Dino V

Both look great! Keep enjoying!

BeerBurner

Thanks!

I feel that it's a good position to be in when I have to decide which fun, little red sports car I'm going to drive today.

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Tiger03447

How does the Miata stack up against, say the Honda 2000? both are about the same size, but the Honda has a 2.0? liter engine...I've not heard any bad things about the Honda and it is REAR wheel drive. I can only surmise that the Miata is also..might be a better basis of comparison to the 944 than the Miata...jus sayin...

BeerBurner

The Miata is also RWD.

I haven't driven the S2000 but the general consensus on miata.net is that it is a "weaponized Miata."

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goatfarmerdave

Yes you can buy more mods for the Miata,or you could buy a 951.Imagine your 944 with another 150hp and bigger brakes,etc.Now that is fun!

odurandina

GoKart

How about a 944 S versus an NB2 Miata, guys?

Looking for a decent 3-4 day per week driver, 30 miles one way of canyon road, mostly 40-60mph speeds, at some altitude though.

Like the idea of a Miata - light, very revvy, great handling - but not excited about (a) the lack of rigidity and (b) the lackluster power.

Like the idea of a 944 S - kinda light, kinda revvy, great handling - but not excited about (a) the cost of maintenance and (b) the cost of maintenance.

Thoughts?

Flammulator

Very cool reading a comparison from someone who owns both, and interesting to hear how your impression on reliability has changed.

It's been several years since I've driven a Miata (and I didn't get to drive it very hard either...), and I enjoyed it about as much as anything I'd driven at that point. For me, the main issue with that car is the seating position. I have long enough legs my knees were pressed against the dashboard for most of the ride. It was an NC with stock seats, and maybe bucket seats would fix or reduce the issue, but the 944 fits me perfectly without any modifications.

I'm curious if your perception of the Mazda's reliability has been changed due to modification related issues, or if the problems you've encountered were things you'd expect if the car was left stock.

By the way, I love the wheels on the 944 in this picture:

odonnell

The 16v engine is slightly more upkeep but I think you'll find that it's not very much more, plenty of info online documenting these differences. The timing belt is wider, and despite the dual camshafts, belt failures seem to less of a thing in the real world. I would think that finding 944S specific parts may end up costing more than 8v parts, but so much of it is still available new or is shared on the 8v.

[924.org] Rasta Monsta

Thought I would add my 2¢. I have a ton of seat time racing both cars, and in our area we race them in the same run group (Spec Miata and Pro44).

The Miata is better handling, with far more mechanical grip in the corners. It is also much better in transitional situations. It does this on narrower tires. I suspect the main issue is the more sophisticated rear suspension on the Miata (sorry, Super Beetle).

The 944 has more power and better acceleration. It also has FAR better brakes.

As a result, on most days, the fastest Miata and fastest 944 are very close in terms of lap times, in our group anyway.

FWIW, I love driving a Miata on the track, but prefer my 924S. Why? Because PORSCHE.

BeerBurner

Heh... I had to reread the entire thread to get back up to speed on what I said...

I haven't spend a lot of time behind the wheel of an NB and, when it was, it was a 2000 so I can't speak too much about it.

The saying around us early Miata guys is that the NB is a better car but the NA is a better Miata. The NBs will be more comfortable and have more power (as my own experience attests to) but the interiors are surprisingly more cramped and they don't toss around as an NA... but that is a relative comparison and I don't think you'll go wrong with them.

At the end of the day, I'd suspect that the NB will be cheaper and more reliable than a 944 S but the 944 S will have better year-round practicality (I found that convertibles lose a lot of their charm when the weather doesn't permit top-down driving) and will probably do better on longer, less fun drives. There's a reason my wife and I take the 944 on any trip longer than about an hour or so.

The modifications have had no noticeable impact on reliability. I think a lot of my earlier reliability concerns stemmed from being pissed off about getting a car that needed some sorting out (I have since realized that this is not unusual for a used car) that then went on to kill an engine.

All in all, aside from a ridiculous appetite for brake calipers, the Miata has been pretty reliable. Mile per mile, it is still a little less reliable than the 944 but the parts are cheaper so it's a wash.

And, since we're back on the topic, here is a picture of the car taken a few weeks ago at Summit Point. OK, yeah, I'm in the way of a heavily modified Cayman but my daily driver, moderately street-modified '90 also had over 202,000 miles on it in that picture. Take that for however you want to.

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[924.org] Rasta Monsta

Speaking of grip, here's me passing my buddy's 944 on the outside in a third gear corner. . .ouch.

Zeus993

Great shot!

BeerBurner

Ha ha! Nice.

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Flammulator

Makes sense. Though I've had some catching up to do on maintenance with my 944, all the issues have been directly related to either 33 year old rubber, or a prior owner who didn't use the car enough to expose issues (AC leak, for instance). Because of that I don't fault the car, and I don't think of the issues as reliability, though I'm sure if my old jetta's CV joint boots or oil cooler seals leaked I'd be upset at VW. (But then, my Jetta was unreliable to the point of repeatedly inducing hysterical laughter. But that's another story.) Point is, it's interesting how perspective plays into something like reliability, which seems pretty clear-cut.

Also, on the topic of NA Miatas, I've had 4 or 5 pop headlights up at me to say hi. I try and return the gesture, as I have a soft spot for them, but I'm surprised to get acknowledgement from that specific model. Any idea if that's a pop-up light sort of thing, or just similar taste in cars? Either way I'm cool with it.