NEW MX5 OWNER NEEDS HELP

Steve Greig · Post by **Steve Greig** » Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:25 pm

Hi all, Wifey and I just bought our first MX5 today - a 2003 NZ 1.8 NB in Blue Mica. Looks and drives great! Now we can see what all the fuss was about over these last 21 years!

Just 4 easy questions for y'all:

1. Fuel cap says 95 octane unleaded. Would it go OK on 91 or is that false economy? BP has only 91 and 08 octane, so should I use the 98?

2. Should cambelt be done at 100,000kms?

3. Can anyone recommend good MX5 mechanic in Palmerston North?

4. Where can I buy proper MX5 floor mats?

Thanks a lot! See ya on the road...

poison · Post by **poison** » Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:25 am

Steve, firstly welcome to our world. You will not regret buying an MX5, they
are really reliable and fun. FYI if you ever need to research stuff for the
MX5 always Google Miata. As Miata is the name for the MX5 in the USA, Aussie
and the UK.

1. This can be a hotly debated topic on any forum, and has been before. IMHO
91 is all you need, the engine was designed to run on 91. If you have
modified your vehicle and need to prevent pre-ignition then use 98. Use the
forum search for octane and you will get a few entries for this topic. We
have some real experts on this forum, you'll soon work out who they are,
can't list them due to risk of offence

search.php

2. If it has not been done yes it is a good idea. Shop around and get a
quote should take about 3 1/2 hrs. A certain Garage in the centre of
Auckland, who claim to be the so called MX5 experts up here took over 5hrs
to do mine. Lesson learnt.

3. Habanero66 will be the one for this, I thought everyone in Palmy was
related anyway... lol

4. Brownie should be able to find some for you.

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Stevo · Post by **Stevo** » Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:39 am

Although they can run on 91, I find they run a bit better on the higher octane. I use 95 from shell or 98 from BP.
I have found that although the gas is a bit dearer, I use less of the higher octanes than I did when using 91 so it does not work out any dearer.
Yes do your cambelt at 100,000km.
Cheers Stevo

Steve Greig · Post by **Steve Greig** » Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:59 am

OK, thanks guys for that. I'll get stuck into it...

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:25 pm

If it is a japanese import use the higher octane fuel as it would have been tuned for this in Japan.