are mazda miatas good cars?
- Thread starter SHawna
- Start date
I had a Miata, and I loved the car, but I might also say I autocrossed it and drove it with a fairly heavy foot, burnt rubber left here and there.
And I let a girlfriend borrow it for a few days who REALLY COULDN'T DRIVE STICK. Ok, she was just that special to me that I could smell my clutch burn as she was driving slipping the clutch on every shift.
Anyway, end result was I got rid of the car with about 70K miles on it when it had a mostly burnt up clutch that would slip going up hills. I think my ex-girlfriend probably took at least 30K miles off the life of my clutch just by driving it badly for a few days while her automatic Fiero was at the Pontiac dealer for repairs.
So anyway, a car with over 100K miles, what really matters is how it was treated. And for a car like a Miata, there are almost 0 candidates to drive a Miata that would buy it to drive it like a granny. Most Miata buyers are likely to be some sort of sports/performance enthusiasts, and have probably driven it hard at least some of the time.
My 1991 Miata had a top speed of 108mph with the top down, or 120mph with the top up, or 125 mph with the top up and the back window open, or 128 mph with the top up and the back window down and the defroster fan on full blast.
With G-Tech meter I measured the lateral G capability at 0.89G on minimum turning circle around 30-35 ft. I adjusted my own camber and caster to maximum available negative camber setting, and spent most of the time with Yokohama A-008 tires which are nice for autocross and not extremely practical for street use. Oh yeah, the autocross may have also contributed a bit extra to my clutch wear as well.
What I loved about this car is that it performed well and was comfortable to race with in stock class with really not much modification to make it competitive (the main thing being a decent set of tires and a decent set of adjustable shocks). Anyway your greatest problem as a potential Miata buyer is that maybe your car was previously owned by a guy like me that wanted to purposely collect all my own performance test numbers.
What I can also say is that the first generation Miatas had some problems that got ironed out after the first few years. I had a '91 and with what I know wouldn't recommend to buy anything older than '93, the 1.8L was a big improvement over the 1.6L as there was also additional chassis reinforcement like under the rear end at the same time, and the newer cars were more competitive at the autocross track.
And I let a girlfriend borrow it for a few days who REALLY COULDN'T DRIVE STICK. Ok, she was just that special to me that I could smell my clutch burn as she was driving slipping the clutch on every shift.
Anyway, end result was I got rid of the car with about 70K miles on it when it had a mostly burnt up clutch that would slip going up hills. I think my ex-girlfriend probably took at least 30K miles off the life of my clutch just by driving it badly for a few days while her automatic Fiero was at the Pontiac dealer for repairs.
So anyway, a car with over 100K miles, what really matters is how it was treated. And for a car like a Miata, there are almost 0 candidates to drive a Miata that would buy it to drive it like a granny. Most Miata buyers are likely to be some sort of sports/performance enthusiasts, and have probably driven it hard at least some of the time.
My 1991 Miata had a top speed of 108mph with the top down, or 120mph with the top up, or 125 mph with the top up and the back window open, or 128 mph with the top up and the back window down and the defroster fan on full blast.
With G-Tech meter I measured the lateral G capability at 0.89G on minimum turning circle around 30-35 ft. I adjusted my own camber and caster to maximum available negative camber setting, and spent most of the time with Yokohama A-008 tires which are nice for autocross and not extremely practical for street use. Oh yeah, the autocross may have also contributed a bit extra to my clutch wear as well.
What I loved about this car is that it performed well and was comfortable to race with in stock class with really not much modification to make it competitive (the main thing being a decent set of tires and a decent set of adjustable shocks). Anyway your greatest problem as a potential Miata buyer is that maybe your car was previously owned by a guy like me that wanted to purposely collect all my own performance test numbers.
What I can also say is that the first generation Miatas had some problems that got ironed out after the first few years. I had a '91 and with what I know wouldn't recommend to buy anything older than '93, the 1.8L was a big improvement over the 1.6L as there was also additional chassis reinforcement like under the rear end at the same time, and the newer cars were more competitive at the autocross track.