Very good point, John, thank you. I've pinned it for the world to see!

Yes, one thing to consider is do not use such a suspension on a road with many tar snakes. It could send you off course quite fast.

100%, seen a few rotten NC’s now, and the newest are almost 8 years old now, so only a matter of time before they need attention too

@@Dan_Cartlidgetrue, I bought a 2014 NC 2 Miata Club and the underbody’s all rusted out. I’ll have to replace the front/real struts, went to this video because I was considering coil-overs but I’ll stick with OEM parts just to play it safe.

Laughs in Californian. Never seen rust in my life

I have coil overs and a a sports exhaust on my 2007 NC and after a 450km run I was still in good shape and I am over 50. I was expecting to be stiff and sore but no all good!

That is amazing, really glad to hear pal! And yeah I feel like we have the last laugh don't we!

Hey Chris! Sorry for the late reply! Your comment genuinely made my day at the time I read it, a proper boost I needed that day! Thanks so much. I'm going to do my 2.5 year update very soon, so yes, another video coming!

What an incredible first car!!! Enjoy, my friend!

Hahaha thanks, James, much appreciated. It really does change the car drastically!

They're just brilliant aren't they, the irony that for so long they've had the reputation as 'the worst, fat MX-5' is just hilarious once you've actually driven one. I can understand where the accusation would come from if you haven't driven one but they drive so, so well!

Thanks very much mate!

Thanks for the tips and sorry for the late reply pal!

Thanks so much, Gary, I really appreciate it! And yeah I did forget to mention that in the review, it was an absolute ballache getting over speedbumps, you'd have to go one wheel up at a time and wait for traffic in the other direction to clear as it often required going on the wrong side of the road haha! Amazing handling difference though. I filmed this back in March and have decided (for my car and where I live) to keep stock suspension. I maaay stiffen up the rollbars one day but I think it's very well judged out of the box to be fair.

They have coilovers from the factory. Sure it's a bit pedantic but accurate too. What we are talking about is introducing adjustable Coilovers to add to the already multi adjustable suspension, I'm on Ohlin R&T DFV's. Remember every height adjustment made will need a full 4 wheel gel set up so not as simple as raising/ lowering to suit any given situation. Also, wheel spacers? Never move the offset more than 15mm or you might find some strange handling, including tramlining & sudden breakaway as demonstrated at what seemed to be rather moderate speed.

Hey Jason, Sorry for the slow reply, I accidentally missed this one! I really appreciate it, thanks for watching more than one! Did you get the NC in the end? If so, how's it been for you?

@@petrolpoodle6617 No worries, no doubt you are a busy man. Bought a 2 litre sport in blue and have already completed the seat lowering, which has made a huge difference. I've also changed the brakes and some broken interior parts. I love it I had a first generation many years ago but it was literally ran over by a transit van! Looking forward to future videos. 👍

@@jasonobee8065 Brilliant mate! That's awesome! If you haven't already, getting a specialist to do a fast road alignment will transform the car and not even count as a modification, easiest win ever! Glad you're loving it and thanks for subbing and coming along pal!

are there any guides anywhere on these rx8 roll bars?

@@C22RLD what do you mean by guides? The RX8 ARB's are a direct replacement for the MX5 ones, they fit with no modifications required, just take off the MX5 ones and put the RX8 ones in their place

Thanks very much pal, and oh believe me, the microphone doesn't do it justice - it's reaaally loud haha! I'm in agreement though that the exhaust is the way to go first. The stock suspension (where I live) is actually perfectly suited to the speed bumps and general potholes etc!

Thank you so much!

Definitely! I'm very tempted by the adjustable swaybars myself, feels like the best first move for suspension without compromising comfort (the roads around me are absolute crap!)

2015 PRHT (Silver with black interior): 1). Changed manual transmission fluid to Ford Synthetic. 2). R/R front brakes with drilled and slotted rotors. 3). Since I felt that my baby drove like a Buick, I beefed up the sway bars and coils (Not willing to go in for coil-overs3!) 4). Knurled shifter knob and emergency brake handle. You don’t want to see the two body “modifications” on the right side that I did ALL by myself! I am SO proud of my handiwork!😂

It's transformative isn't it! It's hard to convey!

