how can you guys love the miata????

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: I don't. Honda S2000 is where it's at.

I love my S2000 to the point that everyone here is probably tired of hearing about it, but the Miata was the stepping stone. Both for me, and the industry. Without the success of the Miata the S never would have been conceived. And there's no denying that the Miata is easier to enjoy on the street or in the hands of a less skilled driver. The S is great but I might not recommend one to a first year autocrosser, or my Mom. EVERYONE can love a Miata.

ae86andkp61 wrote:

DavidinDurango wrote: Hardtop.

Oh great, hardtop. All of the negatives of a convertible with none of the positives of a genuine coupe... And what will this "privilege" cost me? Hmmmm....$800-1000 on the USED market? Are you berkeleying kidding me? On my car the roof was included in the $2250 purchase price!!

Hey, dummy- Didnt you know, every Miata hardtop is an unlimited-term free rental with a steep damage deposit. :)

jstein77 wrote:

kazoospec wrote: I fought it for a long time myself. You know "Barbie Dream Car" jokes and the whole 9 yards... You mean like this? My teenage daughter's dream car

Yep, that was pretty much the way I thought every Miata should look. But that was back when I thought the LS6 Chevelle was the be all and end all of automotive technology. I'm still waiting for some of my friends (the ones who remind me of Jon Reep) to slap a rainbow triangle on the Miata's bumper when I'm not looking.

nderwater wrote: Ditto that. I don't think I've seen an AE86 on the road in over a decade.

You just live in the wrong part of the country. 80's cars are all over the road here in Oregon. Seeing unrestored 70's cars still being used isn't common, but I would call it a daily occurance. Something commonplace from the late 60's (Mustang/Falcon/Dart/Nova) might get my attention, but even that isn't really worth mentioning unless it is nicely restored or a special options package or something. I did have to stop and stare the other day when I saw a house with a VW Thing, a Honda N600, and a Crosley station wagon parked out front, and mostly for the latter. A Peugeot 403 was another recent "rare" sighting that had me gawking and wishing I had my camera.

Anyone in the rust belt want to buy an AE86? I may have one for sale soon, and know of another which will be up for sale soon.

AverageH wrote: Actually, all of the "negatives" you listed are all positives in my book. For instance, the hardtop gives you everything that a coupe offers, AND it still allows you to remove it for top-down driving. Why would I want to give a bunch of people rides? No back seats? Sweet! I have two little kids too, but I don't see any reason to get rid of it just because of the seat count. The car is too fun- especially when I just need to get away from people.

I guess this is where different personalities and priorities factor into the equation. I am really into cycling, so if it is sunny out and I want to get away from people and feel the breeze, I will hop on my bike and go for a ride. If the Miata gives you a chance to go for a quick convertible blast, more power to you!

As far as giving people rides, I am not prepared to say that I want to limit my life to only being able to go somewhere in my car with me or me and one other person. What do I do when it is double date night? Tell the other couple that they can take the bus and we will meet them for dinner in 45 minutes? If my sister and her boyfriend ask for a ride to the train station, I can take them in the AE86. If I had a Miata, I would either have to rent a car, or have to ride my bike over to my sister's place, load her and boyfriend into his Tundra, drive them to the train station, drive back to her place to park the truck, and ride home again on my bike. For me it is so much better to have a car that can be lightweight RWD fun, but can also serve to haul furniture home, carry an engine hoist to a buddy's house for an engine swap, or ferry a few people around.

To each their own. For now I am happy to leave the Miatas to those that love them.

Keith Tanner wrote: Well, he did drive a jacked up Dodge truck with flowmasters. So, no.

Of course he is compensating with his Flowmasters. Just look at the Wiki page history.

I had NO involvement in that edit. A guy at work did it as a joke and forwarded the link to me. Now I have a bit of a laugh every time someone mentions Flowmasters.

ae86andkp61 wrote:

nderwater wrote: Ditto that. I don't think I've seen an AE86 on the road in over a decade.

You just live in the wrong part of the country. 80's cars are all over the road here in Oregon. Seeing unrestored 70's cars still being used isn't common, but I would call it a daily occurance. Something commonplace from the late 60's (Mustang/Falcon/Dart/Nova) might get my attention, but even that isn't really worth mentioning unless it is nicely restored or a special options package or something. I did have to stop and stare the other day when I saw a house with a VW Thing, a Honda N600, and a Crosley station wagon parked out front, and mostly for the latter. A Peugeot 403 was another recent "rare" sighting that had me gawking and wishing I had my camera. Anyone in the rust belt want to buy an AE86? I may have one for sale soon, and know of another which will be up for sale soon.

