2019 Mazda MX-5 30th Anniversary Review - The Perfect Summer Car? (Porsche Boxster Alternative no.2) 

Im with you. Im much much younger i love the town cars but unfortunately for me years to come those will become extinct. Id love to own an mx-5 and maybe only mx-5. Only driven a 99 in florida and fell in love with it.

That's inspirational! I get my 1st (orange one like this) MX-5 ND either Fri this week or the following Monday and I cannot wait!

corinthian. I have watched loads of these reviews and nobody has mentioned if oncoming headlights are a problem at night because the car is so low down. What do you think?

@@stevenhill6214 Hi Steve, I do indeed now have the MX-5 but have not driven it yet (it's car #3). I expect that to be an issue TBH as it's a little that way in my MK7.5 Fiesta ST so as the MX-5 is lower down I assume that issue will impact more. Once I get out in it (in the dark) I will let you know. Should be an ever decreasing issue for the next 6 months or so though. 😀

@@karllelliott681 Thanks for that Karl. TBH i'm still going to get one even if it is a problem, Just have to sell a couple of my bikes first. And i'm not at all envious of your new car...no not at all....definitely not...😉

The horsepower number doesn't start with a 2, 3, 4, or 5, so everyone ignores it. It's crazy getting nearly 30mpg while absolutely flogging it.

@@opmike343 and its a better car for not having huge horsepower too!

Mazda is underrated. So glad the MX-5 is here to stay

@@freddieparrydrums but will probably go electric and gain like 600kg at least

@@onelyone6976 Unfortunately, you're probably correct, definitely correct if they don't discontinue it which I'm sure they won't. Will loose the fun of an MX-5

@@freddieparrydrums yup, a 1700kg mx-5 is not an mx-5 anymore, at that point it's just an overweight 2 seater with dare I say it, a sh*t drivetrain

Wow. So impressive. They won because much faster cars retired and had crashes. Honda are beating all the planet in F1 NOW and everyone ignore that. Mazda Toyota Nissan and anything coming from Japan are a joke compared with Honda in Motorsport

flukey5 Thats correct, you can get the Ohlins DFV coilovers that James has on his S2000. There's an American tuning shop which have a special set of Ohlins that offer long travel suspension - ideal for bumpy British roads

Driven a BBR and totally loved it I must admit. Can only imagine how much better that would be with some Ohlins

@@vr6Hero Nice. Hope BBR develop ITBs for the ND, like they did with the NC for their 'Super 225' package. Sounds great for a 4 cylinder.

In numbers yes it would "match" a modern S2000. Stock for stock, the ND2 is superior in every aspect to the S2000. Mx5 owners always upgrade the suspension and chassis, and even MazdaSpeed offers extra parts for these such spots. But the body roll isn't a negative as many might think as the absolute lack of lean and roll in a S2000 is a huge drawback and many track goers have to soften the Honda suspension.

If you are going to use it as a daily drive (I do) the standard suspension is best. More body roll but comfortably ride and excellent grip. I tried both factory options before buying.

Love the MX -5 but at £30k new it would certainly 'busy' my bank account. You can buy a heck of a lot of used car for that kind of money too. We looked at one as a second car for my partner but due to cost opted for a cooper S convertible instead which is still a whole lot of fun.

Agree with the guy above, 30k is crazy money for what you get. Kitted out no better than a new fiesta.

@@samthoma2719 I disagree. But I do think these are much better buying one used

@@freddieparrydrums well that’s the case for almost every car on sale.

Agree

I’ve had both, Roderick, and whilst the MX5 isn’t a bad car per se, I don’t think the MX5 is even playing in the same league as a Boxster (except maybe the early 2.5s) and I wouldn’t see them as rivals any more than I’d say a Focus ST is a rival for an RS3...

Kinda forgot the one aspect I hate of the 986 - the steering feel. Takes some effort almost like a car from the 70s without power steering, and the steering wheel travel is almost more than double that of the MX5. I really hate that about our 986 where I love that I can flick the wheel of both my MX5s with two or three fingers and perform turns of significant angle without rowing the wheel.

@@EjinRenos Indeed, the steering is far more direct on the MX5. Parking in the Porsche takes a bit of getting used to after the MX5 ;-)

@@neilturner6749 Of course, the Porsche does many things much better and more refined, but as I said that's true the other way round as well. In addition I must say, the MX5 is easier to handle at the limits of grip and speaks more to you, whereas the Boxster has loads of grip and suddenly it doesn't. Though this can also be attributed to front and mid engine configuration differences. Sadly I can't comment on the ST and RS3.

Yeah sold my boxster and kept my mx5 and supercharged it, the boxster was a better car but the mx5 a better sportscar, and cheap to repair....

If someone doesn't care what other people think and just wants to have fun down a B road, I'd say that sound is the only good reason to pick another sports car over an MX-5. I've got a 981 Cayman S and the sound is unbelievable and there are loads of other advantages over an MX-5. Looks, practicality and cost- my car has appreciated more in value than every penny I've spent on it so far. All the thumbs up and people yelling "nice car" never gets old either. However, for pure fun down a country road an MX-5 is absolutely as good- mainly since you can actually push it. Would I swap? No, but I certainly don't look at MX-5s as the cheap alternative, they're just an alternative. I'd certainly pick an MX-5 over any 718 too.