It is simply remarkable what a difference it makes!

That sounds delicious!

Thanks, Garry! I would say that you definitely want to invest in an exhaust that lets you enjoy it on any journey and not feel fed up with drone. But certainly one that ramps up the excitement factor too!

@@petrolpoodle6617 thanks for replying! Since my previous comment I have also decided to invest in installing ITBs. Paired with a decent exhaust will sound incredible!

@@gazza2004 that'll be absolutely nuts!!! You'll love it!!!

Thank you so much Greg, I'm really glad it's been helpful! I think you've hit the nail on the head with what to do, especially given the low cost of doing ARBs and the fact that they don't compromise comfort or noise either. It sounds like you'll have the ideal MX-5 in no time!

I'm desperate to do mine! I always look for the RX8 ones on ebay but they just don't exist each time I search. Any pointers on your favourite ones?

I did sways and hD coils in my 2015 PRHT

Tremendous difference! No longer drives like my mother’s Buick!

Hey bud! Thank you so much for your supportive words, so glad you're enjoying the videos! Funnily enough, I'm going to film my 2.5 year update on my MX-5 very, very soon and I'm going to a local MX-5 specialist to make a full buying guide on what to look for :) I deliberately wanted to stay away from being a KZfaqr who just does their car over and over again, I wanted to keep the content varied - but it's definitely time to bring the MX-5 back! I've got a few more ideas too. Thank you again and I'm glad you've seen the NC light, they're bloody brilliant fun! Have you got the M2 Comp still?

@@petrolpoodle6617 I’ll definitely be watching that! To be fair you probably do right switching it up a little bit and appealing to a broader audience. The M2 has gone, first a DCT and then a manual Comp (future classic I hear). I’ve come from a world of fast bikes and the M2 just didn’t set the world on fire like I thought it would, the manual was better though. In all honesty my old fiesta st was more fun in the real world. It’s looking like I’ll throw some mods at the mx5 and make it the best it can be i.e. manifold/remap, coilovers, geo etc.

​@@Throttle.Monkey Mate that's awesome though, what a collection of motors you've had! And absolutely, if you haven't bought an MX-5 yet, look on eBay for BBR examples of join the NC Owner's club on Facebook and mention you're looking for an MX-5 with some light BBR work. People come out of the woodwork and you'll get a car at a great price with all the best stuff done already! They're incredible platforms, truly special when a little bit of work goes into them :)

Thanks so much, Quimister, I think that's the way forward! Was the backbox very much? I'm guessing £450-550?

@@petrolpoodle6617 was 595 with vat included so pretty pricey. But I rate it. Best choice I've made for the car so far.

My advice is if it's your first car and you love it, don't worry too much about modding it very far and losing that money - they're epic stock and given that it's your first car you'll likely buy your second sooner than you think anyway! Enjoy it!

Sounds like you've got a right setup there! I'd say it's worth saving the money up and getting a BBR backbox or something popular with the owners that doesn't drone at motorway speeds. Having heard what it can sound like, I know it needs a little more pep now. Mine is now my weekender so I'm all the more tempted!

@@petrolpoodle6617 Previously I've owned two Subaru WRX[s] with turboback exhaust[SPT & Perrin], tuning[COBB], and mild suspension Whiteline mods. I will always love the thunderous sound of unequal lengths headers becoming alive around 2750rpm. This time around I am focusing on lightness and agility. If I ever change the NC2's exhaust, it must be for one that is lighter, and improves exhaust gasses flow. I can't find a BBR backbox for the NC2 at this time, but I'll continue to look for the lightest, best flowing one I can find. I really want a good exhaust note, that is not overly loud. The PRHT MX-5's cockpit is so tiny, any sound is hugely amplified. I loved my WRX, but I adore my MX-5. Cheers to you sir, and enjoy your ride!

