pstickne

I think they're too small. Like an S2000 or Z3 or Soltice or MR2 or Fiero FB or Elise, etc.
Enough room for you and a handbag :-/

(Not that a 951 can fit a family... I just prefer a -slightly- larger car)

I'm surprised the 0-60 is rated so low. My 1991 240 SX, which only boasted a 160HP (when fresh) engine, was supposed to hit the 7's with manual IIRC (hard launches?). Traditional automatic transmissions and low TQ is another story ... I have a Civic and have driven an Echo, trust me ;P

WesM951

I'm actually seriously thinking about buying a 90 Miata and Turbocharging it. I did a bunch of reading the past few days. Just imagine 300RWHP in a 2100-2200lb car

Red1

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, because I think the current generation of Miata is butt-*** ugly.

The first gen was so-so. I liked the second gen pretty well. That's the only one I've driven and it was a fun car to drive. Had a ****ty gearbox but may have been an isolated example.

If you get one you'd definitely have the chick car stigma to deal with.

Mercedesben

I almost bought a Miata before I got another 951 three weeks ago.
The Miata is affordable, a nice 100k early example can be had for under $3,500
Upgrades are dirt cheap, and you can do almost everything in your garage.
I was ready to go until I instructed my first event of the year, I need to pass people! A miata will dominate in the corners, but 116 hp in an early car will die on the straights. I could pass twin turbo 996s at Summit point with my last 944 turbo, not with horsepower alone. I am would still buy a miata to keep miles off my rover and 951, because the miata is a blast to drive!!
Ben

Driftomagnifico

It's not too much fun, the cars have big issues hooking up and they are prone to coming around rather quickly on you.

The best Miata setup I've driven / riden in was a supercharged 1.8L, power delivery is instantaneous and controllable. It made for an absolutely retarded amount of badassness on the auto-x and on tracks.

turbo8

when i picked my 951 i acctually rented a miata with the sports package to go get the 951, i think it had the 140hp engine? i went from vegas to sacramento, after an hour of driving the miata i had to get out my back was hurting 5'11 lol, after that i was ok and had a blast driving it especially through this mountain pass just after mojave, 2am no cars on the road what so ever. now im thinking of getting one. but man the car was pretty slow couldnt get past 120, which took forever to get there..!!

tjbreen

There was a white spec car at the DE I attended last week. It seemed to go in the corners but was more like a rolling traffic cone on the road course with Porsches piling up behind it. A 944 NA with race rubber looked a lot faster on the course at New Hampshire International but the driver was having loads of fun. The open exhaust told you exactly when he was putting on the power and it was a lot sooner than I would have dared on the same corner - definately a momentum machine and probably a daemon on an autocross course

T. Breen

Blueman33

I DROVE IT. It was a riced out dog. ****.

The paint was scratched all over the place an flaking off on the bumpers, there were dings and the rear bumper had a big bump in it. The owner was a house painter..........it aint the same buddy.

The interior had paint on the seats and console.........the owner was a house painter.........

He had this beat up crap of a miata with $1000 rims, rice, ghetto, whatever you call it.

Then the sound system was speakers ***** nilly stuck here and there. there were two tweeters up by the sun visors stuck on the ceiling of the car so the visors didn't work and he had 1000 watt amps with wires runing all around and a big BAZOOKA sub in the trunk. The sound was terrible....a muddy, babbling, loud bass, and a way too high scatchy sounding high end at ear piercing sound levels.

He just kept telling me how great his paint job was and how awesome the sound system.

remember the exterior was scrathed all to hell and had paint popping off the door and bumper, and the interior seats and console had house paint all over them...........so this was a crap car.

!!!!!!!!!
now as far as driving. it cornered well, it felt good, the steering was precise, but for me, i will plan for forced induction or a bunch of NA mods. out of the box it was fun, but slower than i would like. i would probably go for a light SC or turbo that would leave most things in tact, only requiring maybe a clutch or brakes............so i think that's around 180 hp to the wheels. which is about 75% increase in power.

it's too bad they can't put a 2 or 2.2 liter with mega h.p. like the S2000 or Opel speedster, but then again i guess that's why the S2000 cost much much more, since it has 240 hp instead of 128.

the bottom line is i like the car, but would plan on more power from the get go......so i'd rather by a well maintained one with the works for $10000 than a car for 5ooo and have to get repainted, add a forced induction, get new seats, throw away the ricer sound system, fix the bumper, etc.

the other car i'm looking at cost more than 3 times as much..........bmw m coupe.

WesM951

Blue,
You can punch the stock 1.8L engines out to about 2.1L but thats all you can get out of the stock aluminum block. People put down about 250-275rwhp on the stock drivetrain before it starts causing issues. IIRC

Mark-87-951

My last gf had one. The steering was quick but waaay underpowered.

Racer46

I had a '93. Loved it. Won 2 local E-Stock championships in it. Would still be driving it but for the little old lady in the Buick Had 2 wrecks in it, both times the other driver claimed that they didn't see my little car. If I was to get another one I would look for a '94 or a '99 with the "sport package".

Just like Porsches there are plenty of forums out there. One of the best is: www.miata.net