Blueman33

A lot of people say that a Miata is a blast to drive, but they seem seriously power deficient with a 1995 having 128hp at the crank and a 0-60 in the range of a hyundai accent..... 9-10 second range.

So are they fun in spite of the fact they are slow?

I know that you I get a turbo or super-charger to give them more pep, but I already have a 951 constantly wanting upgrades, so i don't need two continual project cars.

There is one I am interested in, but won't get to drive till the weekend, and
wondered what do you guys think about Miata's. (this is a 1995, 1.8)

Thanks.

streckfu's

A friend in Virginia had one and it was fun to drive. It's not a great accelerator but once you got it moving.... Think roller skate handling.

Don't buy it to look good in it as the only people that look good in a Miata also look good in Bikini tops.

Bri Bro

Build for people under 6' in height. My helmet was above the roll bar in all the cars I drove in. Beside that, I love the car, they are momentum machines that have a bullet proof drive train.

SamGrant951

My family has had two (a 1.6 and a 1.8) and they are a blast to drive. Both were black and the 1.8 had quite a few mods that make it a really awesome car. (intake, exhaust, header, light flywheel, short shift, coilovers, sways, etc...) Its very rev happy and has great throttle response. With the suspension mods it corners quickly and is such a tossable car. Great fun. For the price they can't be beat - my dad has been hesitant to goto forced induction because its such a great package the way it sits.

Blueman33

It's not super cheap for a Miata. It's $4900. 110k miles. It has a few goodies, like special rims, momo wheel and shift (not sure if standard or aftermarket), supposedly a nice paint job, had service done which for some reason included engine mounts which rattled, and.........it has a hardtop. It also has fancy klipse sound system with seperate components and amps and speakers. The owner said he is firm on price, unless I wanted him to take out all or some of the sound equipment which he could use in another car.

Said it was inspected at the dealer and I am welcomed to take it to any shop I want for a PPI.

Although the price is about $1000 over KBB, generally KBB gives crap values for older well kept cars and barely takes into account upgrades.....take a look at 951 KBB for a KBB laugh.

KuHL 951

I had a 95 for 5 years before selling it for my Stuttgart hobbies. I loved it to no end. That car would out perform either of my present cars on tight circuits and hold it's own with the N/A on the straights. I think your 0-60 times are seriously off though. The Gen 1 Miata's were near bulletproof and had the best driver feedback of any car I've ever owned...a real point and shoot. At 2200 pounds that's 17.2 lbs./HP compared to an 83 944 at 18.3 lbs./HP, 86 944 Turbo at 13.8 lbs/HP. Now go to Flying Miata and slap on their FM II Turbo kit for 245 HP/248 TQ and you have have 8.97 lbs./HP. http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?...t&sku=01-23301

An FM II on a 95 Miata will scorch many turbo P-cars both on and off the track and not suffer the ineveitable problems with spun rod bearings, scored cylinders, and tossed belts. Anyone that has ever come against one in DE's can confirm that. The nice thing is you can drive that Miata to the track!

I sometimes wish I had that tossable car still but I got to a point where the top down experience was turning me into beef jerky.

potent951turbo

A guy I know had one and he said he just loved it. He wrecked it on a mountain run and bought an E36 M3 to replace it but was always talking about the miata and how much he liked it over the M3. I still can't believe it.
Also there was an old 944 forum called 2 rob's and one of the guys who ran it sold off his highly modified 951 to start racing miata's. Once again I can't believe someone would want one over such cars as the 944 and M3 but I guess people really like them. I haven't driven one myself but those two stories go to show that people seem to really enjoy them.

jyoon

stay away from the first year of production. i believe they have a large incidence of broken crankshafts.

KuHL 951

Actually the cranks were fine on the 90 models. It was the short nose crank on the 90 that could get damaged after the first TB change. Improper installation of crank pulley would slide the key up and out of the keyway resulting in damage and slop in the keyway/pulley until the wobbling got bad enough to effect operation. The cranks never actually failed between the mains. Some of the 1.6L 1990-93 cars are pushing upwards of 400 HP without any crank issues...gotta love piston squirters and cast iron blocks for longevity.

Lorax

The brand new Miatas look HOT. What, with all those new fender flare's and such.. They offer a model with the AC deleted and their sport pakage for handling that you could drive off the lot onto the track if you wanted to. Sweet!

Eyal 951

One of the fastest car I was on track with was a forced induction Miata. My freind has a 99 10AE which is quite fun, and very tossable and controlable. Since he bought it, I've helped him install a roll bar and I/H/E.

ApexCars

I think part of the reason people rave about their Miatas so much is to cover the embarassment of being a male driving a Miata. I've never driven one so I don't know for sure, I'm 6'6" and I would have to get one for each foot. I think I read recently that 82% of the buyers were women.

Blueman33

Steve,

I was also surprised that the 0-60 times were in the 9 ish range. I got that from http://www.albeedigital.com/supercou...0-60times.html
9.7 and 8.7 for the year before (94) and the year after (96), with quarter times in the 16's. But that's an internet site, might be right, might not be.

And part of it is the feel....does it feel and drive sporty and fun. My honda pilot supposedly does 0-60 in 7 seconds and it doesn't have on stitch of sports car in it. My 951 feels fast and sporty at any speed. but yes, i agree..........9.7 does seem a bit high for 0-60.

All i can say, is that from the response to this thread and what i've heard......a miata must be a nifty little car.

potent951turbo

Its funny that you say you like the styling when I was thinking the opposite. I think the first style and second style are much better then the new one.

Blueman33

Appex,

"I think I read recently that 82% of the buyers were women."

It would interesting to see if the miata drivers at the track have a larger percentage of women than other clubs.

The "spec miata" racing class is one really fast growing group. The cars supposedly handle like carts, and are very inexpensive to puchase and modify to spec standards, compared to the expense of most track cars.

I wonder if the spec miata group has any more women than the other clubs. That would be another reason to buy one......larger race club with more events and more women in it.

ONe other COOL thing with spec miata..........when you're done, you're done. you don't keep trying a new MAF kit and putting on a bigger turbo and changing your suspension...........it is or it isn't a spec. once it's a spec, no more work, no temptation to buy the newest gizmo..........that could save money!