2006 Mazda MX-5 NC 2.0 Sport

2006 Mazda MX-5 NC 2.0 Sport

Author
Discussion

Althebugman

12 posts

47 months

Thursday 4th November 2021
quotequote all
That tyre has had a hard time I would have done the same. There’s a big difference between legal and safe.

We did a track day in my friends identical mk3 he had nankang NS 2 tyres with standard suspension etc they have a squarer shape and seemed to resist this kind of wear abit better.

I ran them on my daily mk1 and they were abit slippy on cold and damp days if you were too heavy footed but they soon warmed up and were OK.

For the cost of a set of used wheels I’d say it’s probably worth buying a set if you intend to do more track days.

If you’re not driving the car as your winter commuter then that sort of tyre should be absolutely fine

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Thursday 4th November 2021
quotequote all
Althebugman said:
That tyre has had a hard time I would have done the same. There’s a big difference between legal and safe.

We did a track day in my friends identical mk3 he had nankang NS 2 tyres with standard suspension etc they have a squarer shape and seemed to resist this kind of wear abit better.

I ran them on my daily mk1 and they were abit slippy on cold and damp days if you were too heavy footed but they soon warmed up and were OK.

For the cost of a set of used wheels I’d say it’s probably worth buying a set if you intend to do more track days.

If you’re not driving the car as your winter commuter then that sort of tyre should be absolutely fine
I'm in two minds with it. I have a daily car that I drive for day to day commutes, so this only gets used for a bit of a change, for fun drives and track days. Mileage is probably about 5,000-7,000 a year. I'm eventually going to get some RPF1 replicas so I'll have my current alloy wheels spare, so at least I'll have them if I do decide on track tyres.

Althebugman

12 posts

47 months

Thursday 4th November 2021
quotequote all
Will look lovely with a set of those wheels on! If that’s your plans it’s a good one!

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Monday 29th November 2021
quotequote all
Not much has happened for a while with the MX-5, aside from cleaning. I've driven it a few times in the cold weather we've had, and can vouch for those heated seats.





I have to say, the way this car looks with the spoiler and diffuser is spot on. Very glad I chose to do those!


geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Monday 14th February 2022
quotequote all
It's been a while since I've posted. There's been quite a lot on my plate lately, but all good things. We've bought a house! It's currently in the solicitor stage at the moment but it shouldn't be long until we're there. No more gravel driveway that gets muddy when washing the cars and preventing me from jacking the car up properly. A nice, flat double driveway would be welcoming the cars in a few months. We're also getting married in two months, so some exciting times ahead indeed.

Car wise, it's been rather boring (up until last week), which is a good thing. There's been nothing alarming with the car, and I've simply been enjoying it. I've also re-discovered the world of sim-racing lately, which has taken up more time than I thought.

With all of the expense coming up with the house and wedding, I decided to step back from track days for the first half of this year. But then Brands Hatch Indy all-day pops up for £160 which starts to tempt me.

No. I've got too much to pay for.

Stop it.



Oh well. At this price, I couldn't have said no.

There were a few things I needed to sort with the car first, and the MOT was priority. It initially failed on two minor things, both of which were my fault. The first was the headlamp beam pattern, and this was due to it being full of condensation on the inside, which was my fault for not re-fitting the grommet back on after changing a bulb. The second failure was a brake hose leak. A bit concerning at first, but turns out I re-used the crush washers when I re-built the caliper, and needed new ones. After a hairdryer sat in the headlight for 15 minutes (cue mx-5 hairdresser jokes) and two new washers on the banjo fitting for the brake pipe, the car passed fine.

So what needed to be done after Llandow then? Tyre wear was my biggest issue. As someone pointed out previously, I'd been driving a little hard on them, but Llandow is such a small technical circuit that it's quite easy to overcook the tyres. That and the fact that it's well known for Llandow to be a tyre killer, mixed in with stock anti-roll bars, mixed in with stock geometry, and it's no wonder the outer edges of the tyres were being cooked.