@@ApothecaryTerry Other than brakes my '16 ND is bone stock. If you get under the car you will see a very sophisticated car, all aluminum front suspension, five link rear suspension, full adjustability, extensive use of aluminum components. B roads, country two lanes here in New Hampshire, are where the MX-5 shines. Slow car driven fast-ish is a lot of fun, actually stirring the gears myself, doing my own rev matching, these things matter to me. There are cars that will do it for you, paddle shift cars etc, I have no interest in them. Just me, a small and light car that is well balanced, and a twisty road, that's all I want.

@@3ducs Totally agree. I have the PDK because it's convenient as a daily driver and in a higher performance car using those to shift is pretty much as fun since there's less time for things like rev matching, but that's kind of the point- the car is so fast that there's not a lot of headroom to just have fun. I'm not knocking the 981CS of course, I wouldn't swap! Still, I don't feel like there's ever any reason to knock an MX-5 either, they're everything a sports car needs to be ☺

@@ApothecaryTerry I would love a Cayman S one day. Sadly most for sale in my price range in New Zealand are tiptronics. I've driven a couple of tiptronic Porsches and they just don't do it for me. The PDK would but well out of my price range at the moment.

@@kinghock Ah unlucky, yeah I'd take an MX-5 over a tiptronic porker without question. I got my 981CS partly because the depreciation is ridiculous (currently negative here!) but it's still a big outlay to get the car sadly. Even if you get a PDK you've got to watch out for the stupid button controls, has to have paddles to be worth it I think.

Love your channel man!

Yeah on the standard springs it is a very nice ride. I have the same eibach lowering springs on mine which significantly reduce the body roll but also leave you with a lot more "feedback" from the road and on our poorer UK roads it can feel pretty jittery as a result of the added stiffness from the eibachs

This is on the standard Bilsteins. It's the springs that were changed.

I think the standard setup is well judged for our bumpy roads. Only if you are tracking one would I lower it.

It may be dependant on the alignment too, I've put the eibachs on my ND and had it aligned with about -1.5' (I think) camber on the front and as much caster as possible and 0 toe, makes it quite pointy, great in the corners but because of that it is more jittery.

I love how they look but hate those small turbo engines. I used to have a 1.4 TBi Gilletta and hated how it drove

@@chrisogrady28 I own an Abarth 124 and loves it. Engine is great on this light car especialy considering its relatively higher torque compares to the mx5 naturaly aspirated engine. Its outshines especialy on technical tracks.

@@nivgalanti5913 not sure what the engine is like in it but in my guilietta the turbo lag was horrendous. It just didn't respond to throttle inputs, it felt like someone else was driving the car, and when it did hit the front wheels just span, terrible car.

Rare as hen's teeth in NZ, what's worse, most I've seen are the automatic which just seems a waste on a little Italian sports car.

Love this! Great choice pal! How is the NC autobox out of interest? I've got a manual NC2 myself, absolutely adore it. I've not heard anyone comment on how good the auto box actually is as an auto (instead of comparing to manual). Happy motoring pal!

@@petrolpoodle6617 hi I am happy with the box once it’s warm it changes very smoothly it’s a bit lumpy in the colder weather my cars got 34.000 so low miles. When warm the changes are pretty quick not modern quick but good enough. The buttons on the wheel could be better configured top buttons are down the nice metal paddles behind the wheel are up but it’s the same for both side it would be nice if the larger paddles were one side up and the other paddle down if that makes sense. People call the auto box oh the mx5 it should never be fitted with one but for my needs it’s great but I bet the nay sayers have never tried one. it’s 6 speed and when your going down a country lane I bet I could keep up with the manual. Driving through the towns and through the speed camera infested roads it tootles along and makes lite work of driving. Without the auto box I would never be able to enjoy the mx5 like. My plans always been to try a few convertibles I have had a slk 2.3 the boxster and after the mx5 the plan was a Audi TT then perhaps another slk but the 3.5 but my plan might have changed I like the mx5 so much I can’t see me swapping for another.

@@arightpest3367 amazing mate! In fact, I've done a review on exactly an Audi TT vs our NC2 MX-5, have a little look on my channel! I don't want to lead the witness so I won't say anymore!

@@petrolpoodle6617 strange this RU-vid thingy I have watch your videos before and I don’t blame you completely for stopping me from buying a TT there is a list of reasons that put me off. I fancied the 3.2 thinking it was a true v6 having owned a Audi 2.8 a6 Quattro in the past and loved that engine and four wheel drive. I also had not so long ago a Audi Q3 Quattro tdi with the Aldex fraud wheel drive system and was never really that impressed with it and to discover the TT uses the same stuff this was the final nail in the coffin. I agree Audi do brilliant interiors and the Q3 was really nice inside but I had it for three years and in the end it was boring it did everything you asked of it but soulless and when you come down to it the Q3 is a TT on stilts. Early Audi’s were fun but have become to corporate and part bin specials.

Do you mean 4,500# sports car? I don't think so.

To be fair, all of the cars you mentioned are great in different ways. You can't really go wrong with whichever one you go for!

Dunno if I would prefer it over a 718... but I prefer it over our 986 S. I even preferred my 2008 NC over the 2002 Porsche.

I had to wait 20 years. Now have a sports black coupe mk 3.75

At least he didn't have to bother with the cambelt....

@@Matt-go7ss True, at 45k a cambelt is almost new😋