AverageH wrote: Actually, all of the "negatives" you listed are all positives in my book. For instance, the hardtop gives you everything that a coupe offers, AND it still allows you to remove it for top-down driving. Why would I want to give a bunch of people rides? No back seats? Sweet! I have two little kids too, but I don't see any reason to get rid of it just because of the seat count. The car is too fun- especially when I just need to get away from people.

I guess this is where different personalities and priorities factor into the equation. I am really into cycling, so if it is sunny out and I want to get away from people and feel the breeze, I will hop on my bike and go for a ride. If the Miata gives you a chance to go for a quick convertible blast, more power to you! As far as giving people rides, I am not prepared to say that I want to limit my life to only being able to go somewhere in my car with me or me and one other person. What do I do when it is double date night? Tell the other couple that they can take the bus and we will meet them for dinner in 45 minutes? If my sister and her boyfriend ask for a ride to the train station, I can take them in the AE86. If I had a Miata, I would either have to rent a car, or have to ride my bike over to my sister's place, load her and boyfriend into his Tundra, drive them to the train station, drive back to her place to park the truck, and ride home again on my bike. For me it is so much better to have a car that can be lightweight RWD fun, but can also serve to haul furniture home, carry an engine hoist to a buddy's house for an engine swap, or ferry a few people around. To each their own. For now I am happy to leave the Miatas to those that love them.

Ha ha! That was a good, lighthearted response. I do get what you're saying. Funny thing is, your little scenario with the double dating has never really crossed my mind, let alone ever presented itself. Maybe it takes owning a two-seater to see the reality of it, I don't know. Instead of thinking about how to do plan A, you just go straight to plan B. Has never been an issue with double dates and what not; I just always remain an independent in those situations, and it has worked for me since 1996. Ah well. I prolly put a lot of people out without knowing it I dig cycling too. I used to be a bike messenger in Seattle during the mid 90's. Love it. Now I just tow my kids around in the trailer behind my bike- it helps me be less fat anyway.

-Hamid

93EXCivic wrote: I have driven a 1.6 NA but it did absolutely nothing for me. The interior is cramped with no character and the 1.6 is a limp wristed motor. Maybe with a retro interior and a rotary or V8 or maybe even a modified 1.8 but in stock form no thanks. I would like the Miata I will stick with Spitfires if I am going to buy a little convertible.

Right after we finished prepping my dad's '99 (FM Stage 2 suspension, butterfly brace, rollbar, bushings, a decent alignment, and a set of RA-1's at full tread), we took it to a local Porsche club auto-x. I proceeded to stomp flat every car there running street-legal tires. A guy in a Carrerra Turbo was telling my dad how, "It's good that you've got something that you're able to start autocrossing in. Now you just need to save up your money for a really fast car..." Then I finished my lap and the times came in. "That's funny," my dad replied, "I think my car is already three seconds per lap faster than your's."

AngryCorvair wrote: if it was the right price, i'd drive a pink miata with "bone smuggler" stickers on it. park that berkeleyer in the UAW spaces at work.

Well, it wasn't pink, and didn't have stickers, but my Smurf still spent the last two years of it's life in a UAW lot...

I'll see your pink barbie miata, and raise you hello kitty seat covers and hood sticker

I would LOVE to slap every go fast bit flyin miata sells on that thing, and then just drive around the country waiting for porsche clubs to have track days and show up in that.

ae86andkp61 wrote:

nderwater wrote: Ditto that. I don't think I've seen an AE86 on the road in over a decade.

You just live in the wrong part of the country. 80's cars are all over the road here in Oregon. Seeing unrestored 70's cars still being used isn't common, but I would call it a daily occurance. Something commonplace from the late 60's (Mustang/Falcon/Dart/Nova) might get my attention, but even that isn't really worth mentioning unless it is nicely restored or a special options package or something. I did have to stop and stare the other day when I saw a house with a VW Thing, a Honda N600, and a Crosley station wagon parked out front, and mostly for the latter. A Peugeot 403 was another recent "rare" sighting that had me gawking and wishing I had my camera. Anyone in the rust belt want to buy an AE86? I may have one for sale soon, and know of another which will be up for sale soon.

AverageH wrote: Actually, all of the "negatives" you listed are all positives in my book. For instance, the hardtop gives you everything that a coupe offers, AND it still allows you to remove it for top-down driving. Why would I want to give a bunch of people rides? No back seats? Sweet! I have two little kids too, but I don't see any reason to get rid of it just because of the seat count. The car is too fun- especially when I just need to get away from people.