A last minute call to the garage led to me being able to fit the RX-8 roll bars, and what a difference they've made.



And no wonder - look at the size of them.

For £80, they're the best modification I've done on the car, and had made a much bigger difference than the springs. The car went straight to the alignment garage, and they've dialed in -1.2° camber on the front and -2.2° camber on the rear, 0° toe and stock caster.





The car feels great and I was looking forward to seeing how much better it felt on the circuit, but the ARB's have already made a substantial difference even on road driving. It's so flat!

So that was that. Wheels torqued, car packed, and fluids checked. To my surprise the car hasn't used a millimetre of oil even since my first track day back in June (touch wood).



All of that fits into the boot with room to spare.

Myself, Macaulay and Dale - his brother - met at a services near Chippenham, and we drove up the night before.



I had to take a quick snap as this was the cleanest it was going to get for the whole journey.



And off we went. After we settled into our individual accommodation close to the circuit, we headed back out for some great food, talked about the next day, and all had an early night.


The next morning was cold.



I was a little worried. I don't mind the rain, but ice was a concern. Luckily it was a beautiful day, as we saw on the drive into the circuit.







Brands looked gorgeous in this morning sun. An odd juxtaposition of a completely empty race circuit which would be full of speed and sound in just a few hours. It was weirdly relaxing, which helped as all of us were quite nervous. Going from Llandow to Brands was a bit of a jump.









After signing on and attending a quick briefing, we headed out for a few sighting laps. My god, we didn't expect Paddock Hill to be that steep! Turning right at the first corner, down the hill, your stomach starts to go a little at the bottom when you start to drive up to Druids. One thing that hit me was how wide the circuit was, compared to the tiny circuit in Wales.

We came back in from the sighting laps, exclaimed our excitement and nerves a little, and then waited for a few to head out first to see what the surface was light. Thankfully it was fine, and with the constant sunshine the surface soon got up to temperature.

So we headed out, and...



Red flag. Some arse who drove erratically on his outlap decided he could brake at the same distance an F1 car brakes at into the first corner. His first flying lap, first corner, he binned it. Myself and Mac were directly behind him the whole lap. and we had no idea what he was doing. Lesson learned then.

The rest of the day was pretty fantastic, with some serious kit there.



























And a few of Robert Baxter's selects of the day:











We had some tuition from Caitlin Wood, an Australian W-Series, Formula 4 and GT World Endurance driver. She was fantastic, and had picked out exactly what I needed to concentrate on going forward.

The sun started to fade, fuel started to run low, and the day came to a close.





I had a great day, and really am looking forward to going back. However, what the circuit did point out was how the MX-5 needed a bit more power. I had a huge amount of fun with how the suspension sits on my car and how stiff it is, letting me keep the momentum in a lot of bends, but it needs much more torque. That'll be the next step, but not before I fit a roll bar to the car. The other issue I had was my back. I have no back problems what-so-ever, and I can sit in long journeys fine, but the stock leather seats are awful on a circuit. I'm putting in a lot of effort to hold myself upright so that I don't slide side-to-side, instead of just using my hands to steer the car. A bucket is what's needed then, and if I'm having a roll bar, a harness will fit nicely. So a seat, harness, bar and power is next. Power is the easy bit, with a de-cat manifold and a remap bringing the power from 158bhp to 180bhp+. But I'd want to be safe and comfortable first, so the previously mentioned bar and seating is going to be priority.

Though with the house move, wedding and honeymoon coming up, this will be into the last quarter of this year, so there'll be no track updates from me for a good while. I'll keep an eye out on the market place though, just in case a bargain comes up. And of course, if anyone's selling their seat, just let me know.

