It's the twentieth anniversary of the MX-5 this year, so I think it's firmly in the retro camp now...
I've got a '97 mkI (NA) MX-5 and am thinking about cheap go-faster goodness for it - anyone on here with experience in this area?
Now, here's a lesson for you - do your research properly before you buy! I love my MX-5 to bits, but I didn't realise until after I'd bought it that the later UK 1.6 models were detuned. (It's the V5 plopping through the letterbox with 'Model: MX-5 DETUNED' that makes you investigate these things...)
Basically, the original 1.6 had 115bhp, then was replaced by the 1.8 with 130bhp. (Feel free to correct me here, these figures are just from memory.) They reintroduced the 1.6 later on, but detuned it so as to differentiate in an obvious way between the more and less powerful models; the 1.6 was stifled to a mere 88bhp. Now, I've tried to find out exactly how they detuned them but there isn't a huge amount of detail available on this as far as I can see. I have found people discussing it on the odd Mazda forum saying that the engine is basically untouched, but they put on a bigger cat and a much more restrictive airbox. Does anyone know any more about this?
The airbox thing was obvious - the main airbox itself is as big as a battery box with a tiny little inlet, and this pipes through to a sort of secondary airbox full of honeycomb mesh. It all looked hugely convoluted, so I ripped out the whole thing and replaced it with a K&N with a cold air feed coming from under the front bumper. It already feels far more responsive, as well as having a lovely induction roar.
So, how else do you make an MX-5 faster without spending loads of cash? The two obvious routes to day-to-day fastness (lightness, handling) have been quashed by the missus - it's her car too - so I can't rip out everything excess and dump it on lower springs, she's having none of it... so the answer is more power. And cheaply. Ideas?
Here, have some MX-5s as thanks.
.JPG)
I've got a '97 mkI (NA) MX-5 and am thinking about cheap go-faster goodness for it - anyone on here with experience in this area?
Now, here's a lesson for you - do your research properly before you buy! I love my MX-5 to bits, but I didn't realise until after I'd bought it that the later UK 1.6 models were detuned. (It's the V5 plopping through the letterbox with 'Model: MX-5 DETUNED' that makes you investigate these things...)
Basically, the original 1.6 had 115bhp, then was replaced by the 1.8 with 130bhp. (Feel free to correct me here, these figures are just from memory.) They reintroduced the 1.6 later on, but detuned it so as to differentiate in an obvious way between the more and less powerful models; the 1.6 was stifled to a mere 88bhp. Now, I've tried to find out exactly how they detuned them but there isn't a huge amount of detail available on this as far as I can see. I have found people discussing it on the odd Mazda forum saying that the engine is basically untouched, but they put on a bigger cat and a much more restrictive airbox. Does anyone know any more about this?
The airbox thing was obvious - the main airbox itself is as big as a battery box with a tiny little inlet, and this pipes through to a sort of secondary airbox full of honeycomb mesh. It all looked hugely convoluted, so I ripped out the whole thing and replaced it with a K&N with a cold air feed coming from under the front bumper. It already feels far more responsive, as well as having a lovely induction roar.
So, how else do you make an MX-5 faster without spending loads of cash? The two obvious routes to day-to-day fastness (lightness, handling) have been quashed by the missus - it's her car too - so I can't rip out everything excess and dump it on lower springs, she's having none of it... so the answer is more power. And cheaply. Ideas?
Here, have some MX-5s as thanks.