I guess this is where different personalities and priorities factor into the equation. I am really into cycling, so if it is sunny out and I want to get away from people and feel the breeze, I will hop on my bike and go for a ride. If the Miata gives you a chance to go for a quick convertible blast, more power to you! As far as giving people rides, I am not prepared to say that I want to limit my life to only being able to go somewhere in my car with me or me and one other person. What do I do when it is double date night? Tell the other couple that they can take the bus and we will meet them for dinner in 45 minutes? If my sister and her boyfriend ask for a ride to the train station, I can take them in the AE86. If I had a Miata, I would either have to rent a car, or have to ride my bike over to my sister's place, load her and boyfriend into his Tundra, drive them to the train station, drive back to her place to park the truck, and ride home again on my bike. For me it is so much better to have a car that can be lightweight RWD fun, but can also serve to haul furniture home, carry an engine hoist to a buddy's house for an engine swap, or ferry a few people around. To each their own. For now I am happy to leave the Miatas to those that love them.

Dude. No. Double dates? Corolla ain't gonna cut it. You need a Crown Vic. Gigantic front bench seat. Gigantic rear back seat. Although if you're going with your sister, maybe you don't want that... You'd probably want 2 cars, which leads us back to... Miata!

Checker > Crown Vic ... at least for dating

I remember when they came out. I was in a "I refuse to buy a Jap car" mode and while I did realize they were something, I took every opportunity to avoid them. Then in the early '00s my new wife and I were at Lime Rock and the Nutmeg Club had their annual gathering. We both sidled over to them and I acknowledged my hidden cravings. She prodded me to get one and in October of '05 I took the plunge and got a 94 M Edition knowing very little about them at that time. I've learned lots in the ensuing years and have kept the car essentially stock but I've enjoyed the hell out of it. Living on Long Island I don't worry too much about winters, although I have a Dakota 4X4 as a second vehicle so I can avoid deep snow. I had a 1972 Fiat 124 Spider from new for about 7 years and it did have more room inside and a larger trunk, but I've learned what I can stuff into the Miata for an extended stay somewhere. I've found ways to make the cabin a bit quieter (DynaMat on the rear deck and "firewall" and we can actually have conversations at highway speeds top up or down.

I've promised myself that as long as I can manage to get in and out of it I will keep the car. I'm already AARP registered and social security is around the corner, and I can promise you that most of the Miata drivers I see, at least the NA and NB series, are on the other side of 40 and even 50. And for the most part, ricing is discouraged on the miata.net site.

Ricing and a whole lotta other "things" are discouraged there, too.

Derick Freese wrote: Of course he is compensating with his Flowmasters. Just look at the Wiki page history. I had NO involvement in that edit. A guy at work did it as a joke and forwarded the link to me. Now I have a bit of a laugh every time someone mentions Flowmasters.

Win!

Appleseed wrote: Ricing and a whole lotta other "things" are discouraged there, too.

Including modifying your car for performance. Don't set up your car with a ride high to 949's specs, they'll call it hellaflush and "stupid." This is exponentially more likely if the person critiquing your car has a style bar on their car.

Up until about 2 years ago I was vigorously anti-Miata. I remember when they first came out, and I believed all the stereotypes. I had no use for the cars. A college friend of mine's dad bought one, and it puzzled me to no end- he was an engineer, a machinist, a man's man, and here he was driving around in this blonde hairdresser's car? I shook my head in bewilderment. (he's since sold the Miata and bought a 356...in pieces. The man's my hero)

Fast-forward to 2009. We fielded our first LeMons car, and showed up to our first race, and holy crap- the darn Miatae are EVERYWHERE. And they're FAST as HELL. A buddy of mine has this magazine called "Grassroots Motorsports" and they seem to love on the Miata all day long. Herm.

So I'm surfing CL one day about 2 years ago and come upon two separate ads for 1991 Miatas- both white, both under $1000. One was wrecked, but drove, and the other had a good body and a locked-up engine. It was fate. In a fit of...something...I buy both of them, drag them both home, and proceed to build one good car out of the two. And then I drove it. It was a marvel of a car. I even enjoyed working on it- something I can say of few other cars. Everything just made sense about it. I didn't even care that it had no back seat. It was just fun. The only other car I've ever driven that was as much fun are my beloved Volvo 122s, and like the Miata they share a feel for the whole driving experience that is just so...live.

