Just went out for a drive in my daughter's NA to see what may be making a new noise she had noticed. Think the noise could be a pinhole leak somewhere around the exhaust manifold, but when we got back a lot of steam rose from the front of the bonnet and it looks as though there may also be a small w...

Has to be unzipped in the NA to fold the roof down, as the soft top folds along different lines to the NB, which was redesigned to have the glass window (which cannot be unzipped in the NB). A friend has one in his 97 NA. Size is similar to the plastic. I must say from having an NB with heated glass...

Has to be unzipped in the NA to fold the roof down, as the soft top folds along different lines to the NB, which was redesigned to have the glass window (which cannot be unzipped in the NB). A friend has one in his 97 NA. Size is similar to the plastic. I must say from having an NB with heated glass...

My daughter has just bought a white 1990, so now we're a 2-MX5 family :-) Everything is good about it apart from the passenger window winder (manual, not electric), which doesn't work properly. The window is very hard to move in either direction without using your hand on the glass to help it along ...

The series 2 merlot was called the Millenium Edition in NZ, and was the year 2000 special edition. I think there were 3000 released worldwide, 15 of them came to NZ. I have one of them. I really like the light tan leather seats and interior, polished alloy wheels and Nardi wooden steering wheel, plu...

Hi Thomas My wife and I have both noticed that no matter how much we concentrate on sticking to the speed limit on major roads that are known to be "well" policed we always appear to be breaking it by the time we exit any sweeping bend. Must be some sort of fault with the car... Totally agree about ...

Hope people aren't overlooking the fact that speed cameras photograph the rears of cars as well as the fronts. Police with laser guns aren't affected at all by an unreadable front plate (actually much more likely to ensure you get fined, not cautioned, when he checks out the car after you get stoppe...

I've got a later model car (2000). The factory wind blocker doesn't stop all the wind, you still get a lot of turbulence around the back of the neck and head, but it does significantly reduce turbulent air lower in the cockpit and that helps keep you warmer when top down in cold weather. Also, when ...

When I used 91 in my NB I'd average around 11.7 km/l. Since switching to 96 I average around 13.5 km/l. On long trips, top down, I typically get better than 14 km/l and several times have gone over 600 km before filling the tank. Best ever was 14.9 km/l (616 km, 41.2 l to refill). Takes around 41 l ...

I installed a grille in my 2000 model, very high quality stainless steel diamond mesh (woven diagonal strands), similar to the one you see on the Jag XKR, and it came from the USA. The fit and finish, delivery and installation instructions, were absolutely first class. See http://groups.msn.com/buck...

I've seen a couple of 98 NB cars with 1.6 motors for sale. I know that 1.6 continued to be available as an alternative engine size in the UK at least, assume also in Japan, hence some used imports in NZ car yards. I have no idea though how these more recent 1.6 motors compare to the 1.8 or to the ea...

If you have a passenger AND a boot full of luggage, the answer is on the passenger's lap. So, always carry a sheet of plastic or an old blanket or something of that nature when you have a full load! The better half will NOT appreciate having a dirty wheel resting on her clothes. Come to think of it,...

The test was on a straight road, SH2 between Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt. Should be pretty accurate there. I use this GPS system almost every day when I'm walking (which I do for a sport) and it has proven itself to be accurate within about 0.5% for distance measured so long as you are in the open. Go...

I checked out the MX5's speedo accuracy with a GPS today. Not very good I'm afraid. At an indicated 70 on the speedo the car is doing 66, at 100 it is doing 94.5 and at 110 it is doing 104. I guess it makes it easier not to get a ticket when you're always going slower than you think. The trip meter ...

Good idea. Just checked out one of the 'fleet' with a GPS this afternoon, the slow-and-doesn't-handle towing vehicle (Suzuki Vitara V6). Guess what? Speedo needle sitting dead on 50 kph, GPS registered speed of 50.0 kph!. I'm amazed, always thought this was the one that registered slow out of the th...

Don't panic, the car in the photos isn't the new MX5, it's the Ibuki concept that is also mentioned in the article. And, of course, it did say there'll be 2 versions - folding tin plus a real soft top. I know which one I'd go for, after all, what's the point of lugging a piece of extra tin around in...

There may be fewer Evolution Orange cars globally, but here in the Hutt Valley they are quite common. I know at least 2 in Upper Hutt and have seen another one around on SH2 between UH and Wellington more than once and there is currently a very smart looking one with new 17" alloys, a large front ai...

The 10AE was a special dark blue, not green (called "Innocent Blue Mica"!) with blue suede seat inserts, blue-grey soft top, blue carpets, 6 speed gearbox, polished 15" alloys. Only 4 were allocated to NZ. Only 7500 were made and every one had a sequential badge carrying its build number. Wouldn't b...

Having only ever managed to activate it once on either of my ABS equipped cars I suspect it is like air bags. It's worth the extra money when it helps to save your life, but you hope you'll never need it. If its available get it, but I wouldn't avoid buying a car that didn't have it. My 2000 NB does...

Miro St Panelbeaters are good. The guys who work there are all into classic Fords and when you look at their own cars you can see how good a job they can do. They did a good job on repairs to my daughter's Escort a few months back. I've also had good work out of Maidstone Panelbeaters in the past on...

My boss in London back in 1972 used to own one of these. From what I can remember he said there were only 99 of them made, but he may have said there were only 99 others, I can't be sure. It was a long time ago. He also had a Lancia Fulvia at the same time. He used to drive his cars VERY hard (scary...

That's the Millennium Edition (2000 special edition model). 15 of them were
sold new in NZ. The 10th Anniversary model (1999) was a dark blue with a
blue top and I think there were only 4 allocated to NZ.

Tim Dutton
MY2CTA

I've found that I get consistently and measurably better fuel consumption on my totally unmodified 2000 model using 96 octane rather than 91 (8% improvement), presumably being able to take advantage of the NB engine's automatic timing advance/retard feature that ensures no knock on lower octane fuel...

I own and drive both. I drive the Suzuki Vitara (small, but still a 4x4) on the roads like it needs to be driven - a damn sight slower than the MX5 (or any other vehicle I have owned in a long time). It doesn't handle well, it rolls a lot, it drinks lots of petrol, it isn't very fast. It is incredib...

I've had a similar thing happen on other cars when there was too little water in the cooling system. Temperature gauge was showing the steam temp, no water in the heater to make it work :-( If its that the only question is, why has the water all gone? Guess you've checked the water levels already th...