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I should maybe rephrase it, the MX5 wasn't really soft but in humble opinion it had too much body roll and the ride height was too high. This was a 2006 MK3 NC 2.0 Sport with a low mileage. The facelifted version was slightly improved, with slightly lower suspension. I drove 7 MX5's before buying this one, I thought they were all pretty similar, with the facelifted ones being slightly better in the suspension department, but not by much. I improved my car by adding thicker anti roll bars off an RX8. I should've put decent coilovers on the car, but I hate how insurance companies fleece you. There was nothing at all up with the MX5 it was an excellent example. Just for what I was using it for and expected out of a 2 seater sports car it could've been a so much better car. Then again the cost of the MX5 makes it fairly cheap to buy to such a wide demographic of people whom may not want a firmer-lower ride, so I get why it is the way it is. The gap in the wheel arch on a standard NC MX5 is huge for a 2 seater roadster, just in my very humble opinion, it's like a 4x4...
I wasn't alone in this thought, lots of owners on the MX5 forum had changed the springs to Eibach's or replaced everything with coilovers, or uprated springs and dampers. I've driven an S2000 before and the standard suspension is way better than a standard MK3 MX5. Then again it was aimed at a different driver I guess. I thought the MX5 was a decent handling car, but I believe it could've been way better with decent quality uprated suspension. If I was in the market for another it's something I would definitely do.
You can't really compare it to this Mazda 2. It was way stiffer, but just my opinion of the MX5 made me question whether it was normal. After as mentioned above viewing other 2's I know this cars front suspension is shot.
Everybody is different what they expect from a car. I like a sports car to be more hardcore. The MX5 was a bit crashy, considering it had Bilstein dampers as standard. There was nothing at all wrong with my MX5, it was a superb example. It's just a short coming of the car for somebody like me, using at as second car, good weather toy. The price of car, the amount of choice made me pick one, most had a lot of surface rust underneath, that's the main reason I looked at so many.
I really wanted an S2000, but they were too expensive. I've also owned a Honda Integra Type R DC2. That was an amazing car, by far the best FWD car I've driven. Everything from the factory was perfect for what type of car it was. I would imagine most people would get annoyed with a car like this, it's ride etc, I loved it.
I just had a feeling that the MX5 with decent suspension would be an awesome car, as it was so direct and had such a complicated suspension setup. You could feel everything that the car was doing, it was just too crashy and leaned over too much for my liking.
Everybody to their own though. My reasoning is that I thought the MX5 was a bit soft for what it was, so expected a 2 to be even softer for what it was. This is just my reasoning comparing to Honda's. Although I used to have a Civic VTI-S MB6, the Rover shape, the suspension was poor on that for what it was. I upgraded it with Koni adjustable dampers, and Eibach springs. It's the only Honda sporty car I've had that I thought was poor in the suspension department, I've also owned an EP3 Civic Type R, good car, but no Integra.
Edited by Mr.Paws on 27/11/2020 at 13:25
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