When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I drove a P5 for a decade (along with the Mazdaspeed Protege I have now), and I agree. If Mazda would have found a way to put that 1.8L BP motor in the P5 it would have been a much better car. The FS engine also powered Fords, Kias, and other Mazdas. It was a dud though. If fact, such a dud that mine was replaced under warranty at about 5k miles. "Oil starvation due to cornering." was the reason. So the P5 basically out drove it's own engine!
I kinda miss that little *******' wagon.
I owned two p5's, 2002 and 2003.5...the 2003 had about 20K on it when one of the little flappers in the intake decided it wanted to take a trip into the engine, that was fun.....gutless engine though. i have the normal intake/exhaust mods, and totally gutted the thing, on some kyb shocks with adjustable coils, handled amazing but damn was it slow. i never felt like it was a quick car
since then i've owned 3 fb's, i dont think i can compare the p5 to the rx7's. my rx's were most stock suspension wise and engine wise for that matter(not to say i wont be doing many things to my fc this winter so maybe there will be a comparison next summer)
what i can compare is the 323 gtx to the rx7. you can feel what mazda was going for back then in these cars. the rx7's feel light and nimble, just like the 323 does. honestly love that stupid little car that has sucked up more of my money than i'd like to admit. the large difference like previously mentioned, the engine. the rx7 wants more, the 323 sounds like a tractor when you are giving it some pedal.
the ONE main thing that is the same between the 323 and the rx7's........you have in your mind that this may be the last time the car drives, pretty much every time you drive it, with the 323 its just the trans instead of the engine lol
i'm not sure any of this made any sense or is even valid here but hell, there it is
I always wondered about those MR2 Spyder's??? Didn't they dominate their class in SOLO2 ? The same class as the miata and the porsche 914 mid engined? I had a 914. It rode and handled great. But it was slowwwww. And it didn't have that carnal raw feel of lots of power in reserve like my current fb
i'm not sure if you've driven them but the 99+ mr-2's didn't even feel like a sports car to me. it was like toyota was trying to make a car that had a sports car name, kinda looked like a sports car inside and out, sell it to people who have never owned a real sports car and call it a day. for one i could not really fit inside one comfortably, the pedals were just too damn close to me to get it to work correctly. personally the handling and power of the car were just lacking overall.
also i think the lack of third pedal in the previous mr-2 picture post is due to it being an automatic, yes they sold them, and yes they tried to make the shifter look like it was a stick shift, they even tried to pass it off as a Sequential transmission, only it was slower than the manuals(i sold toyotas around this time for a few years so i got to sit in and drive a bunch of them) now if we are talking a 1st or 2nd gen mr-2, sign me up, any car that wants to kill me is good in my book
if you get the chance to see the 60's trans am cars race, it is awesome, the ground shakes, its total sensory overload, its by far the best class to watch run.
i'm not sure if you've driven them but the 99+ mr-2's didn't even feel like a sports car to me. it was like toyota was trying to make a car that had a sports car name, kinda looked like a sports car inside and out, sell it to people who have never owned a real sports car and call it a day. for one i could not really fit inside one comfortably, the pedals were just too damn close to me to get it to work correctly. personally the handling and power of the car were just lacking overall.
also i think the lack of third pedal in the previous mr-2 picture post is due to it being an automatic, yes they sold them, and yes they tried to make the shifter look like it was a stick shift, they even tried to pass it off as a Sequential transmission, only it was slower than the manuals(i sold toyotas around this time for a few years so i got to sit in and drive a bunch of them) now if we are talking a 1st or 2nd gen mr-2, sign me up, any car that wants to kill me is good in my book
You are entitled to your opinion on the MR2 Spyder and I respect that. I've had mine for 2 years now and to me, it handles great and has adequate power for what it is. Of course I would like more but I appreciate it for what it is. The handling is very good and unlike the 2nd gen MR2, there is no danger during mid corner throttle lift. The chassis is tight and the thing carves corners. I don't know how it would perform in a competition event as I have only driven my car on the street. So to be fair i dint know how well it would do. There is far more leg room in the Spyder than a Miata. What I like about the car is that my legs arent cramped together. Theres room to move my legs. Also for me pedal spacing is just fine. The pedals feel nice and I've never had my feet slip off of the pedals when wet. While my car is in fact a 5spd manual, you are correct in saying that some did come with a clutchless automatic trans. Well it was a manual transmission that shifted automatically and applied the clutch to shift. It was a hoaky setup that never really worked all that great.
