| Joined: | Sun Apr 22nd, 2012 |
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| Posts: | 261 |
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I got rid of mine 18 months ago and bought an MX 5 (Miata) Personally I think the MX 5 is a better car.
Did the cooling mod on mine, induction kit. Is faster than a cooper S & out-handles it, especially on winding country roads. Not bad for a 99 normally aspirated 1.8 with 140,000 on the clock, vs a blown cooper. AND....a lot less maintenance hassles. There is nothing on the MX 5 I couldn't tackle myself. Joy to drive joy to work on. Perfect 50-50 weight balance (for which they are famed) no torque steer obviously, nice and low to the ground and with perfect steering feedback.
I put a hand built sports exhaust on, and threw the CAT away, replaced with a bypass pipe, 'F' to emissions regs this how we do things in England.....the exhaust and induction side sound just perfect on full throttle. Mods that give gains but don't cost an arm & a leg.
Looking back I wish I had got an MX 5 instead of the Cooper. Wouldn't sell mine for anything. Next best thing to an Elan, but with the reliability.
She's getting on a bit now though, it's coming time for an engine strip, top end job and new rings. Oil gets a bit black sooner than normal these days.
Best mass produced lightweight sports car, IMO.
Heres mine:
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Last edited on Mon Dec 3rd, 2012 17:15 by steve of oxford