Outkast

miata, yeah it was a similar scenerio, they offer free maintanance and $500 credit card, or repurchase

SpeedKing

iTrader: (4)

Those ******* sure have good taste, don't they? LOL...

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

This isn't directed toward you...

While it's great if you're on the receiving end, complaining about 15 hp is so retarded...like it's gonna make THAT much of a difference in you buying the car. I think ppl were just looking for an excuse to bitch & complain (as usual). 255 or 238, the 8 is still a real nice car IMO. Manufacturers fudge hp #s ALL THE TIME, be it overestimating to boost sales, underestimating (such as w/ the Camaro and Vette, or so I've heard), or even w/ Mercedes, where they don't guarantee hp #s at all w/ their AMG engines, since they're all hand-made, and bound to vary...

PVerdieck

coupes aren't sportscars.

Outkast

I couldn't agree more. As a matter of fact I would have never known the horsepower difference if Mazda didn't send me a letter. The 01 Miata was heavier than the 00 due to some improvements, so they changed the engine to try to compesate. But they ended up with just a little bit more torque and no real hp gain. The result was a car that did low 8s 0-60 vs. high 7s for the 98-00. The only reason I complained was because I've already had my fun with the car and I've always wanted an FD, and it was the only way I could pull it off at the time. I was 110% satisfied with every reason I bought a Miata, which was not power. I feel the same way about the RX8. A car that runs 5.9 sec 0-60, 14.5 in the quarter, and can do 150 mph (eventually) is not "underpowered". Especially a small, reliable N/A rotary that passes the strictest emissions tests and weights 3200 lbs (mine weighed in at 2950 stripped). I can appreciate a high RPM car with no torque, some people cannot so they cry like little ******, looking for "power" at 2000 rpm. *****

Outkast

P.S. : The 99-2002 Cobra (I know they didn't make it one of those years) made 250 rwhp, a far cry from the claimed 320. I was there when they dyno tested one at SFP with several Ford lawyers present. Disgruntled customers were offered ECU reprogramming and exhaust upgrades, I think.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

But OK, this is a bit diff...70 hp...SEVENTY? That's a lot lol. My old '86 Chevy Nova prob only had 70 hp TOTAL lol. A few hp different here and there I can live w/, but that 70hp woulda prob been something I woulda complained about IF I had bought the car purely for performance reasons. I mean, c'mon, it's not like Cobras do anything else well, other than straight-line performance. So you're basically handicapping it's ONLY strong point

Outkast

That's 320 hp at the flywheel and 250 at the wheels, sorry I didn't specify. It should have made at least 20 hp more.

T-88 Monster

Z06 should be #1 on the 2000 list IMO

danmc77

Does Sports Car International have European editors? Those UK-based mags are often bias against american cars. Like it or not, the Viper had to be the best sports car in the '90's. The performance could match any exotic, the handling could match and beat any Japaneese car, the looks are cool, and sales were good. Granted, once 2000 rolled around, there are now alot of cars that can keep up with it, but in the '90's you couldn't get much better. Usually the only thing these editors can complain about is an uncomfortable interior. But look at the results of performance tests and 9 times out of 10, the viper wins.

Whats the point in complianing though, there are a million sports cars that you could make a case for.

Oh, by the way, RX7's rule! Both the editors and readers know that!

80's Boy

Actually the early Vipers had a huge achilles heel. While they were really fast in a straight line and had acceptable handling, there braking performance was horrible for one simple reason. No ABS!! Not having ABS really hurt the cars on track performance and in a car with limits as high as the Viper, it really was an unacceptable omission on the part of Chrylser to not include it on their flagship car, when MiniVans came with it as stanard equipement.

Toss in the interior build quality of a Neon, and you have rock bottom prices on the used car market for a pretty cool car that has a few glaring shortcomings, and enough torque to put a grin on just about the harshest critics face.

Pitlab77

You have to remember what the miata did for the realible affordable sports car

SpeedKing

iTrader: (4)

Not to mention, it brought the convertible back into vogue. Then came BMW's Z3, Porsche's Boxster, and so on.

martel317

i'll let u drive mine when i get it back maybe you'll recosider www.plainmiata.com check out the specs page

1984se

von

The Supra Owners and Mustang Owners (cobalt shhh) are pretending that they never read this thread