Alloy wheels:
Inexplicably, the MX5 ships by default with hideous 14" steel wheels. So the first and most desperately needed "mod" was to get a nice set of alloys. I chose a set of 15" Mazda "Gemini" alloys (Mazda-badged TSW Blades in fact), mainly for looks, but also to allow slightly wider, lower profile tyres, more air to cool the brakes, and (am I being too sensible?!) because they looked a lot easier to clean than some of the multi-spoked designs! Geminis are also quite distinctive - even at MX5 rallys with 300 cars, you will generally only see 2 or 3 others with Geminis on.

Tyres:
You might think that tyres don't really count as a modification, but I think they're worth mentioning as a performance upgrade, so I am listing my tyres and opinions of them here in case this is useful to anyone. I have a set of 15" 195x50 tyres.

My preferred choice of tyre: Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3... Unfortunately no longer available, so I'm now on Goodyear Excellence. Read on for my comparisons...

(1) Originally the car was delivered with Yokohama A509's fitted. These were awesomely good in the dry, but pathetic, nay dangerous in the wet. It's one thing to have to be be more careful of the lower grip levels in the wet, but after 3 near crashes where the car in front braked and I simply skidded in the wet, and having to crawl around roundabouts to avoid sliding about, I decided the cost of a new set of tyres was infinitely preferable to the cost of a new bonnet, bumper, and radiator! The final decision came when a 3 inch screw embedded itself in my left rear and I decided (as it only had 2mm wear left anyway) to just replace the damn things. (In all fairness, they were fab in the dry, and newer Yokohama tyre models are allegedly a lot better in the wet. They were only about half-worn after 16,000 miles, although the wear rate increased a lot after my first track day, when I started pushing the car considerably harder into corners!)

(2) The result? I upgraded to a set of Bridgestone Potenza SO2 Pole Positions. These are awesomely grippy. They are not quite as grippy in the dry as the Yokohamas (especially on dusty roads), but in the wet I can hang out the anchors without simply locking up and sliding. They are fairly soft tyres, so didn't last nearly as long as the Yokohamas, but they wear a bit better as the tread gets lower.

However, the SO2s do have two disconcerting points relative to the Yokohamas. Firstly, they are a lot more sensitive to the road surface, and tramline a lot more easily. Secondly, the softer compound makes the rubber blocks of the tread more flexible, so the car tends to "wobble about" - turning in, the car shifts sideways a bit on the tread blocks before the grip kicks in, so the grip feels less "solid" - but once the grip is there, it's good. This problem improves a lot as the tread blocks wear lower, but it makes driving hard a bit unnerving. With the Yokes I always felt the car would go exactly where I pointed it, but I had to correct the car much more with the SO2s - they often didn't go exactly where I told them to (it's only a small difference but it feels more "floaty" to drive as a result). I also had a big problem with the car pulling left on the SO2s (not corrected even after 8 hours of 4-wheel alignments). These problems are allegedly commonly experienced with SO2s.

(3) After wearing my SO2's down to slicks at Kemble airfield, I was quite glad to see the back of them - astounding grip is not very good if the car won't go in the direction you want it to! So I replace the SO2's with some Pirelli P6000's. I'd had these on my old Celica, and liked them, so thought I'd try them again. These are a really good compromise between the Yokes and the SO2s. They give reasonable grip in both wet & dry, but the car tracks straight and feels a lot more solid on them, and when the grip goes, it goes progressively. I had a bit less confidence about the grip levels, but a lot more confidence in the feel of the car on Pirellis.

(4) Next, I decided to try the Goodyear Eagle F1 (now discontinued). These actually cost me less than the Pirellis. At last, a tyre that does what I want. These seem to have all the best properties of the other tyre makes combined - they grip like SO2's in dry, wet and/or cold conditions, yet unlike the SO2's, they track perfectly in a straight line and feel really solid (like the Pirellis and Yokes). The car goes exactly where you point it, and feels really confident. Even the road noise seems less than the Pirellis (which rumbled quite a lot on motorway cruising). The Pirellis are allegedly good for tyre wear, but the F1's seemed every bit as good. These tyres are head and shoulders above all the others I have tried.

(5) After many happy years on Eagle F1's (at least 6 sets over 9 years), Goodyear have now discontinued them. I have now got a set of Goodyear Excellence to replace them. These don't look as cool as the F1's, but they're every bit as good. A few days after they were fitted I had a track day. They seemed fine at first but after only 3 laps, the tyres suddenly felt like they were made of melted marshmallow - very poor braking and cornering. I was afraid I'd made a terrible mistake, but after I let them cool for 5 minutes in the pits, I went back on track, and had a great track day (the tyres showed no further melting effects at all, even when I stayed out for an unprecedented 50 minute non-stop session) and the tyres have been brilliant ever since - great wear, low noise, and excellent grip in wet and dry conditions. The wear rate seems great, too - much less of the marbling and wear I'm used to from track days, and I've now done quite a few miles and the remaining tread's looking very good indeed.

(6) I haven't tried them myself, but many others also recommend Toyo Proxes T1-S for use on the MX-5, so these are a great alternative if you're looking for other (possibly cheaper) options.

Jan 2001 - Jan 2012