I've mentioned this before. The Mx5 gearbox is canted over to the left on both Duratec and GDI Plus 4s.
So the level plug is angled downwards. When I changed the oil on my 2012, I lifted the nearside a couple of inches or so to get the level plug horizontal. This improved the gear change. More recently I did the same with my GDI. I've written about this in next months Miscellany.
It turns out that in the Mx5, the engine is canted 10 degrees to the right, so the level plug in this application is horizontal.
So it looks like my instinct to lift the nearside was the right thing to do.
