DaveyR

Lovely looking car that, and beautifully clean They sound like great all round propositions those Fabia's.

Way to spoil what are some actually very nice cars underneath! I'm all for modification and personalisation, but I certainly can't say that any of those are an improvement to my eyes. Each to their own and all that though!

That's brilliant, the moment he plunges into the hole, pure awesome.

Ignorance is bliss (until it rains and you can't stop). Your average person probably equates tyres with money, rather than safety. They are also probably not aware of the implications of decreasing tread depth on performance (although surely anyone with common sense could work this out without being told!) so they figure that as long as there is rubber on the tyre they are fine and they are squeezing every last drop of money out of them.

Great machine. Want those wheels...... preferably with an Enzo bolted to them, thanks!

Wow, that cop is a legend, incredible reaction to the situation.

Oh my word, how fortunate that the wall behind the guy waving him in was so flexible otherwise he'd have been crushed!

Hadn't seen that until now. That is terrifying! And a very unusual place to have an accident at Suzuka. It looked like he was alongside another car when he began to veer off at an angle, could they have touched ever so slightly? With all the aero and mechanical grip I can't imagine the driver just lost control in a straight line of his own accord. Amazing that both survived, thank goodness.

Of course I can give you my thoughts! Firstly, whether something is too stiff is going to be quite subjective, and also depends on what base you have as a comparison. What suspension is your MX5 currently on out of interest? I have never driven an mx5 on the "standard" suspension, as I bought my car on uprated suspension, Mazdaspeed items. Springs were equivalent to Eibach's that are commonly fitted to the Bilstein yellow shocks as an upgrade and I think the dampers were slightly firmer than the Bilstein's. Just to give you an idea of my base for comparison. Yes, they are reasonably firm, however, with the dampers set on a soft setting they don't really feel firmer than my previous setup, and at the same time they offer significantly better quality and control of damping i.e. they are a lot smoother in their damping over lumps and bumps and react a lot quicker. If you are running on completely stock suspension then I would imagine they will be significantly firmer even on a soft setting though, but the trade-off is a sizeable improvement in handling and how planted the car feels, not to mention the ability of the dampers to keep the tyres in contact with the road more of the time, rather than skipping across the road over imperfections. Over really broken tarmac (the kind that should be fixed!) there is no escaping the fact that you are going to get jiggled around a bit! As you say, the best comparison for yourself would be to have a ride in a car with them fitted, and you would of course be welcome to a ride in mine should you be in the area (Chesham) some time. Anyway, I know it's a bit wordy, but I hope that is of some use!

Maybe it's a cunning ploy, drivers behind will crash whilst trying to make sense of it?!

Yep, love those wheels

Ah ok, I get where you're going I think!

I tried that when I did mine, only to find i'd sawed through the bolt next to the flange/disc that holds the link in place against the roll bar on the ball joint side, thus totally wasting my time and having to do it all again! Is there even any space to get a clean cut through the bolt with the nut flush against the ARB on one side and this flange/disc on the other?

Exactly the same experience I had when I changed the front drop-links on my MX5, absolute pain in the backside to remove! A combination of dousing in plus-gas and heat removed a couple, but one had to come off with the grinder. Hope you get it sorted without too much of a problem!

I think all of the new models look lovely to be honest, boxster, cayman, 991. I'd more than happy to own any of them!

Oh my, that is something special, so petite and beautiful. Thanks for sparing us the boredom of a "plain old '575" Tony

I quite like the look of this. Quite a lot of people on PH suggesting the last generation (997) was better looking, but I disagree, this one looks a bit more aggressive to my eyes and looks the better for it. Not short of poke either.......

That is a bargain. Regardless of the admitedly high fuel (and oil) consumption, with a recent rebuild that seems like a steal for what is a great car!

Good to see that petrol pumps have some sort of safety valve in them to prevent petrol gushing out should the line get severed......

Waz, will the picture in your sig be 3D if i put on some of those funky red and blue lensed cinema specs?

Fantastic sounding little cars the Supercharged Cooper S as you say, with the whine and the pops and bangs Miss mine a little bit to be honest I don't think you'll have any problem showing up more expensive machinery on track It's a shame there aren't similiarly priced avenues for the MK3 yet as all existing options are extortionate. Otherwise i'd have to join you on the supercharger front!

Mmmm, tasty! I've always loved the idea of a supercharged '5. Ever since I sold my Mini Cooper S i've missed the whine! 180bhp at the wheels will feel plenty fast enough in something only weighing a ton i'm sure.

Hmmmm, not really sure what to say to that................ nope, still none the wiser!

Yeah, I understand that, I might not have said it very clearly What I meant was the MX5 mk3 has two cat's, one in the manifold and one fairly soon after that is part of the mid-pipe, which this mid-pipe removes.

What is the price of them currently Joe? They look like lovely pieces of kit, very well made, and they sound great from what i've heard on various youtube clips! Personally I think i'll probably replace the manifold first as that is the most restrictive part of the exhaust system and provides the most noticeable gains. I think the exhaust would follow on from that. I'd need something with a cat in the mid-pipe though as whatever manifold (Racing Beat/Goodwin Racing maybe) went in would remove the first cat in the stock manifold. Must make a noticeable improvement to the standard exhaust tone as from inside the car all you can hear is the engine buzzing away when the roof is up!