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Comments
Not that I care much, I'm sure I'll own a '99 one of these days.
Barn doors impress little tikes, for sure. If I could only get my daughter to stop deploying them for fun!
The down side is that they "date" the car, the look is very '80s.
-juice
So they aren't necessarily stuck, they are kept up on purpose to prevent just that.
I'll give another example of how a face-lift doesn't look as good - the Acura NSX. The new face looks hideous, actually.
BTW - the sealed beams do stink, but you can get E-codes cheap and easily. I paid $80 or so for both enclosures plus bulbs from Susquehanna IIRC, and the lighting is fantastic now. Easily worth the money. In fact I bet the lighting is better than the new Miata's headlights.
-juice
PS They don't change the look, just the amount of light and the light pattern (much more light on the road)
I'll take your word for it. Mine rarely go up so it's a non-issue for me.
-juice
As for the little flip on the tale of the '99, I agree, it just doesn't belong, and looks like it needs to be filed down! It did actually make a difference in downforce and high speed stability however.
Guess I could still do the same on a newer model.
-juice
The test drive went fine. The dealer was given $2000 by Mazda, and the dealer went down another $1000 for a total of $18,056. He offered me $17450 for my 2001 CRV. I think that 8-9 months ago this would have been a fine deal but with the 2003's coming out soon, this car will be hit with 2 years of depreciation.
It seems to me that in a couple of months I could get a similar deal ($18,000) on a 2002 Miata but without the years worth of depreciation (about $2500 I figure). It seems to me that the dealer should eat some of this depreciation with me. I know they won't make any profit on the deal and may even take a loss if they don't get "All the money" for my CRV when they resell it.
If I can't do any better than their offer, I will probably wait a few months an get a 2002 LS and cash in on the 0% financing to offset the difference in price.
Jonathan: sounds sweet, now you need bigger front brake rotors and a 1.8l, or something else to boost torque. :-)
-juice
Drilled pads are a terrible idea for street use. They look great, but they don't have any performance advantages for public street driving and they eat through the pads at a faster rate.
Hakuna had instructions printed a while back, and they may be in the Miata.net Garage. He had a PhotoPoint account but as you may know they folded.
I bet you could find used rotors cheap, since many people autocross and replace the brakes.
-juice
-juice
they DO marginally improve brake pedal FEEL. if you have a nice firm single stage brake booster already, with well-bled brakes you probably can do without. all Miatae I've driven have a nice brake pedal feel.
-Colin
But yes, I echo the sentiment. Such cars can be hard to resell though, you have to find a motorsport enthusiast because the general public wants AC and the rest.
-Colin
Thanks!
Mark
I recently purchased a 95 for $6000 with 74k miles on it and am happy with my purchase. The dealer is probably raising the price on the 94 since it has pretty low miles for a car that old.
I'd love to have a model like it with another more comfortable car for daily driving, but alas, I can't afford it, so the creature comfort options in my Miataare pretty important as a daily driver, as is the base suspension.
I have mixed thoughts on the base suspension on it. On one hand the car sits too high and doesn't corner flat enough, on the other I can take speed bumps faster then any car I've driven (high ride height + a stiff suspension doesn't bounce + super short wheelbase) and the car takes well to the inconsistancies of the road as well. I don't have to crawl over train tracks and such.
Because of this I plan on replacing the shocks with adjustables, but actually leaving the springs, and therefore car height, stock.
-juice
I like it. I liked my manual rack '85 RX7 GSL also.
-Colin
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Are there any Canadians on this list?
Moved to BC recently and am car shopping... Wanted an MR2 but they don't sell them here. I can't believe it.
If you want to see the MR2 here in Canada go to the Toyota site (link below) and send them an email message asking for them to sell it here. (if you get an error you may have to click on the email link on the left first... and then compose your email.
Let's see if democracy is alive in Canada.
Residents of other countries are also welcome to help our cause by sending email to the following address.
http://www.toyota.ca/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WWW.woa/17/wo/Home.ContactUs-dL40009P100 r3400v5/0.33.9?%2e%2e%2fcontact%2findex%2ehtml
********
I drove one while I was in florida. It was kind of funny because they only had one at the dealership and it was inside the showroom. They actually moved all of the desks out of the way to roll it ouf for me. I was worried I'd start dreaming about the MR2 if I drove it, but I took the chance. It is a fun car, and has a superb engine, super smooth compared to the Miata. When I finished the test drive though, I felt that much happier about My Miata. Everything about the Miata communicates better with the driver, and I found the MR2 to be less rewarding on a whole. Of course I'm also the type of driver who judges a car on how it drives, not how fast professionals can make it go.
I've owned 2 cars without PS, but both were front-engine FWD. I'm sure the Miata would be better.
Though I just threw out my back on Sunday, so the Miata is parked for a little while. Shame, with the nice weather, but the Forester is 500% easier to get into and the ride is limo-like, which is important right now.
-juice
i just finished my first month with my new '02 silver miata, and i love the ride.
i live in the snowbelt and plan to use it for my short daily commute.
my dealer claims that with the larger brakes on the '02s, there are no steel winter rims that exist that will fit.
first, is this true? will i have to pay for a second set of alloys?
second, i have used alpins, pirelli winter ice directionales on past cars so i know how they handle. however, none of them were front engine-rear drive cars! what really works well with miatas? (i've already read about the blizzaks and the sand bags in the trunk)
i appreciate any responses, thanks
The Miata is very competant in the snow, and I would also avoid the sandbag idea. It works in front heavy rwd cars to even out the balance, but the miata is already balanced- making it rear heavy will just make the cars handling more unpredictable.
I got through last winter in TO (a very mild one) on all season tires, and while I won't take that chance a second time, I'm very confident in the cars winter abilities. It's a lot of fun too!
i do live in the gta, but north of you (north of hwy 7) so i get a lot of snow (even last year we often got 7-10 inches when you guys in t.o. got 2 or less!) we also often have black ice conditions in and around my town.
any idea if what my dealer said was true (about the steel rims not fitting on my '02)???
thanks
p.s. what winter tires will you be buying this year???
Just do a bit of research before buying. Don't just go in and ask for blizzaks, because there are a few different kinds, and I believe one specifically is better in snowy conditions then another which is designed primarily for ice.
The other thing you have to think about is how much snow vs ice do you drive on, because the the width of tire has an opposite effect for each. For snow a thinner tire helps cut through without slipping, but it will also act more as a skate on ice, where a wide and sticky tire works better.
The first night of snow fall last year I could have avoided driving altogether, but instead I I went to a large, empty parking lot and threw the car around for a while. I'd recommend this - not only is it fun, but it will help you get a feel for the car when it slips and slides. It never hurts to practice spinning out of, and regaining control in the snow. It took more effort to lose control then I would have thought.
BTW, I live in Thornhill, just south of 7.
okay then, here's a silly question:
i have my snow tires (1yr old pirelli's) from my old car, size p185/65/15--is there any chance they would work on my miata?
i realize i may be running into issues of wheelwell clearance.
anyone have thoughts on a this tire size issue?
btw, i have p195/50/15 toyo proxes on my miata currently
If they do fit, though, you'd have extra ground clearance for when it does snow, and your gearing would be much taller. Plus it would handle like a dawg.
-juice
-Colin
looks like i'll have to drop another $700-1000 for a new set of 4 snows with steel rims. . .
i'll probably try the observes, i hear they are dyno-mite. if not, i may go back to the pirellis or blizzaks.
thanks