​@@vlenhoff I absolutely love WRXs and STIs, I grew up in the 90s with my dad having one of the first 1995 WRX's in the country and a Grey Import JDM Impreza STI Version V. It was amazing, 4.6 to 60 in 1998! He later got an 05 in 2010, so I've been a huge fan of that noise my entire life! I still yearn for that proper Subaru experience at some point, I did throw a 97 WRX around an experience day rally track and it was hilarious fun but an incredibly shagged example. How's your experience been? And it sounds like you and I are on the same page re: the MX-5 exhaust, but you know what you're talking about a bit more! If you find the dream answer, let me know! Happy motoring to you too, good sir!

That's fascinating, I'll have to give those a go, I'm really curious to see how much of a difference it makes. My car sadly can't have anything but a stock alignment after the accident last year (someone drove into my front right wheel). So I'd love to modify the handling to sharpen it back up to how it was on the fast-road setup. What do you reckon my best bet is? Front rollbar and go from there?

@@petrolpoodle6617 the front would be the best bet. The rear was a downgrade imo, which is why i swapped back to standard. There are three different stiffness ratings available ,red ,orange and yellow in that order from memory. Many guys opt for the red as i think it is the stiffest ,but i suspect it is mainly in cars without quality coilovers as the yellow ones i have firmed the car immensely. My thoughts at the time when i did this were that the reds would be too firm and start to reduce suspension compliance. The suspension is so good in these cars that tieing the two sides together too hard starts to affect it. The bridge to gantry guy that has that superquick time on the nurburging doesnt run a rear sway bar at all if i remember although im pretty sure his spring rates will be quite high.

Do you know the dimensions of the the bars ?

@@chrissikora3359 cant remember offhand ,they are quite a bit fatter than the original mx5 ones so will need the bigger bushings that they use ,maybe 6mm or so larger diameter. I went to a place where you can strip wrecked cars and grabbed the bushes as well. The bushes are fairly cheap new just have to buy the rx8 ones

Amazing mate, thanks for sharing! It's hard to describe how much of a difference those coilovers make isn't it! It really is a whole new car. I can't wait to source a new exhaust at some point, I'll investigate that one for sure!

@@petrolpoodle6617 I was skeptical about the whole lowering and coilovers, I did lowering springs on a Nova SRi (im a good bit older than you) back in the day. Hateful is the only way to describe it after it was done, hard as rock. You could go round a smooth corner faster, but you couldnt drive down a road that wasn’t race track smooth without needing dental work after. Coilovers seem like magic to me, lower and stiffer, as expected, but somehow much better on rougher roads, over pot holes etc, doesn’t seem possible. Handling transformed. BBR200 kit next.

@@johngriffiths2881 this really made me laugh! Couldn't agree more, I'm going to skip lowering springs and just save up in the future I think. I currently live on terrible roads though so I'm actually quite grateful of the standard setup at this moment thankfully. It'll come one day for sure!

I'm about to review a BBR200 funnily enough and I'm extremely excited!

@@petrolpoodle6617 BBR do great work. I think you'll be impressed with their tuning. keep up the great work man.

Oooooo that's a tough one! With the seats lowered it helps but I think you could be juuuuust too tight in there my friend. But, please do go and test drive one with the roof up and see how you get on. They're brilliant, brilliant fun and a joy to own. There are owners who are 6ft 3 (probably your height) but it depends on how much of that is their legs. And I've had a couple of friends at that height sit in the car with their heads touching the roof or juuust getting away with it after the seat drop. See how you get on ☺

Hey Nicolas, I'll ask the owner and get back to you now :)

Very true, I'm going to do an upcoming video on my most recommended mods and as mod '0' instead of mod number 1 I'm going to mention tyres as they're the first and most important thing to tick off before starting, for sure! And of course, alignment!

I think I show a screenshot of the name and price at the beginning my friend. Have a look back :). It's super loud though so if you're a regular motorway driver I'd think carefully. Otherwise it absolutely cracked me up and made the car so much fun!

I'd love to have! I have sadly parted ways with it but thank you for the invite!

