Hi guys!

I have been thinking about getting a Miata for about 6 months and finally picked myself up a 2.0 Litre NC with sports trim and an electric hardtop:

I am really enjoying it and I've had the roof down whenever I know it won't rain. I even had it down going to work this morning, when it was particularly frosty (I do hope using the electric roof in the cold isn't too bad for it). It was a very enjoyable commute. I will need to ask Santa for some leather gloves though!

For some context, I'm 22 and this is my second car, after passing my Renault Cio 1.2 Turbo to my older sister.

I have only been driving 2 years, but I thought I would treat myself to a car built for smiles. So far, it's done the trick! 

great car, love the black especially when properly clean.

Dare we ask insurance costs...

Originally Posted by: Roadie

Originally Posted by: BRUCE225

Please do not read my previous post

He's still on the mega high of his first 5. Don't bring the poor lad back down to earth just yet.

OK I 'll ask next week, when's he's fed up that it's rained none stop for a week with no chance of hood down

Only got mine end of September, kept monitoring prices and nothing seemed to be changing, think you just need to jump in when you see something you like and it's the price your happy to pay,which I guess you did...I watched tons and lost out due to over thinking things price/time of year etc ...Insurance wise seems good was expecting more and at least the black box matches your car....

Enjoy

Originally Posted by: Jonathan Fowler

Thanks guys.
I'm away to drive home now, so I'll move the air blowers and see if it makes a difference.
Haha, yeah insurance isn't ideal for a 22 y/o male, but to be fair I don't think it's much more than my Clio was.
I'm using a blackbox-like plugin with my insurance policy and I'm sitting around £550 p.a. I reckon it's worth it, and it should go down if I drive well enough.

Yeah, I know the weather isn't going to be too good at this time of year. I wanted to buy it around this time as I hoped prices would be lower near winter. I don't know if it made a difference or not, but I'm very happy I got it when I did and I'm looking forward to seeing some sun again in 2019.

That's a fair price for insurance

Welcome and enjoy.

You can drive them top down in the rain, just keep your speed up to around 40 mph or you'll start getting wet not good either when those traffic lights turn red. I guess you have the best of both worlds, flick the switch and the top's closed.

My thoughts were the same as Mac5 regarding getting used to driving RWD. However knowing the black box is monitoring your every move will probably keep the right foot in check enough.

Going to be cheeky here. When I looked at the pictures of your car I thought the one thing it needed was to swap out the orange side repeaters for clear ones with orange bulbs. Then I realised, they are colour coded to your hair. Most of us swap to the clear / silver look for the same reason.

Originally Posted by: Roadie

My thoughts were the same as Mac5 regarding getting used to driving RWD. However knowing the black box is monitoring your every move will probably keep the right foot in check enough.

Going to be cheeky here. When I looked at the pictures of your car I thought the one thing it needed was to swap out the orange side repeaters for clear ones with orange bulbs. Then I realised, they are colour coded to your hair. Most of us swap to the clear / silver look for the same reason.

I've never been a boy racer, so I can't say I have much experience with understeer or oversteer. I was actually thinking about getting some sort of course for driving in icy/wet conditions, which might give me a better idea of how the car acts when it loses grip. I'm not sure if it's quite the same as getting a course for understeer/oversteer though.

As for the repeaters, you're right! they do match my hair . It had occurred to me earlier that the colour didn't do the car any favours though, so if they're easily changed, I will look into doing that.

Originally Posted by: Mac5

Hi Jonathan and welcome on board. 

Not wishing to sound patronising, but at your age you've probably grown up used to understeering front-wheel drive cars.

To be fair, thats probably the case for anyone aged under 55. So that's most of us. The main difference in the last 20 years is the general availability of cars with ABS and TC.

I started driving MX5s over 20 years ago, in my late 20s, and had never driven a RWD before, unless you count a 5.0 Cougar. Didn't need to go on a RWD driving course then, or now. The NC has its own set of driving aids to dull the disruptive effects of RWD. But what do I know, for 20 years I have stuck to a car that has no ABS, nor TC. I know it has a spike (aka steering column) in the middle of the steering wheel to make up for lack of airbag. All these people with their fancy driving aids don't know what they are missing.

Edited by user 05 December 2018 14:08:13(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Originally Posted by: Raymond Harper

https://www.facebook.com/ant.brown.98/videos/10218182389341342/

 

ABS and traction control are good but they will not always save you as this MX found out. Take care in the wet.

My NC felt like it was going to do that all the time (flickering DSC light) until I got rid of the OEM Potenzas and put new tyres on it!! 

But then I grew up with RWD cars, often knacked but sometimes very fruity, so I'm quite used to handling them on anything including sheet ice.