When I go to law school next year, I'm going to be playing a lot less hockey, so I will no longer need a big car to cart around all my equipment. I'm thinking about selling my Aurora and picking up a used Miata. I'd basically just want to trade one for the other - I'm not looking to be paying off a car. I'll have enough to worry about with buying a house and paying for school. The Aurora will probably fetch me roughly $5k, so that's about what I'll be looking to spend on a Miata. From what I can tell, that puts me in about the 1995-1997 model year range. So help me out here. What do I look out for? Problems, reliability, etc. Thanks.
From what i hear, you really can't go wronge with a miata as reliablitly goes. Looks and performance is another issue. But to simply get you around, it is a good car. And hell, you will spend less on gas then on your aurora.
if you want to mod it, get the first gen (which is what your looking for) with the 1.6, turboing that wouldnt net high hp, but you'd be surprised with a lightweight car and 200ish HP/TQ would bring.
Why the 1.6 vs the 1.8L? I'm most likely not going to be doing any serious modifications (if any at all), but just in case...
I dunno about the 1.6 vs 1.8 specifically, but the first Gens are lighter and cheaper. SO if you wanted to you could likely find one that was already modded (not on the cheap either)for the 5k you're looking to spend. That could be a good way to go. Get more performance for the same money, and if it wasn't a hackjob shouldn't be too unreliable.
some like the 1.6 cause its faster and higher revving engine, and there is better aftermarket for turbos. not that the 1.8 doesnt have its share of turbo kits. imo go the 1.8. pretty reliable car, the only problem i have had is a leak in the heater core, so if it smells like coolant get them to fix it cause its a #%!@ of a job. another thing to pay attention to is its clutch, they are know to be weak, i havnt had a problem though. and check the roof for tears and the like. www.miata.net is a good source of info
Just look for a car that's in good condition overall. I wouldn't really worry about the engine, they run forever, and a brand new one from Mazda costs $2k if it explodes or something. If you're thinking about a turbo, get the 1.6, Jackson Racing makes an SC kit for the 1.8. Personally I like the 2nd gen more than the 1st, but whatever floats your boat. Also, I doubt you'd ever notice a difference in regular driving, but the guys who race spec Miatas (i.e. fordracing) all use the 1.6 because for whatever reason it just goes faster. Another plus for the 1st gen is you can get 8 way adjustable KYB AGX shocks, the same set for the 2nd gen is only 4 way. You can hit me up on AIM or MSN if you want to talk in more detail or have any specific questions, I'm happy to provide an answer (or at least direct you towards one). EDIT: I'm pretty sure you already know this, but I have a 99.
The 1.8 has a weight penalty and just doesn't handle as well, but the suspension/tires/weight of spec Miatas aren't anywhere near stock so I dunno if it's representitive of normal 1.8s and 1.6s. If you go the 1.6 route (I like the first gen better, it's more Miata) the only reliability issue you need to watch out for is a bad nose on the crank. Some of them came too short and would break, thoroughly destroying the engine. Or in my case, breaking it with me not noticing for a couple months while I lose more and more power. That sucked. Mazda fixed it later on but their are some cars with the problem still so do some research about it. Mine as I said had it, and it took almost 100,000 miles (who knows how many of them on the track) to finally implode. They're in general very tough, good on fuel (I used to get better mileage on the track than my dad on the street) but they have no space so if that's any kind of problem don't get a Miata.
I'm no fan of the C4s looks but the last few years it was in production it could easily smoke more than a few so called performance cars currently in production.
I was thinking more along the lines of the type of person that owns a C4 is the type of person that can't see the fact that "performance" isn't only about the powerplant. That and C4s are #$%#ing ugly (and Miatas aren't). And yeah, I'd go for an NA over an NB. Though I think I like the NC the most. Even if it isn't as "true" as the NA.
"performance" is also more than just "feel." Having driven both a C4 and a 2nd gen Miata I can tell you the C4 does handle better. Looks are a matter of opinion, but generally Miatas look like a bar of soap with wheels.
While I don't believe that to be true (I can't find any numbers to prove either way), that doesn't change anything. As if you're an unbiased source of knowledge. And C4s look like a doorstop with wheels.
Umm I seem to recall you saying that the Countach was a beautiful car. and your talking about a C4 as a doorstop with wheels? I like em both but just my view onthat comment.
That's great dude! The only advice I can give you is that your miata HAS to have a differential*, otherwise you're pretty much buying a "half" miata. Don't get upset if you can't find used miatas with no differentials, there's a big variety of aftermarket products *Don't know if it came as standard to US models. I'm also thinking of buying one (NA). Edit: of course the best colour on an NA model is British Racing Green.
Yes I agree too. 1,8 is better. But the 89-93 Miata 1,6 115hp is also sweet <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/smile.gif"></A> (later on they only had 90hp!!)
I don't know any numbers off the top of my head, so I can't say with absolute certainty that this is bullshit, but I'm going to say it anyway. This is bullshit.
No, I never said the Countach was a beautiful car. I've seen about a half dozen of them in person and I think they're gaudy/tacky and pretty much ugly.
From what I've heard the C4s were supposed to be pretty good. Miata good, I dunno. But I don't think there is enough room to justify saying otherwise just because.
C4's are enough car to take plenty of todays high end cars with good driving. Especially with a good suspension and tire setup. However they are still more expensive than a miata in terms of maintenance/racing costs, and therefore are irrelevant in this thread. For Bucknutz case, the miata is a perfect car to learn on. Parts are cheap and should he convert it to a spec miata, he'll have plenty of events/clubs to participate in. As I've said in the past, if I ever get the time to road race consistently, I'll be getting a miata to learn off of. Bucknutz, what are you goals for the miata? Are you looking to keep it stock, modded for the street, spec miata?
I will most likely be keeping it stock. Maybe some minor modificiations, but nothing serious. I'm just looking for a fun, cheap, reliable car to get me around for the next few years while I'm in school. Maybe I'll play around with it more after I get done with school and have a little more time, but I'm not really thinking about that at this point. I just want something fun. Everybody else, thanks for the help. I drove this one last night and #$%#ing loved it. The shift feel was unbelievable. The only thing that I thought was strange about it was how far off to the right 5th gear is. 1-4 are really tight together, then 5th is out under the glove box. Thought that was strange, but it didn't bother me. I didn't really get to thrash it much though because A) it was raining and B) my fiancee was in the car and she would have shit her pants if I had been throwing it hard. Some guy must have bought it right after I drove it because it's already gone, but whatever. I'm probably not going to be buying for another few months anyway - I'm just trying to get as much info as I can. Holy shit is that trunk tiny though. You can fit a small laptop in there and that's about it. Here's the one I drove: http://tinyurl.com/y8gkg3