i'm not sure if you've driven them but the 99+ mr-2's didn't even feel like a sports car to me. it was like toyota was trying to make a car that had a sports car name, kinda looked like a sports car inside and out, sell it to people who have never owned a real sports car and call it a day. for one i could not really fit inside one comfortably, the pedals were just too damn close to me to get it to work correctly. personally the handling and power of the car were just lacking overall.
also i think the lack of third pedal in the previous mr-2 picture post is due to it being an automatic, yes they sold them, and yes they tried to make the shifter look like it was a stick shift, they even tried to pass it off as a Sequential transmission, only it was slower than the manuals(i sold toyotas around this time for a few years so i got to sit in and drive a bunch of them) now if we are talking a 1st or 2nd gen mr-2, sign me up, any car that wants to kill me is good in my book
Like I said, I always >>>wondered<<<, If I actually drove a mr-2, I why would be wondering??? From what you said, the mr-2 is like that hot chick you finally get to bang, and she snores like a horse. When was young and dumb, I dreamed about getting a porsche 914. Looking back, I wish I never got the damn car. Maintenance was a bitch, parts expensive, it was laughed at when thought of as a VW, and when it was thought of as being a porsche, it got vandalized.
I once rode in a vintage triumph. And the miata is a refined doppelganger of a classic british sports car. Some people really like those brit sports cars. I don't because I don't like anything that is british.
Last edited by midnight mechanic; 11-19-19 at 06:39 AM.
how?! there is practically nothing you can buy for the 323! its a RARE car, like 1500 globally or something.
my friend had one, and he let the clutch out, and the trans exploded...
I knew they sold 323's for 30-some years so I had to look up what a 323 GTX was. Turbo, AWD, homely-looking. Reminds me of if an Omni GLH married a Scirocco.
I knew they sold 323's for 30-some years so I had to look up what a 323 GTX was. Turbo, AWD, homely-looking. Reminds me of if an Omni GLH married a Scirocco.
its actually a pretty sweet little car, but its also very old and very rare
Parts guy in our dealership had a fascination with this model and procured the rear spoiler,not sure where, and had me install it on his 323 along with some other"go fast" goodies. At this point his Mazda car cover would no longer fit the car. He gave me the cover which i have to this day and no it doesn't fit a 1st gen. It's seeing duty as one of two car covers being used to cover my Ramcharger restoration project. I would be willing to part with it if someone came up with the right amount of money,lol.
its actually a pretty sweet little car, but its also very old and very rare
I remember the marketing ad for these cars. I always liked them as they were different and looked like a lot of fun to drive. I've never seen one in person, but if given the chance to buy one I would likely do it.
I remember the marketing ad for these cars. I always liked them as they were different and looked like a lot of fun to drive. I've never seen one in person, but if given the chance to buy one I would likely do it.
my friend built one, and it would keep up with the FD to about 60mph in a straight line. the handling on pavement was awful (you just turned the steering wheel to the lock and waited), but on dirt it was great
I would want one that's as close to original as possible. I'll have one some day. I want to build my shop first that way I have more indoor storage for the cars. I've backed off of buying cars like I was to try and save some money and catch up on bills.
Jumping in to this one. I have both; a 94 Miata with a FM turbo and link ECU and an 84 (and 83 Thanks Sean!) Rx7.
When together the 12a with a Holley was no match for the turbo Miata in terms of speed. That one when tuned correctly has around 250 hp at the wheels and will hold 12 psi boost all day long. I recently fixed a boost creep issue that would allow the pressure to build to 18-19 psi before the ECU would cut fuel. No problems since. Granted it is on its second engine, but the first one my friend killed on a cross country trip by running low on coolant over and over in Yellowstone and in Canada with no gas higher than 85 octane (it's fuel right?)
I had to tear out the entire interior of the Miata to fit, I'm 6'3". Only thing that's there is the base carpet and the dash. The stock driver's seat is gone and a Sparco steel seat is bolted directly to the floor. That finally got me low enough to see through the windshield and not smash my head on the roll bar. The stock NA seats are rather dangerous in their lack of head support. Driving with the top up or the hard top still makes me shrug and is no fun at all. With the Falken Azenis on the car, I was worried the transmission was going to snap. Before that on my old all seasons, it would lose traction in third gear. Wonderful output from the GT2560R turbo. Very little spool time and very good response.