The only thing I'm going to do now is re-furbish the wheels again myself, but with high temperature lacquer, and re-paint the calipers as the paint had boiled itself off. Aside from that, nothing has changed on the car. It sat on the motorway the whole journey home as if nothing had happened to it. What a car.

trails

2,762 posts

136 months

Monday 14th February 2022
quotequote all
Paddock is quite exciting the first time you hit it with a bit of speed isn't it smile

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Monday 14th February 2022
quotequote all
trails said:
Paddock is quite exciting the first time you hit it with a bit of speed isn't it smile
Terrifying!

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Wednesday 6th April 2022
quotequote all
When the alignment was done for Brands Hatch, the car felt great but the steering wheel was a little bit off. Not by much, but noticeable to me and enough to change lanes within 5-10 seconds if positioned perfectly. So I went back to the garage, who were kind enough to correct it for nothing.

Surprisingly, the whole thing was still green, even thought the wheel was off.



What we did do however, was ignore the colour and try to get the numbers as close to perfect as possible:



Fixed. Look at the difference in the rear toe, I suspect that was the main culprit. The steering wheel is now perfectly in the middle. I've never had a car so sensitive to a geo setup before, so I'll have to keep this in mind wherever I take the car. On one hand, the garage should have been looking at the numbers rather than the colours in a sort of "that'll do" mindset (though that may be unfair), but on the other hand they deal with your day-to-day cars day-to-day, so it's not as if they're an track or MX-5 specialist. They're a great bunch of people though and have brand new hunter alignment systems, so if you tell them you want a certain set of numbers, they'll do it.

Aside from this, nothing to update. With a wedding just around the corner (10 days away), a honeymoon and a house move just after that, things have pretty much been put on hold for the MX-5 in terms of track time and even tinkering. The good thing is that I'll have more time and a lot more space to play around in the new home with its flat driveway, so I'm quite excited to get in there now. Generally though, I've just been driving it now and again to make sure all is well, and all is absolutely well. The car still hasn't missed a beat.

There's a few cosmetics that I need to look into, and that's the gear knob paint, the wheel paint and the caliper paint, all starting to look a little tatty. The gear knob paint from where my other half drove it; her engagement ring took the paint off. No fault of her own, I'll be having a ring on the same hand soon and it would have happened sooner or later, it just showed that I didn't put enough lacquer onto it. The calipers need a fresh new coat as they took some abuse from Brands. I may even strip them and paint them properly rather than with a brush. Same story with the wheels; high temperature lacquer and multiple coats should do the trick with these.

On the mechanical side of things, the O/S headlight still has water in it. I need to remove the front bumper to remove the lamp, empty the water and re-seal it, but removing the bumper on a gravel driveway in the wet when I've got no time is quite unrealistic, so that'll have to wait. That's about it though, the car is solid in all other areas.

Still looking for a bargain pair of bucket seats if they ever pop up.

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Wednesday 4th May 2022
quotequote all
Before the house move, I thought I'd drain the headlamp of its water. I assumed this was due to me not replacing the grommet when I changed the bulbs.



The whole front has to come off, but it's surprisingly easy. Always nice to see a stock CAI on a car.



All polished up and finished. However as soon as I washed it, it started again.



You can see where the water is running into the headlamp, so it looks like it needs to be properly sealed. When I have time I'll remove the lamp, dry it out, re-seal the top and replace.

I saw 'when I have time' as we got married, had our honey moon, and moved to a house house, all in April... wow are we tired. Nice flat tarmac double driveway though and a wooden-looking metal shed out the garden, which I'm very happy about!


SunsetZed

1,862 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th May 2022
quotequote all
Car looks great and has me looking at NC's as well as ND's.

Congratulations on the wedding and house move too!

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Wednesday 4th May 2022
quotequote all
SunsetZed said:
Car looks great and has me looking at NC's as well as ND's.

Congratulations on the wedding and house move too!
Thank you! I really would look at NC's. Unpopular opinion, but they've always been my favourite out of the four. I'm sure the ND is more capable and the NA more pure, but the NC has simple uncomplicated mechanics with a modern feel. I've also always wanted one since they came out.

