Future thoughts
Been thinking about the Roadster's future recently. Don't worry, I'm not selling it yet, but I have been re-thinking some of the plans I have for it.
It's been prompted by the rather large bill I got for the servicing work above, ongoing general costs, and working out the costs of all the "plans" I have for the car to turn it into the "perfect" MX-5 in my head.
Firstly, the bill was quite big. Three quarters of my monthly after-tax salary. In some respects that doesn't sound a lot, but putting it another way, I already spend probably two-thirds of my after-tax salary on rent, council tax, bills, car insurance (for two cars), car tax (for two cars) food, fuel, and general sundries etc. Major service bills won't come around every day, and I still hope to sell the Honda at some point to stop paying for a couple of vehicles, but that still means I've effectively eaten up maybe three months' worth of "savings" in one service.
Of course, I could have done some of the jobs myself, but essentially that's a non-starter for me - I'm not mechanically inept, but I do have a busy job, one which occasionally leaves me with little free time, and my car is my daily driver, so it can't spend large amounts of time off the road.
Then there's the "plans" aspect. When I had my last MX-5, I had a load of thoughts in mind of how I wanted it to look and drive. Of course, I didn't get to realise any of those ideas, due to it getting stolen, but I saw this car as a way to finish unfinished business.
The trouble, once again, is cost. And possibly a degree of impatience. I've just totted up a very rough list of all the things I'd quite like to do to the car - things like wheels, small body mods, chassis bracing, coilovers, engine tweaks, seats, exhaust etc - and it's come to about £6k -
before labour costs. When I pare that list down to absolute essentials, things that will improve the way the car drives without making it any faster or making it look any better, the cost is still about £1300.
Some people will wonder what the big deal is about the first figure, if it's spread across months or years. Others will wonder even more so what the big deal is about the second figure, and some wouldn't even think twice about spending that in one go. The wheels I'm considering (non-essential, contributing to the cost of the first list) are about £1300 on their own.
But again, it actually is kind of a big deal. I get to do some cool stuff in my job but the pay isn't that great, so I have to think very carefully about the worth of things like this. My impatience means I'd want to do lots of things at once, see some progress, and that makes things expensive. If I bought some coilovers now and some wheels in twelve months, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But really, you want to do both of those things at the same time.
The cars I drive as part of my job play a factor too. I'm fully aware that the value of modifying is intangible. If I add £6k of mods to a £3k car it doesn't make it a £9k car, it makes it a £3k one with £6k of mods. The issue is driving that £9k car and it would undoubtedly be excellent - only to be made to look deficient in one or more areas by some of the stuff I get to drive at work. At the moment, my MX-5 not being as dynamically capable as something new doesn't bother me - it's a cheap car, it's old, it's a bit wobbly, but it's fun.
But £6k+ down the line (and the + is inevitable, as anyone who modifies cars will know), still having a car that isn't as adept as newer cars may start to wear thin. Doubly so when I don't really use the Mazda that often, since I can take those other cars home.
I think it's dependant on what I want from a car. Light weight and garrulous controls are a must - lack of inertia and plenty of feedback still make for a better driving experience, for me, than lots of power and grip. The MX-5 does this well, but I've driven enough cars to know some do it better. An extreme example was
the Morgan earlier this year; for a few days afterwards the Mazda felt slow, quiet, and all the controls felt like they were fed through a layer of cotton wool.
I've not driven an Elise yet but... they're on my mind quite a bit at the moment. Power nothing. Lighter weight. Stiffer chassis. It's basically everything that Mazda should be, and a lot of what it could be after spending a fortune upgrading the MX-5... though when it comes to things like steering feel, general consensus seems to be that the Mazda will never quite get to Elise levels. Loti aren't cheap at the mo, but they're still vaguely within reach; certainly more so if both Honda and Mazda, and their compounded costs, go.
Or do I simply forget about modifying, and settle for what I have? I do after all have a fairly original special edition model; it would be cheaper for me to find those last few pieces to make it completely original, add a few more (like decent seats and some chassis bracing) for good measure, and enjoy it as-is? The risk here is, perhaps, getting a bit bored of it eventually, though at least if it's original, it should be easy enough to sell.
TL;DR - I have a short attention span and not much money; should I modify the Mazda at painful expense, keep it standard and maybe get bored of it, or do some man-maths, sell everything and buy a Lotus Elise?