Sorry for the slow reply, William - "Rear Diffuser (Single Exhaust Cutout) For Miata NC/MK3" - Carbonmiata.com

Hey Mat, From memory the owner replied to some of the earliest comments answering this. I think it was from Carbonmiata but have a look to be sure :)

It wasn't a brake bias issue thankfully, it was the fact that I didn't know it was the crest of a hill right there, so the wheels half lost contact with the road and then when the weight landed down again it caused the back to wiggle! Hahaha The car was otherwise perfectly setup, just not driven perfectly...

Suspension bias then

It makes a mega difference! I'd say if your roads near you are of decent quality (i.e no potholes, inconsistent surfaces and you don't really deal with speedbumps) I'd look at suspension only then. I've decided (given where I live) that I'm actually happy with stock suspension and it does a great job for daily duties. It's the exhaust that's gotta be upgraded!

That's a great question but sadly one I'm not *certain* of the answer. I suspect not but an MX-5 specialist would be the best place to ask!

Oooo which one did you go for and how have you found it?

@@petrolpoodle6617 9 years and it still rumbles. In a good way.

Genius!

Sorry it glitched and gave you a different reply from the comment above 😂 😂 😂 That seemed horrible! I called Ayrton and whilst he can't remember or find the name in his emails he said that they were 20mm hubcentric spacers and just worth spending a little money on. I recall he spent about £200 on them

​@@petrolpoodle6617Do you have a link for these spacers by any chance? Thanks for the great video btw.. Quickest way for me to justify spending money on my first upgrade! 😂 Gonna go with coilovers.

My one is 2009 (but the face-lift) and the white one is 2012 pre the next face lift I believe. His has aftermarket bodykit bits though

@@petrolpoodle6617 it's very nice 👍 thanks

Hey Stan, I believe that was including an entire hunter laser alignment after (which is anywhere between £80 and £150 depending on who you go to), so there's that to factor. You could do the swap yourself at home and then get it properly aligned after to bring that cost down. Amazing difference though!

@@petrolpoodle6617 Ah I see. Thanks for the reply.

@@standandeliver8376 no problem pal, sorry it took a few days!

😂 😂 😂 😂 I didn't get it until I Googled hahahaha that's amazing!

True that! My fast road setup was amazing! Alignment is the easiest win!

That's right, though I'm sure it used to have an n?

That's awesome mate! Let me know how you get on!

@@petrolpoodle6617 Just arrived home about 10 minutes ago with my new (to me) 2015 Mazda MX-5 Miata with 145k miles. It has the power retractable hard top and a manual transmission. It needs some body work, but is mechanically good. I got it for only 9000 US dollars!!!!

@@Chiimp I'm so pleased to hear!!! That's brilliant, I love that 2015 final run too! Huge congratulations and thank you for updating me, let alone minutes after getting back! Happy motoring my friend!

@@petrolpoodle6617 Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@@petrolpoodle6617 Still got it. Beauty of a car. I got about 160k miles on it now and it has some coilovers and wheels. I plan on modding it to be my little track car now that I got adult money😂. Love this car!!

Yep, it was like a smack of free heroin hahaaha!

I don't usually to be fair, I think my brain was having a hiccup whilst presenting to camera. But many thanks for the criticism anyway, hope enjoyed the rest of the video

@@petrolpoodle6617 I absolutely loved it, yes! I just want you to keep your fingers ;-)

@@jaspervos4345 thanks very much pal, glad you enjoyed it! And you're not wrong, it was some poor driving at that moment 😂

I think it was £170 for the rear exhaust muffle delete (or whatever the part was). I know the coilovers are much closer to £1000 haha

Can't debate that in the slightest 😂 it really made me laugh though! I'd definitely buy something halfway

A good question! I think they know best about finding the true balance of a super comfortable daily car that can also be enjoyed on track - true! A car that keeps retired couples happy who just want to enjoy the roof down but also car enthusiasts throwing it around. However, the car has sooo much more potential if you happen to want to dial the experience up - and it's honestly astonishing how well it drives after modifications.