I drove an ND and was surprised how similar it was to an NC, which is a good thing indeed. They haven't dulled it down at all, so that would still be a great choice. If it were me however, I'd get a NC3 in white. That updated front and rear end really modernises it to no extent. If a cheap NC3 bumper were to pop up, I'd grab it in a heartbeat.

RazerSauber

1,961 posts

47 months

Wednesday 4th May 2022
quotequote all
Congrats on the new page of life with everything going on!

Enjoyed this last page and it's really got me hankering for an NC to daily now!

DaveK-S1

273 posts

188 months

Wednesday 4th May 2022
quotequote all
This thread and others tempted me into buying an NC last june

Just in the process of finishing a complete mechanical running gear rebuild, getting tracked and setup today, off for mapping next week, can't wait smile

SunsetZed

1,862 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th May 2022
quotequote all
geraintthomas said:
SunsetZed said:
Car looks great and has me looking at NC's as well as ND's.

Congratulations on the wedding and house move too!
Thank you! I really would look at NC's. Unpopular opinion, but they've always been my favourite out of the four. I'm sure the ND is more capable and the NA more pure, but the NC has simple uncomplicated mechanics with a modern feel. I've also always wanted one since they came out.

I drove an ND and was surprised how similar it was to an NC, which is a good thing indeed. They haven't dulled it down at all, so that would still be a great choice. If it were me however, I'd get a NC3 in white. That updated front and rear end really modernises it to no extent. If a cheap NC3 bumper were to pop up, I'd grab it in a heartbeat.
I'm with you but the missus prefers the interior of the ND, I'm trying to explain that's not the point of the MX5 but I fear it's not a battle I'm winning!

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Thursday 5th May 2022
quotequote all
RazerSauber said:
Congrats on the new page of life with everything going on!

Enjoyed this last page and it's really got me hankering for an NC to daily now!
Thank you! I've got a perfectly good Focus as a daily, but for the last week I've just been driving the NC to work and back. It's just so enjoyable to drive, so it would be a lovely daily.

DaveK-S1 said:
This thread and others tempted me into buying an NC last june

Just in the process of finishing a complete mechanical running gear rebuild, getting tracked and setup today, off for mapping next week, can't wait smile
Very nice, and apologies for the temptation... don't blame me for any £££'s spent on the car!

SunsetZed said:
I'm with you but the missus prefers the interior of the ND, I'm trying to explain that's not the point of the MX5 but I fear it's not a battle I'm winning!
I mean, given the choice I'd most likely have a white ND. I think they're beautiful cars inside and out. I've not had the chance to really push one but I hear they're outstanding, so whatever you go for will be fantastic.

Danny4494

133 posts

84 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
quotequote all
Awesome read just read it all really fancy a NC, do you want to sell ?

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
quotequote all
Danny4494 said:
Awesome read just read it all really fancy a NC, do you want to sell ?
Never. Sorry! Thanks for the kind words, very appreciate the time you've taken to read it. Let me know if you've got any questions about NC life.

Wacky Racer

36,681 posts

234 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
quotequote all
Great thread, with lots of interesting stuff.

Here's my 25,000m 20th Anniversary NC.

Highly recommended for anyone thinking of getting one.






geraintthomas

Original Poster:

854 posts

94 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
quotequote all
Wacky Racer said:
Great thread, with lots of interesting stuff.

Here's my 25,000m 20th Anniversary NC.

Highly recommended for anyone thinking of getting one.





I'd sell mine in a heartbeat for a white NC3.75 2.0, very lucky indeed!

...swap?

Danny4494

133 posts

84 months

Friday 10th June 2022
quotequote all
geraintthomas said:
Never. Sorry! Thanks for the kind words, very appreciate the time you've taken to read it. Let me know if you've got any questions about NC life.
Thanks for that going to view a 09 sport tomorrow thanks to this thread and your friend with the blue NC on here.

Any viewing tips would be appreciated also been a 09 should be a 3.5 but definitely looks like a 3 to me ?