u/TroyyStory

Hi everyone, Aussie VB WRX owner here.

My wife and I are currently mapping out the next few years—mortgage, planning for kids, and how to keep my car modifying hobby alive (it's my main sanity outlet!). I’d love to get some real-world advice, especially from parents who have owned an MX-5/Miata while raising young kids.

The Context:

• Wife: Automatic license only and deals with chronic anxiety, so keeping things stress-free and reliable for her is top priority.
• Kids: Planning for 1–3 children, starting to try in 2028.
• Lease: My WRX lease ends in 2030 (trade-in option opens in 2029).
• The Goal: Separate family duty from my hobby. I originally got the WRX to do both, but I don't want to force my wife or future kids into a loud, stiff car for daily driving. If they want to join in on car stuff later, great, but I want a dedicated split.

After running the numbers, we’ve narrowed it down to two potential garage setups:

• Plan 1 (2 Cars): MX-5 / Miata (my daily + project) + Premium SUV for my wife (e.g., Lexus NX).
• Plan 2 (3 Cars): MX-5 / Miata (my daily + project) + Mid-luxury SUV (e.g., 2024+ Santa Fe or Mazda CX-60) + Cheap family runabout (used Corolla, Civic, or Mazda 3 for backup).

The Dilemma: I'm leaning toward Plan 1 for financial efficiency. However, my wife is concerned about logistics: What happens if the SUV is in for service, or I need to do kid pickup/bulky errands when she needs a car? She can’t drive the manual MX-5, and the MX-5 can’t fit child seats.

Plan 2 solves the logistics gap, but paying full rego, insurance, and maintenance on a third car just for rare role-reversal days feels wasteful.

Questions for the community:

1. For parents with a 2-seater standard/manual daily: How often do these scheduling clashes actually happen in real life? Is it a manageable hassle or an absolute nightmare once kids enter the picture?
2. Is Plan 2 total overkill, or does having a 3rd "beater" family car save your sanity with young kids?

Appreciate any insights or alternative setups you’ve experienced!

A week ago, I've installed the Overtake inlet and had it running with the stock dv. There were a few quiet backroad moments where I was going steady 50km/h and went instant foot to the floor, triggering the intake & turbo noise, and had a blast with it.

Took the car for another back road push today after installing the Perrin DV. However, I have experienced a few power cuts (engine cut off?), very similar to the power cut when redlining, about 2-3 secs after going from steady speed to instant foot to the floor. Neither the accessport nor the car has shown any light or weird number value.

My current suspicion is that I need to change the way I manipulate the throttle pedal, as I'm guessing the stock bv is getting adjusted by the ECU in the background when I went foot to the floor; but since it's now a mechanical bv, the ECU might be cutting the power when the sudden boost kicks in to mitigate blowups?

Has anyone experienced this? Keen to hear your valuable knowledge and experience.