I’d owned a 1.8 MX5 (Mk3) NC1 before and despite the jibes that it was, “a hairdressers car”; I’d bought it as a more practical everyday alternative to a Lotus Elise.
I knew they were pretty reliable, I’d done over a 100k miles in it using it as a briefcase for work runs; and checking with the DVLC website it is still passing its MoT test some 10+ years later..
Once I’d decided to commit to owning a track-day car then I cast around for alternatives. My research focussed on BMW1’s, BMW2’s (I think they are very pretty cars) and MX-5’s. I did some maths and decided on a MK3 MX5 as an ongoing project. Initially I set a budget of £2k but failed to find examples of a good solid one at that price locally. By over doubling that budget I was able to find an ok one and ended up with a 2011 2.0 Sports Tech.
On my list of MX5 must haves was a 2.0 because they had Limited Slip Differentials (LSD’s). To be honest I didn’t know much about LSD’s other than they were a more track focussed too to keep the drive at both wheels and to improve wet traction.
I considered an automatic MX5 but they seemed to lack the LSD, seemed to have some reliability issues and manuals were the most common for breakers yard parts if I broke it.
I did not have a preference for hard or soft top, my previous MX5 was a soft top. But I wanted a road-going track-day car in the Grand Tourer mould so the better the interior spec for me the better. The hard top which I ended up with is a significantly heavier car but with aircon, cruise control and leather seats its a wonderful place to be.
I wanted a MK3 because the earlier Mk1 (NA) and MK2 (NB) versions to my eyes don’t look as good as the MK3 and have an even worse reputation for rusting if not looked after. If I was choosing again I might consider a MK2 as they can be converted to a MK sportster (Lotus 7 lookalike) which negates the rust issue if the mechanicals are solid and there are plenty of Mk2’s with full race conversions trouncing my car on the track.
A quick check on eBay, Autotrader and other online resources found me a nice Mk3 and after a test drive I committed and picked it up the next day.