I sold the good running car, not because I particularly wanted to, but because my wife, who is ever so tolerant of my car hobby, called it "the ugliest car ever". I think "ugly", in her mind, meant "boring", and here I have to kinda agree with her. The driving experience is what this car is all about- it'll certainly never win any beauty contests. I kept urging her to drive it, figuring she'd actually appreciate the car if she did, but that was a non-starter.

I've since bought a silver NA, with a hardtop, and am in the process of making it good and roadworthy. The wife actually likes the silver one- I think the hardtop helps- and I told her it's a rare, late-first year model for this color. ;-) I still have the remnants of the wrecked-but-running white NA I bought last year, too. It sits in a corner of my garage, whispering "LoCost" to me when nobody's around and the radio is on low and the lights are dim.

I'll just leave this right here...

volvoclearinghouse wrote: I still have the remnants of the wrecked-but-running white NA I bought last year, too. It sits in a corner of my garage, whispering "LoCost" to me when nobody's around and the radio is on low and the lights are dim.

I, too, have a disabled Miata in my garage. It whispers to me "Exocet" each time I go down there.

nderwater wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: I still have the remnants of the wrecked-but-running white NA I bought last year, too. It sits in a corner of my garage, whispering "LoCost" to me when nobody's around and the radio is on low and the lights are dim.

I, too, have a disabled Miata in my garage. It whispers to me "Exocet" each time I go down there.

Those Exocets are actually fairly pretty cars. I'd drive one. Even the aesthetically-picky Mrs. Clearinghouse would probably approve.

A buddy of mine owns an S2000, and as I was telling him about the fun I've been having with Miatas recently he told me I should just get a S2000. While the S2000 is probably the better car, though, I just can't justify the multiple factors greater in cost. Yes, I've ridden in his S2000, and yes, the engine is about the closest thing to a religious experience as any n/a 4-pot is likely to be, but apart from straight-line speed, is it worth 8-10x the price for a decent used example? I can't justify it. If I really needed that much speed, I'd turbo a 1.8 motor and drop it in the Miata.

The S2000 also seemed more cramped than the Miata, but that's just my impression.

yes, but with the s2000 you also get the worlds most magical shifter feel, and the rice boy image vs. girlie image.

I must say, as a new Miata owner and a female I believe the true sports car enthusiast is more interested in a great ride, a feel for the road and having a fun driving experience (not to mention for my tastes a manual transmission). The fact that you feel that a shoe horn might make it easier to "put the Miata on", shows the confidence most men lack when they think a Miata's a girl's car. The way women look at sports car drivers is what a man feels he lacks in "manhood" he makes up for with his car. Men in Miatas lack nothing in confidence, which is the most appealing thing to women. Don't get me wrong; I love a beautiful Vette, but because it's bigger doesn't make it better.

One last thing to the boys who kept reading. Learn how to handle a manual shift, if you don't know how. That's one of the sexiest things about driving a sports car. Women love a man who has a hand that knows when to escalate the movement. I'll bring the shoe horn..... :)

mizmiata wrote: I'll bring the shoe horn..... :)

Still don't like 'em. I'm not claustrophobic by nature, but I am in those things. Obviously it's a different story with the top down, but I've still got body parts bumping/squeezing on stuff.

cutter67 wrote: now if it came with a shoehorn to get old fat guys in it.... it would be perfect

There are some available on the aftermarket, such as the Kirkey aluminum seat. Keith would know exactly which shoehorn is best for you.

Im surprised i havent read this thread from April to now.. but anyway.

I'm not a miata hater by any means, but i dont count myself a miata enthusiast either. I've driven NAs and NBs a couple hundred miles, AutoX'd an NA on r-comps, ridden in a 12-second turbo miata on the street, autox, and road course, worked on NAs and NBs, and after all that exposure i just think it is a good car. I still don't particularly want one although i'll probably buy the first decent broken one i can get for $500-700 needing an easy fix.

The last time i drove an NB (after working on it), i was cruising around thinking "If im not racing (with turns) i'd rather be driving my SOHC Neon". Some people probably think that's blasphemous. I dont consider it that great of a street car. If you do a lot of AutoXing and want to focus on improving yourself as a driver and have decided not to own a car for every purpose, it's a great dual-purpose car. But if you drive MOSTLY street, meh.

Don't get me wrong. I like convertibles! I own one. Really light cars? I own 3. Those things are good. It's possible i like NCs a crazy amount and don't know it, but at that point it's competing against Boxster S in price range, too.

I just can't work myself up to the same enthusiasm i see a lot of on this forum. I just think it's a good car!