Having said all that, I agree the seven is a nicer place to be. The Miata with power steering is jittery and with the top down it is a little floppy. Although seam welding, frog arms and the undercarriage brace would help that immensely on this 25 year old car with 200+ miles on the chassis. The suspension was rebuilt when I got it from my friend. The only bushing I didn't replace is the rear power plant frame to chassis.. because I don't want to break every bolt on my way there and have to repair all of that rust just yet. Adding the hardtop does make the car feel much more solid and gives a much better cabin experience. But still I fit better in the seven with the stock seat than I do in the modified Miata. Also, there is no chance I can heel toe. My tiny 10.5 feet can barely fit in the foot box, let alone be vertical enough to rock over from one to the other.
I'll be taking time this summer to get one of my seven's driving again. The speed of the Miata is fun, but far too easy to end up in a bad spot with people not checking their blind spots for little tiny sports cars. It's strange to say, but the seven is more of a grand tourer between the two. I've played around with different ideas of swapping the 1.8 BP into a seven so I can use the better transmission of the Miata; or take the guts of the Miata trans I have and build those into one of my many FB boxes so I can have updated syncros for second and reverse; or cut the Miata in half at the fire wall and graft that onto the seven, or go all the way and cut out the rear suspension too and get the whole FB sitting on double wishbones with coil overs; or throw the rotary in the Miata.... who doesn't need three non-running shells? I may just re-drill the FB hubs and axles to 4x100 offset by 90 so I can use the stock Miata wheels and have hundreds of other options... who knows.
Once you dig down into both of these cars, you can see that the Miata was really just a design evolution/extension of the Seven. I would bet the same people worked on the engineering of the two and had some improvements to implement on the Miata that they couldn't on the "older" design FB. Or the designers just didn't want to make too many changes so they could reuse a bunch of the previous work... Since I've had both apart at the same time some parts look very similar and even have the same bolt patterns. I plan on using my spare NA brake master and booster on my FB. The Miata just looks like an optimized Fb design (can't speak to the FC) using more plastic and reducing the weight of assemblies. Off topic, the power window motors on the NA's are a really nice small package. Those would be worth looking at to replace the massive sector gear and pinion setup in the FB.
I recently got to drive an unmolested 1994 Laguna Blue Miata with 180k miles. Along the Tail of the Dragon and most of the way back home... which means I didn't fit and had to have the top down the entire drive on 81 to NJ. My ears were numb after hour 2... 14 hours later I was delirious. That car is solid and a very good comparison on which to use, not the turbo. When right both cars are enjoyable, the Seven feels longer while driving and both can be darty when you end up on truck rutted highways. Agree with the general comment that the Seven is better on longer drives and the Miata is good on small roads, but both can do the other quite well.
the Miata is a parts bin car, in the tradition of the older British stuff, but it seems like none of the same people were involved.
its actually really weird, the 1993 Rx7 and 1993 Miata were made in the same factory by the same people, but other than that they really couldn't be more different
The Miata was the replacement for the 1st gen RX7, in terms of market segment. The second gen 7 was more expensive and more of a GT car than a cheap, tossable sports car, and the upcoming 3rd gen was unaffordable for most. The Miata was the new fun, affordable sports car while the RX7 was becoming the halo car. And it worked - they sold a gazillion of em. Nurses and Dentists love them as much as AutoX drivers.
The Miata was the replacement for the 1st gen RX7, in terms of market segment. The second gen 7 was more expensive and more of a GT car than a cheap, tossable sports car, and the upcoming 3rd gen was unaffordable for most. The Miata was the new fun, affordable sports car while the RX7 was becoming the halo car. And it worked - they sold a gazillion of em. Nurses and Dentists love them as much as AutoX drivers.
Miata is the best selling sports car ever (well over 1 million), followed by the Rx7 (~900,000), followed by the MGB (499999)...
its actually really weird, the 1993 Rx7 and 1993 Miata were made in the same factory by the same people, but other than that they really couldn't be more different
I always felt like the lines for the NB were so similar to the FD. That's why my wife chose it over an NA
I remember seeing a printed Mazda ad (magazine) back around 92-93 that showed all the current mazda vehicles. I had never seen an FD and I remember thinking it must be a special edition Miata, because the silhouettes looked so similar.
11-14-19, 01:01 PM
