Car modification philosophy

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 9:58 pm

Mongo wrote:
OurCognitiveSurplus wrote:Mongo will give a more comprehensive list and why over the next few days for those who are interested.

Look forward to it! I agree on wheels, it's mainly a style thing and slightly a weight thing. Tyres are horses for courses, depends on what you want in terms of grip/life/price/wet/dry etc.

doc · Postby **doc** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:51 am

As all production Cars built to be sold to the masses are a "Compromise".
And our little MX-5's are sold as "Sports Cars", Not "Race Cars".
Obviously most real Auto enthusiasts are going to want to make a few changes to bring the car into line with what they like, and the way they wish to use, (Drive) the car.
That's what this thread is all about.
I find Mr. Mongos idea's interesting, and his writing style, well, humerus.
that said, I am interested to hear what he feels are faults with the NC.
I have but about 7k on mine so far.
Hear's what I think.
A bit better low end torque would be nice, the mid range of the engine seems fine as is.
(It's a small sports car, I never planed on racing it.)
Ride quality is pretty good for a production small car that handles, so no real complaints there.
But the body roll in the corners! this I would have thought they would have done a better job of.
For a car that costs over 50 grand. they could have gotten the handling much better.
(although I must admit it is much better than a standard small car).
So in time I will be looking at headers and perhaps a throatier exhaust. (looking to improve the low end a tad).
And sway bars / coil overs, to get it to corner without the body roll.
That's about it for me. But right now I'm busy just making the repayments. So I'll enjoy it as is for awhile yet.

M1474 · Postby **M1474** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 1:58 pm

If I is PMing the comprehensive list of NC flaws would I include me (I) please.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:58 pm

One can write a long list of good things for an NC and a very short list of shortcomings. The car is tried and proven. Any car that can get "recommended" by the Dog and Lemon guide is in rarified air and lauded by nearly all Motoring writers. For me the MX5 is one of the great sports cars - something that makes you smile, looks good, is reliable and well made and affordable and thats more than you can say for most of the others.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:43 pm

Mongo wrote:would love to have helped but the administrators have seen fit to change *ongo's posts and *ongo is not prepared to accept that so he is asking his account to be closed. Have a chat to the others *ongo has PMed.

regards

And I, we, you, me, him, her, us and them are all poorer for the loss. Alternatively, people can easily read what others have written, so we're actually better off.

hejira · Postby **hejira** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 8:02 pm

Anyone that owns an MX5 now and thinks to themselves "but that GTR/Evo/Porsche/Lotus/whatever is my dream car", my advice is don't do it, they aren't as enjoyable as an MX5.

I had an NB when I decided to go for my dream car, a '99 FD RX7 with a big single turbo conversion + loads of mods.

Sure nothing will ever sound as good as the RX7 did, but I soon realized that the MX5 is actually my dream car, not an RX7, so I sold it and bought another MX5.

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:16 pm

hejira wrote:Anyone that owns an MX5 now and thinks to themselves "but that GTR/Evo/Porsche/Lotus/whatever is my dream car", my advice is don't do it, they aren't as enjoyable as an MX5.

I had an NB when I decided to go for my dream car, a '99 FD RX7 with a big single turbo conversion + loads of mods.

Sure nothing will ever sound as good as the RX7 did, but I soon realized that the MX5 is actually my dream car, not an RX7, so I sold it and bought another MX5.

Nothing you say will ever change the fact that I dream of Lotus. Dreams don't have to make sense :wink:

hejira · Postby **hejira** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:44 pm

I love lotus too but I read an article somewhere a while ago that a guy wrote about going from an NA to a lotus and back again because the lotus wasn't as fun as an MX5. I'll never be able to find the article now. :/

doc · Postby **doc** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:15 pm

Lotus has been hammered by many for it's short comings.
A late Model Corvette however is a GREAT toy, Trouble is they wont build them with the steering wheel on the wrong side.
Back in the states I had a 07 Vette, Magnetic ride control, 6 speed, all the bells and whistles. WOW, What a car, And you could just pound on it, And it just kept going.

Mr nanotech · Postby **Mr nanotech** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:45 am

I don't know what this thread is about anymore

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 2:24 pm

Mr nanotech wrote:I don't know what this thread is about anymore

I think we're talking about cars.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 2:45 pm

Mr nanotech wrote:I don't know what this thread is about anymore

I think the car modification philosophy for many posting lately is to sell the MX5 and buy something else.

Mr nanotech · Postby **Mr nanotech** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:07 am

That's because a lot of them either bought their mx5 as their first car and want something more powerful, or they have owned their mx5 for a decade and just want to move on. Same Reason my mate is selling his Sprinter. He loves that car but it's been a decade and he feels it's time to move on with his life and buy a house.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:55 pm

The latter conversation here has actually made me think about my philosophy again.

So I'm pretty confident in saying that my car has evolved with me. It's morphed to suit the given task at hand.

When I bought it I was a 20yr old uni student and it was my only car. It took me to uni, to work and occasionally even out on the town. The first mods were almost all stereo related and were great for commuting. At the time it was a great car for it's purpose; it was interesting to drive, even on the daily commute, and running costs were low.

Then I got more involved with the local car community and the cosmetic mods started flowing. Nothing too over the top as to cause problems on the day-to-day, but enough that it looked good. It was around this time that I finished uni and now needed to commute to the city without my cheap uni parking rates. It wasn't really on purpose but this meant a motorbike was a must and as a consequence, my car got dríven a lot less.

Then I started tracking it and the performance mods began. Suspension, brakes, bracing, racing seat, etc. It became far less comfortable but also it didn't matter so much any more as I wasn't using it as a 'car'.

Now it's for sale as I want to try something different. It's been almost seven years but I don't use my NA as a practical car any more, so why not go all out and get something even less practical?