10 Year 200,000km Road Test Report
03 October 2025 / Words & Photos by Bryan Shedden
Way back in the Winter 2015 edition of Club Torque, I wrote a story called Confessions of an ND Addict detailing the ordering process and delivery of my 1.5L ND. It turned out to be the first ND delivered to an Australian customer. I took delivery on 5 Aug 2015, the same day as the national dealer launch in Noosa. My son Alex was 10½ years old. Now here we are, 10 years later, Alex has spent half his life around this car, and I'm still deeply in love with this amazing vehicle. It's incredible to note that my base model cost $31,990+ORC, and now the cheapest MX-5 you can buy lists for $42,735+ORC, a 33% price hike. The launch edition of the ND was amazing value. Read on for my 200,000km road test report!
Visiting Wakefield Park on 8 Aug 2015 to watch MX-5 Cup racing. Cameron Macarthur from Blue Mountains Mazda brought his GT demonstrator.
ND Sales History
First, I'll start with a bit of a sales history. The ND has now been on sale longer than any other generation of MX-5. To the end of August 2025, there have been 8796 NDs sold in Australia (10.2y), followed by 6533 NBs (7.5y), 5565 NCs (9.8y) and 4826 NAs (8.4y). Surprisingly, ND MX-5 sales have been growing in recent years despite nearing end of lifecycle, from 442 in 2019 to 662 in 2024. With 565 sold in 2025 up to August, MX-5 is headed for 850 sales this year. In it's 11th year on sale, the ND is selling stronger then the NC did in its 4th year when the NC2 was launched! No wonder Mazda seem comfortable sticking with it for a bit longer.
Fuel Consumption
I have kept meticulous records of fuel consumption. Covering 200,000km has taken 12,000L of fuel at a total cost of $20,000. Filling mostly with 95 Premium from Caltex/Woolies, and the odd fill with 98 Premium from Enhance or Shell, my ND has a lifetime average consumption of 6.0L/100km. It was 5.9L/100km when I was commuting around the Illawarra, but climbed to 6.1L/100km when I started work at Moss Vale, using Macquarie Pass each day. I still have the original ADR 81/02 fuel consumption sticker, which states a combined test figure of 6.1L/100km. And people say I have a lead foot! The Skyactiv technology is incredibly efficient. I found the onboard computer display is highly accurate, with most fills reading within 0.1L/100km of the correct value.
Servicing
For the first 7 years, I had my ND serviced at Dwyers/Wollongong Mazda, before shifting to Moss Vale Mazda as it's closer to my work. Since the 180,000km service, I've been using a local mechanic (Illawarra Service Centre) and additional oil changes I do myself. Ten years of logbook servicing cost me $7000.
Tyres
I've gone through five sets of tyres, starting with Yokohama Advan Sport V105 195/50R16 and then a replacement set. I then went through three sets of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 205/50R16. Each of them lasted me about two years and 40,000km. Since the start of 2025, I'm regularly driving my ND on the track, so I've now got Bridgestone RE-71RS 205/50R16 for the track, and Goodyear Eagle F1 205/45R16 on stock NB8B wheels for the road. I think the NB wheels look nice on an ND and they're easier to clean than the stock 16" wheels. The tyre profile is slightly too small though and I'll return to 205/50R16 or 195/50R16 with the next set.
ND with NB8B wheels
Warranty Claims
At my first service, an air-conditioning refrigerant leak was fixed.
I noticed excessive wear marks on the soft-top within the first six months and the roof was replaced in October 2016. A Mazda Service Bulletin reported that when driven with the top folded, the fabric vibrates and the stitching line touches the top fabric causing rubbing/contact marks. This occurs more commonly with the "budget" top which does not have an inner cloth lining, because the folded height is set lower and so the top fabric is folded more tightly. This second soft-top began to wear excessively after a couple years, and was replaced again in September 2019. It is much improved now, but still showing slight wear marks (see photo of current appearance). At least it has not had the same problems that occur on the premium top, where the lining drops and the front edge rubs on the rollover hoops. I love the ease of use for the roof mechanism, which permits one handed operation while moving at low speed.
I had an annoying issue with a creaking noise from the clutch pedal with the pedal switch replaced in April 2018.
