MadaboutKitcars

Aerodynamics can be effective at sub 50mph - but it's pointless putting a tea tray on the boot in isolation - it may even make the car more unstable, for example if the inherent design has the nose lifting with speed?

country roads. may need front splitter too. its nice to have options. eventually when i get my car back. i can get used to driving it again. ive had one rear drive car in the past. have you driven a drag strip car. sounds fun. i was looking to get a mid engined car but heard they're easy to spin 360 cos of the weight being central . i dont race just have fun responsibly everyone has a different reason to take on a project and mine is to expereince a different handling car then my mundane commuter car and for it to be better looking than a box on wheels

everyone has a different reason to take on a project and mine is to expereince a different handling car then my mundane commuter car and for it to be better looking than a box on wheels

Same here! Plus I love the shape of the 50's sports cars

My first car was a classic mini and have allways liked the curvy styling of 50's . But i cant afford v8,v12 fuel costs so 1.6/8 is more what i like, its not bout racing just nice to know if you put ya foot down you'll get a woosh of speed in the right gear.

having recently drivan an mx5 for the first time i can tell you they are pretty nippy cars and a 1.6/1.8 is good enugh . they are grate fun tio drive and an excelant base for a kit car.

hopefully chris reads this on satdy. so was thinking maybe should put hi profile tyres on my 15's so you have wheels all round at the size of the original or at least a high profile like the ones you showed me at the visit. eg 15 with a 60% wall size. think wikipedia has the right size. then can have them changed over when the builds finished that way the ride height will be same both sides if could find out how much to have them done and I can transfer the funds. also was gonna ask would a 17 inch with an et45 fit maybe with a spacer. found some rota rb's. 17/7.5/et45 4x100

I think the car needs some full profile tyres and wheels, some 15" 5.5 wires or steels with spinners of course, not these new fangled 16" with Ultra low profile (that seem to need replacing after the first pot hole.

Can't help but think a 2+2 like the Mk4 Astra convertible would have been a good base car for this project as it has the rear windows already fitted.

yeh maybe. but we culd all do the 'why don't you use a such n such car' debat all day long. it was bad enugh with the rear window thing on here. I say let chris do it his way , how he sees it and how he wants it. the mx5 is his car of choice for lots of obvius reasons so there you have it. he is the man making the kit and taking a gamble with his time and money so if anyone on this forum thinks they can do it better or has better ideas then I am sure no one will objet to them having a go.

I agree with your sentiment Shadow , just not quite how you have put it across !
I think debate on styling etc is healthy . It keeps forums like this interesting. And the fact that people take the time to think about a project like this is flattering to the creator , I am sure.
I do agree that if you constantly catered for every different idea , then the kit would never be viable or profitable - which is the main factor here.
Obviously , the customer has a say in his build but I would think that design decisions would be a joint situation in that case . A combination of style and viability.

The car is looking great by the way and I can picture both traditional ands concept styles of build working equally as well.

I no I can be a bit blunt sometimes but that's me. I just think that pretty much everyone on hear will agree that if they were involved in any kind of projhect or work practise and people kept calling in or messaging them or whateva about them changing there project that they were heavilly involved with whateva you do , a window fitter , builder , mechanic , accountent etc. you would get the hump. I notice that chris stays very quiet during most of these debaits and I wonder if that is becaus he is biting his lip sometimes.
just saying.

Hi Shad! I would'nt say you were blunt! You go for it mate!

I think Chris keeps quiet 'cos he's too busy working his a**se off!!

heres. the thing. keep watching and you might like what you see . if I could find the right gearbox to change the high gear affect of high profile tyres I would. any ideas as to what would fit on the mx5 to allow for the larger radius. mazda mx6 has 15inch wheels with high profile tyres. not sure if can put it on an mx5 as is front wheel drive. but hanging it off the engine will need some work. just ideas. not a mechanic or engine builder. hint, hint.

The mx5 was available with a couple of different gearboxes and as many as 4 different diff ratios.
You should by able to find a combination to suit your tyre sizes and your preferred overall gear ratio s.

I suggested the Astra not as a criticism but because I have one sat in the drive and keep thinking "what could that be turned into?"

Iron oxide?

Cruel

Zagmad



If you kept the same rolling diameter, ( larger wheels, lower profile tyres)
the wheel arches would be full, and there would be no need to change gearbox / ratios etc.

Why are you so keen to keep high profile tyres?

I have the same PCD on my SS1s (but the offset of the MX5 wheels mean spacers are required) - I have a set of BMW MINI steels (FWD but I planned on banding them for the SS1) which may work very well on the MX5?

I have an MX5 in the workshop, might drop a MINI steel on and see what it looks like today?

Can I check what everyone hang up is with keeping the wheel size and gear box in ratio is?

Do you really rely on the speedo that much to judge you behavior when driving?

I guess there may be something in the mot but am am not certain as my local station doesn't appear to have a rolling road to test speed against speedo.

Surely you drive about the same speed as the rest of the traffic when in traffic and as fast as you fell happy doing elsewhere?

With a relatively feeble mx5 engine the impact of overgearing will take the edge off the performance, particularly in the range up to 60 mph where we mostly drive. Less of a problem with, for example, a Z3.

layball: yep thats true as they have wheels up to 19's on. with profile tyres. whiich are the same diameter as say a set of 15's with a 60 profile like the original car it is being made in the style of in eg 50's/60's. plus the arches are quite big and the high profile tyres fill them well as does a set of 17's with a reasonable size profile. big wheels, low profile tyres and hard suspension equals broken wheels.

does anyone have preference on what tailights they are going to use. led or traditional.

All valid points and opinions people.

From personal experience I was running 225/50/16 tyres on the back of my convertible and never noticed a difference in performance over the stock sized wheels. I know Seanick is running some pretty tall rear rubber, but he does have a few engine "tweaks".

If you are looking for an extreme wheel set up to compare any choices to then check this out, and no I haven't retouched these pictures:





Love it

I don't think that the rolling radius is that vital, you can have your speedo recalibrated if needed (and yes, it must "be fitted and work" (not calibrated) for an MOT) - the look is much more important IMO?

The pic above is a perfect example - it's a totally different look to the original MX5 and a totally different look again to the original 250 - which probably would have been 80 or 82 profile on 15" or 16" rims (depending on year) - it's all about the rubber to wheel ratio