Post by woody27 on Feb 1, 2010 15:39:36 GMT
Hey'all!
I've got an intro thread here so you can find out a bit about me there but this is the history of the car to start off my project build
I bought an mx5 about easter time last year as my first RWD car I bought it with the intention of using it primarily as my road car but also to have a go on track. You'll notice that not all my modifications are strictly for performance as I still need some daily comforts! I wanted an MX5 with a hardtop and in black in a vain attempt to try to shake off the girly image a bit 
I found this 1.6 S-special in black with hardtop for only £1600:
![]()
farm4.static.flickr.com/3653/3478729167_b3c4dfee1a_o.jpg
[/img]
I'd previously had a semi-modified Toyota Yaris SR. That was quite good fun for a first car and handled like it was on rails by the time I was done with it. But yeah I outgrew it and sold it for £1530 (Not bad considering I had previously rolled it and had it rebuilt). O and btw yes the seller did know it had been rolled But yeah that meant the MX5 cost me £70 which I was more than happy with!
So then I started buying bits for it. I found the mx5-nutz forum pretty soon on and was rapidly aquiring a wanted list! So first I fitted an Induction kit and a decat. The induction kit is from A'pexi who's kit I had ran on my Yaris before. They do awesome dry filters offering some of the best filtration from any dry filter whilst still flowing well (and don't need reoiling
However they usually locate in a useless place as standard. The Mx5 fitment was no different:
The worst place for an open air filter ever?! Above the (badly heat shielded) exhaust manifold! It came with a piece of bent tin which was supposedly also a heat shield but that's also useless as you can see However I had plans for a vented headlight lid, vents to replace the indicators with and potentially a hole through the scuttle tray to get some air from below the windscreen That should hopefully make it a performance modification as opposed to it's current noise modification!
Anyway I then decided the front needed a bit of tidying up aswell as some front downforce. The front tended to become light at high speeds (common on standard MK1 mx5's) and so I looked on the forums for the solution. That resulted in me buying a Garage Vary front lip which also has vents to cool the brakes I also relocated the number plate and debadged the front to smooth it off. By now I think the front end was already looking miles better and the "hairdressers car" comments from my mates were deteriorating
The car came on stupidly low springs and so I replaced these with the standard springs so that 1. My geometry would correct itself, 2. My chassis rails would stop being raped by speed bumps and 3. My new front lip wouldn't end up under the car! Besides it was more predictable on the standard springs (it still has uprated bilstein shocks as standard) and meant it wouldn't bite me in the ass whilst I was getting used to it!
The next problem with the car was the rubbish tyres. It had come on 4 mismatched budget tyres with different wear levels and uneven wear from the silly camber that had been caused from the low springs (without the alignment adjusted)! Therefore I decided to kill them off to give me an excuse to buy some new ones
My first track day at the Top Gear test track Was an awesome day and made me really appreciate the 5. Yes it understeered a little on turn in on the hammerhead but mainly it was ok. The tyres however really did show how rubbish they were but luckily I managed to stay on the track
To be continued....
I've got an intro thread here so you can find out a bit about me there but this is the history of the car to start off my project build
I bought an mx5 about easter time last year as my first RWD car
I bought it with the intention of using it primarily as my road car but also to have a go on track. You'll notice that not all my modifications are strictly for performance as I still need some daily comforts! I wanted an MX5 with a hardtop and in black in a vain attempt to try to shake off the girly image a bit 
I found this 1.6 S-special in black with hardtop for only £1600:[/img]
I'd previously had a semi-modified Toyota Yaris SR. That was quite good fun for a first car and handled like it was on rails by the time I was done with it. But yeah I outgrew it and sold it for £1530 (Not bad considering I had previously rolled it and had it rebuilt
). O and btw yes the seller did know it had been rolled But yeah that meant the MX5 cost me £70 which I was more than happy with!So then I started buying bits for it. I found the mx5-nutz forum pretty soon on and was rapidly aquiring a wanted list! So first I fitted an Induction kit and a decat. The induction kit is from A'pexi who's kit I had ran on my Yaris before. They do awesome dry filters offering some of the best filtration from any dry filter whilst still flowing well (and don't need reoiling
However they usually locate in a useless place as standard. The Mx5 fitment was no different:The worst place for an open air filter ever?! Above the (badly heat shielded) exhaust manifold! It came with a piece of bent tin which was supposedly also a heat shield but that's also useless as you can see
However I had plans for a vented headlight lid, vents to replace the indicators with and potentially a hole through the scuttle tray to get some air from below the windscreen That should hopefully make it a performance modification as opposed to it's current noise modification!Anyway I then decided the front needed a bit of tidying up aswell as some front downforce. The front tended to become light at high speeds (common on standard MK1 mx5's) and so I looked on the forums for the solution. That resulted in me buying a Garage Vary front lip which also has vents to cool the brakes
I also relocated the number plate and debadged the front to smooth it off. By now I think the front end was already looking miles better and the "hairdressers car" comments from my mates were deteriorating The car came on stupidly low springs and so I replaced these with the standard springs so that 1. My geometry would correct itself, 2. My chassis rails would stop being raped by speed bumps and 3. My new front lip wouldn't end up under the car! Besides it was more predictable on the standard springs (it still has uprated bilstein shocks as standard) and meant it wouldn't bite me in the ass whilst I was getting used to it!
The next problem with the car was the rubbish tyres. It had come on 4 mismatched budget tyres with different wear levels and uneven wear from the silly camber that had been caused from the low springs (without the alignment adjusted)! Therefore I decided to kill them off to give me an excuse to buy some new ones
My first track day at the Top Gear test track
Was an awesome day and made me really appreciate the 5. Yes it understeered a little on turn in on the hammerhead but mainly it was ok. The tyres however really did show how rubbish they were but luckily I managed to stay on the track To be continued....
Shame as they look cool 
Went over both London and Tower bridge, past O2 arena, Big ben and parked by the London eye (not in that order!). Some of the tunnels were awesome long single track ones and the cars just sounded amazing in them! Got a tiny video on a camera I borrowed from a mate. First bit is quieter as camera is in it's case. Shows it's a good location for the camera for future videos though! The bit on the end is showing how quiet my car was in contrast 
