Goin topless???

[rory_a]

So apparently tonight I will be sans VW. Once I empty out 14 years or parts, I'll be out of the air-cooled scene.

But a dreamed up build has been eating at me for 10+ years - a Miata.

Anyone have any insight into which year would be a decent, reliable car? I honestly don't have any idea what to get or look for. I just want a little crap can to drive, have fun driving and building, and keep the miles low on the STi.

I'm thinking this is a decent alternative to dropping a new turbo, fmic, suspension etc in the sti.



Intending for cheapish coils, wide little wheels, flares, roll bar, and hardtop for year round rear drive shenanigans.

[Dean]

miata.net is your source for everything Miata related. Model year details, and everything else. You can spend nothing on an early NA 1.6l <-='93 1.8l <97' are a little better or move up to a NB '99-'05.

[rory_a]

Only guides and whatnot I've been ableto find on miata.net were complete newb car purchasing guidelines, not specific to maitas.

Thinking 1.8 might be out of my range, thinking 95 n older just for cost.

[sybir]

Heads up - if you really want a hardtop, find a car with one - most people selling an old miata don't know what the hardtops are worth. Buying one separately, the premium for used hardtops can make one cost more than the car itself - factory hardtops go for up to 2k in some circles for clean ones. Lots of NA's were bought for the hardtop and scrapped/parted out - that's how bad it is.

[rory_a]

eBay has a bunch in the 600-800 range, 1500 for cf. But one that I'm gonna look at has the hard top, hopefully the soft top is still in decent shape as well.


Still wondering if it's worth it though. Not looking for another money pit. That's why I'm getting out of the vW scene.

[Dean]

Miatas are pretty damn bullet proof, but you are talking about a 15+ year old car so money pit is relative. if it hasn't been done, plan to replace most anything rubber. if you want a Spec Miata, buy one already preped. Doing it yourself never pays. Let someone else have taken the loss.

'94 & '95 will be 1.8l <='93 = 1.6l

What sybir said about hard tops.

[Kevin M]

Miata motors are next to bulletproof, and used motors can be had for $400 or less. They don't stress the drivetrain and don't have a bunch of bells and whistles to stop working. Just take it in to your friendly neighborhood mechanic for the thorough once-over and Cory will catch anything that should stop the sale from happening. They are very cheap to maintain, repair and modify though, so if it looks reasonably well taken care of, it probably is.

[Kevin M]

Oh, and try to get a 1.8- it's still slow, but the difference between the 1.8 and 1.6 is bigger than the 10-14 hp should be.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

My Miata recap:

All the old 1.6 & 1.8's are pretty gutless cars. The lack of torque is such that when I've switched mine from the little stock wheels to the 15x7's with Azenis for auto-x events, I can noticeably feel less acceleration from the extra rotating mass of the heavier wheel/tire. That being said, with decent rubber on you can throw it around almost like a go-kart, so it's still fun.

The engines are pretty reliable. Mine has ~165k miles and still runs strong (for a Miata) with good oil pressure. Parts are pretty cheap, since everything is pretty small and light.

The most expensive hard tops are the OE ones, since they are required for Spec Miata and therefore sought after by every SM racer building a car. Aftermarket might be cheaper since they are disallowed by the SM rules.

The early cars are also definitely flexi-fliers. When you put on a hard top, just that plastic/composite/whateverthehellitis top with its 4 clamped (not even bolted) connections very noticeably stiffens the chassis.

The first couple years of the 1.6 had a much-talked-about-on-the-internet crankshaft keyway issue. Personally I think the level of angst over it is overblown. I have a 1990 1.6 and disassembled everything to check out the crank nose; it was flawless. Take that for what it's worth.

As far as adding power, forget it unless you force some extra air in there with a hamster wheel or drop in a real engine.

As far as braking, they have good OE brakes. Use more aggressive pads and it'll stop *hard* on good rubber. Maybe add braided lines for a little extra pedal stiffness if you want, but it isn't a huge change.

As far as handling, they're very well balanced right out of the box. I went from owning a 5.0 Mustang to the Miata, so they were polar opposites. The Mustang was a bear; heavy, slow to turn in, understeered excessively with the occasional snap oversteer to liven things up - not much fun to drive through corners. The Miata will turn right in and go wherever you point it. When you take it through a turn it just responds like a car should when cornering, with little effort on your part. Only drawback is body roll is excessive with the OE suspension when you push the car. Add some stiffer swaybars and it will feel great.

I'm gonna get rid of mine soon so I can do some stuff to my Jeep, but it was a fun car for a few years.

[Kevin M]

Every time I jump into a Miata at autocross after years of piloting mostly Subarus, I smash a few cones and double-clutch a few turn-in attempts because they are so much more responsive, even in nearly stock form. It's a completely different experience.

[rory_a]

Thanks for that awesome run down Austin. I had thought many times over about building a spec miata, then decided I wanted a street car for flexibility in a build.

However, at this point I've decided to keep my bike for summer commutes rather than replacing it with another car. Instead, I'm throwing a bunch of parts at the STi, hopefully a good mix to make this car fun as hell.

One of these days I'll do a RWD vert build, but maybe at that point I'll be able to swing an S2k

[szucchet]

am interested in spec miata is there anything i should know? where can u find them for sale already build?

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by szucchet

am interested in spec miata is there anything i should know? where can u find them for sale already build?

SCCA forums, SportsCar classifieds, GRM classifieds, Spec Miata forums.