In September 2019, my ND was subject to a recall to replace a metal bracket on the underside of the car, which may fall off while driving.
Issues with the gearbox failing in early 2.0L NDs have not affected my 1.5L ND although they are not immune to it. I have a theory that these issues occurred mainly because the ND was originally designed only for the 1.5L engine. The 2.0L engine with a hobbled rev limit came late in the development after American insistence, and the gearbox was not really up to the torque demands of the bigger engine.
General Wear and Tear
The only modification I've done to the ND is fitting silver rollover hoop covers. They replaced the stock black plastic items and give the ND a nice look from the rear view.
Fitting the silver rollover hoops covers - January 2016
After having my windscreen replaced due to a crack, some years later the top cowl garnish flew off on the highway during strong winds. I discovered the repairer had broken the clips when replacing them and the new part cost me $432! Make sure this part is replaced not recycled when you get a new ND windscreen.
The front-left wheel bearing developed a humming noise and I replaced it myself in December 2023. The old bearing had definitely seen better days!
The Bluetooth unit failed in January 2024 and I've made do without it since the replacement part was quoted at over $1000. I've enquired about aftermarket head units but nothing is available to replace the stock audio unit I have.
After 200,000km of daily driving, the Soul Red paint on the bonnet, quarter panels and front bar is heavily peppered with stone chips. I'm giving thought to getting the whole car wrapped - yellow perhaps? All the paint is original and I've not had any accidents requiring repair. The only sign of rust is on the door quarter glass guide where it meets the beltline moulding, as per Mazda Service Information.
Stone chips galore!
The cloth seats and cabin trim have held up very well. The cloth has not faded at all, despite being driven with the roof down almost exclusively. The "leather" on the handbrake arm has worn off after using tape to hold the button down for motorkhana. Tiny pieces of the metal plating on the gearshift have flaked away and the leather is a bit worn.
Track Performance
Since the ND was my daily driver and I had an NC for track use, I never used it on the track except for the odd lap at Driver Training Days. Alex started doing motorkhanas with the ND from the age of 12 years (he's now 21 and bought his first MX-5 recently!), but it didn't see any serious motorsport use. That changed at the end of 2024. First, I took the ND to Wodonga TAFE for the NSW/VIC Interstate Challenge in November because the NC had a power steering issue being repaired. With a worn out set of Michelins, the ND proved to be impressively quick and huge fun on track. However, I discovered that the "hands off" technique doesn't work with the electric power steering of the ND.
Driver training at Marulan - 28 Oct 2015
Alex at motorkhana on 6 Aug 2017
Wodonga TAFE 3 Nov 2024 1:01.219
Over the Summer, I bought a new car for daily driving (BYD Seal - my first EV) so I decided to sell my NC after nine years, and keep the ND for track duties and weekend runs. I fitted a set of Hawk HPS brake pads, Bridgestone RE-71RS tyres, and a fire extinguisher. The little 1.5L ND in Standard class has proven to be highly competitive, with benchmark scores between 99.71% and 102.54%. How does it compare with the NC? 1.2s slower on GP circuit and 1.8s slower on Amaroo circuit. I love it! Alex loves it too as he's co-driven it at a couple rounds.
Sydney Motorsport Park Amaroo circuit 15 Mar 2025 1:07.895 (99.71%)
One Raceway Wakefield circuit 1 Jun 2025 1:12.067 (102.54%)
Sydney Motorsport Park Gardner (GP) circuit 16 Aug 2025 1:56.1311 (101.35%)
Sydney Motorsport Park Amaroo circuit 21 Sep 2025 1:07.715 (99.98%)
Final word
In my 2015 Club Torque story, I described how I tracked the delivery of my ND onboard the Felicity Ace cargo ship from Hiroshima to Port Kembla, and watched the ship arrive and unload in port. Throughout the journey, friends teased mercilessly about sinking cargo ships. Incredibly, that eventually came true! It was reported by ABC News on 2 March 2022 that the Felicity Ace had sunk in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. The ship was transporting up to 4000 cars to the US from Germany and sank 13 days after a fire first broke out.
At Port Kembla in 2015
On fire and going down in the Atlantic in 2022
