G'day all,
I was wondering what everyone's opinions of miatas are? My 86 GXL project-car-forced-daily-driver is starting to get a bit shakey, and i don't want to kill my poor 200 dollar car, so, i'm looking into getting a miata for a daily driver, and this winter get the important repairs/bodwork done to the rex.. .

What does everyone on the forum think of miatas? (yes, i know they're not 7s, no i can't part with my 7, though!). the one that i'm looking at is a 96, black.

Comments/Questions/Flames welcome

 

They are neat If you want good opinions I would check a Miata forum. Not that great of a winter car though, if you have snow that is.

 

actually, i've been hanging out on miata.net's forums a lot, talking with them greatly influenced my decision.. they're supposed to be just as good in the snow as a 7 snow tires, and hope it doesn't get above 5" (their max clearance) I'll post some pics here, when I find one, cause, c'mon, it's all love for the mazdas, right?

 

great handling, but dont expect much in a straight line. you could probbly beat a CRX, but that doesnt say much.

 

Well, i really wasn't looking as much in the proformance dept, as reliabilty.. I'm in that poor-college-student predicament, i need a good car that doesn't cost a helluva lot to upkeep. Besides, this is why i'm looking to start properly repairing the 7 I'll have my race car, and my cruiser.

 

If money's an issue don't get a Miata, get some old Honda or Toyota, they run forever and cost next-to-nothing to keep running. If you have snow look at a 4WD Toyota Tercel, ugly, yes, but they'll run forever and safe (and you can put a matress in the back, just FYI, college student).

 

Fun car, handles like a go-cart, reliable as gravity. (if you keep it stock and maintain it)

Brad

 

Emagdnim - I couldn't deal with an ugly car, esp. after having a 7 money isn't an issue for car payments, i can swing that no biggie, it's just the parts that i'm worried about, sorta like these stupid boots around the shifter costing me nearly 70 to 80 dollars..

rx7 ragtop - snazzy thanks for the observations.. this would be kept stock, so it's nice to know they're dependable (from a source other than the miata forum)

 

I say good choice. Those things will run forever from what I have heard. Other than that I would suggest a MX-3, or a MX-6. I am partial to all mazdas though.

 

My little brother's stoner friend has an '02 and he let me drive it over the weekend.

1st Impression- Man, this thing is small and damn, that shifter has a short throw! I then put the top down and went out to the store...I loved that thing. In the pouring rain the rear end still stayed planted to the ground.

Basically, I loved it and would love to have one in my car collection...but I love the RX-7 more!

 

I sold off all my rx7's and bought a miata back in april. The only problem I have with the car is its so small, that means being fast and handling really well, but just for cruising or long trips its a drag. Also, having a real roof is better than having a convertible sometimes, but I live in NC, so the weather is great most of the time.

Compared to the RX7, here's my thoughts:
Better gas mileage, I can drive like a fool all the time and still get at least 25 mpg.

Handling, I had an 88 GXL with shocks and springs and really good tires, my miata has shitty tires and stock suspension and will out handle it hands down.

Speed, My 88 GXL had intake, headers, exhaust, ignition. My miata is just about as quick bone stock, except its not loud as **** like my rx7 was. Bear in mind that I have a 94 miata with the 1.8L engine in it, the 1.6L engines have about 25 less horsepower.

Reliability, consumer reports named the 94 miata the most reliable used car available. can't really argue with that. I put 2 transmissions, 2 engines, and a bunch more stuff in my rx7 in the 3.5 years I owned it.

Attention, if that's your thing you'll get more of it in the miata, granted with the exhaust setup on my 2nd gen I got plenty of looks, but they weren't good ones. And random girls rarely asked for rides in my rx7, this summer I met almost every girl in my apt complex because they came up to say 'hey nice car' or something like that.

Don't get me wrong, I love rx7's and I will get another one someday, but right now I am in college I need something reliable and cheap. I looked at altimas, maximas, accords when I decided to quit the rx7 thing for a while (I had 3 of them it was getting out of control) Then I drove the miata, decided despite the impracticality sometimes it was worth it, cheap, fun reliable, girls like it. Works for me.

Oh and one of the best parts, I never have to be the designated driver.

Matt Ford