Cheap Mx5 how much of comedown from an s2000 would

I may have been stating the obvious with what i said but i still felt it was important to as in my opinion the best part of owning an mx5 is thrashing the hell out of it on a country road.

One thing i probably should have added is if you are expecting tail happy handling with an mx5 you may be disapointed depending on the tyres that are fitted. In the dry its very difficult to get the back end out unless you drop the clutch and floor it at roundabouts and junctions, and even then you may have to much grip. In the wet this is much easier and it can be more fun to drive on a wet road than a dry one, but tyres as always have a big effect on this.

Id have a mx5 hiden in the garage! They may not be the fastest but if your man (or girly) enough to handle that then why not.

They are well supported for mods and cheap enough to keep as a play thing.

Mazda bought an Elan, a Midget and inter alia, an S800 in order to work out exactly what 'it' was about such cars!

First Mule was then a butchered old RWD 323.

They originally wanted a sort of twin Weber 45 DCOE set-up, but it was too much maintenance so went for fuel injection in the end.

The MX-5 although influenced by the shape of the Elan was intended to be a modern day AH Sprite/MG Midget. Cheap, small and lively but most important of all reliable and not requiring the owner to spend the week-ends fettling it. Even better it was not going to drip oil on your drive.

The Honda S2000 is very much in the tradition of the big Healey or TR sports car. Big, gruff, manly, and not too many poncy comforts. It also needs ability to be driven to its full potential.

Both cars are already modern day classics and each as worthy as the other.

Well here is the S2000 replacement for now.







As you can see it already has a few modifications, better suspension, EBC brakes all round, a Magnex exhaust with decat and a K&N filter, all I need now is a role bar and I’m ready to hit the track. Even the geometry is already set to the sport settings; it drives very well and really is good fun, and all for under £1500.

£1,500 FFS! Cannot really go wrong! Honestly, I'd rather have that than about a dozen thirty large cars I can think of straightaway.

Wheels look about right for the car - what are they?

"Even then you have too little power"

Is what you really meant?

Apart from:

Anti-lock Brakes
Vehicle Stability Assist
Electric Power Steering
Air Conditioning
Electric and heated Mirrors
ATB diff
More?

This thread is quite frankly getting hilarious!

crikey £1500 ?? were did you get that ! whats the spec ? looks like an import 1.6 ?? year ?

They look like Z3 wheels?

I thought so too.

A Z4M is more in the mould of a Big Healey; Village People butch engine in a very crude chassis anyway.

It was £1400 the £1500 budget will include buying the role bar for it hopefully. It’s a early 1.6 import (most advised this was the best choice), most of the basic modifications are already done and it’s set up for track use. The alloys are nothing special and I will try and find some cheap light jdm wheels at some point. Interesting they don’t run a staggered set up like most rear wheel drive cars but still offer very good rear wheel grip and cornering speeds matching the s2000.

That's one thing that tends to add to handling consistency - low powered cars (like Elans) had identical wheels too.

Interestingly, so does the Bristol Fighter, which uses a Viper engine! Apparently Lotus were a bit surprised by that when they undertook the chassis tuning, but were nevertheless impressed by the basic design.

Im running non-stagger on the S2000.
Only know of a couple others who do this with S2000s in the UK.
We'll see if its any better on the next couple of track days but its a maked improvement on the road.
Stiffer front arb +50% and rear aero to compensate.

why an import 1.6 not the 1.8 ?

I got a import mainly because most UK cars of that age are quite rusty, the 1.6 is considered more desirable by many as its significantly lighter so handles slightly better. It’s also not that much down on power (mine has been rolling roaded at 125 fly bhp for example with just induction and exhaust mods and the timing slightly advanced).

What tyres have you got on there Mikey? Toyos are VERY good on the MX5, whether it be T1Rs or R888s. You don't feel the soft side wall because it is so light

hey mikey,

Good to find you here. Loving the 5.
Hope to meet you on a track soon