like the old metro's did, awful!! imo

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the HG issue is nothing to worry about, repair is easy DIY or £170 if you go to a garage.

the hydragas suspension is a real bonus. dont confuse it with the crappy hydrolastic setup on the metro, it is has come a long way since then. the front and back are connected on each side so when you corner the suspension firms up on the outside giving great handling, but you also get the kind of smooth ride that you usually only get from a much larger car. springs cant offer the same compromise between ride and handling on a light car.

ok, I can see that.

although the mx5 does still handle better
plus the interior looks more dated but it still feels better quality.

Got some more pics for you while it was out the back to have some little bits and bobs seen to.

its a bit lively out on the road in the wet!! typical that when we get a soft top, the weather turns to rain.

£1600 is a bargain for sure.

My mate's fiancee has a phase 2 MX-5 1.8 and it does get the tail out rather easily. The engine sounds even better after a K&N Typhoon Kit was put on. Runs on 17s as well, but the rides suprisingly good. Have yet to sample the wonderful handling myself though...