MX5 Donor, Using as a Donor/problems/solutions/advice Info

[jason 82]

After stressing about which direction I want to take my mx5 build, the broken diff nose issue keeps arising. Off work with a broken leg, so I am bored and decided to look into it. My local mazda dealer said that it was an issue on the 1.6 mx5, but the 1.8 diff is a lot stronger. I googled it, and can't find any 1.8 diff failures, only 1.6. Are we all worrying about nothing? Or is there a genuine problem, not that well publicised. If my car was a 1.6, I would drop the 1.8 in as a matter of course. But my car is a 1.8, so do I risk it ? Or look into better support ? Just thinking about trying to keep the weight down, and don't want to over complicate the build if I can help it.