Road Car to race Car
In order to create a safe, fun, and affordable racing car some modifications need to be carried out to the standard road car. The majority of these modifications revolve around safety.
In order to take your MX5 racing the following work will need to be completed.
In order to take your MX5 racing the following work will need to be completed.
- Removal of interior carpet and door cards
- Removal of roof
- Replace standards seats with FIA approved racing seats
- Replace standard seat belts with FIA approved 4 point harness
- Fit a 2.25 litre plumbed in fire extinguisher
- Fit and FIA approved external circuit breaker
- Fit a high intensity rear rain light and front spot lights
- Fit a six point bolt in roll cage with door bars
- Replace
the standard flexible brakes hoses with steel braided hoses
- Replace standard dampers with GAZ Gold Professional, AVO Coil-Over Damper Kit or SPAX RSX Coil-Over Kit
- Fit control wheels; Rota Slipstream Mk1 (15x7x28mm offset) or the Team Dynamics Pro race 2, Pro race 1.2 (25mm or 30mm offset)
- Fit control tires
- Fit transponder (AMB TranX 260 Direct Powered Transponder )
The Standard car
The Eunos roadster was the Japanese model of the MX5 sold in Europe and the Miata sold in the United States. It was conceived as a small light weight roadster with minimal mechanical complexity and is conceptually an evolution of the small British and Italian sports roadsters of the 1960s, particularly the Lotus Elan.
Production: 1989-1997
Length: 3.95m
Wheelbase 2.265m
Width: 1.675m
Height: 1.23m
Weight: 940kg
Body: Steel with aluminium bonnet
Suspension: Independent Double Wishbone, ant-roll bars front and rear
Brakes: Disc brakes front and back
Engine: 1.6L, 115 BHP
Driveline: 5 Speed Gearbox, viscous limited slip differential
0-60mph: 8.1 seconds as news
Top Speed: 126 MPH de-restricted
Production: 1989-1997
Length: 3.95m
Wheelbase 2.265m
Width: 1.675m
Height: 1.23m
Weight: 940kg
Body: Steel with aluminium bonnet
Suspension: Independent Double Wishbone, ant-roll bars front and rear
Brakes: Disc brakes front and back
Engine: 1.6L, 115 BHP
Driveline: 5 Speed Gearbox, viscous limited slip differential
0-60mph: 8.1 seconds as news
Top Speed: 126 MPH de-restricted
Buyers Guide
One thing to remember when buying a car is that the MX5 has
a strong following with an active owns club and other online forums which are
invaluable source of information. This also means that there is a strong market
for second hand parts. This means that you could get some cash back from items
you remove from the car. Items like the seats (£50-100) and the roof (£50-£100
for a rag top and £300 -£400 for a hard top).
There are a few areas to be weary of when buying your MX5:
Body This is where we need to mention the biggest MX5 killer… RUST!!! The rear sill sections are the most likely place to be affected by rust but also look aout for the rear arches and the chassis rails near the front sub frame mounting. Remember even though you will be looking for an imported car a lot of these will be in the UK for a long time.
Mechanical The MX5 is known for having simple and relatively bullet proof mechanicals, but there are some areas that will need attention.
The first of these is the clutch. The clutch slave cylinder is known to fail causing the clutch pedal to sink to the floor. The clutch release bearing and spigot bearing can also start to whine and will need the gearbox to be removed to replace them.
The next are the brakes, callipers are known to seize on and the rear brakes are known to be not great with poor handbrake performance often leading to MOT failures
There are a few areas to be weary of when buying your MX5:
Body This is where we need to mention the biggest MX5 killer… RUST!!! The rear sill sections are the most likely place to be affected by rust but also look aout for the rear arches and the chassis rails near the front sub frame mounting. Remember even though you will be looking for an imported car a lot of these will be in the UK for a long time.
Mechanical The MX5 is known for having simple and relatively bullet proof mechanicals, but there are some areas that will need attention.
The first of these is the clutch. The clutch slave cylinder is known to fail causing the clutch pedal to sink to the floor. The clutch release bearing and spigot bearing can also start to whine and will need the gearbox to be removed to replace them.
The next are the brakes, callipers are known to seize on and the rear brakes are known to be not great with poor handbrake performance often leading to MOT failures