Miata daily driver: anyone do it?
 

So in the ever-evolving saga of my vehicles, I am now the owner of a 2000 Chevy Silverado. It's great for the remodeling that I will be doing on our recently purchased house, not so great as a daily driver. 15 MPG and $3+ gas aren't a happy combo. Plus, it's not exactly fun to drive.

So, I've started looking at cheap, dependable, economical, and fun options as a DD. When I say cheap, I'm talking $3k or less. In my searching, it seems that the Miata is the #1 choice. Does anyone use their Miata as a DD? If so, is it pretty livable on a daily basis?

Yup. I've got a 1993 Miata, and last year we put more miles on it that any of the other vehicles. Between my wife and I, somebody's usually driving it.

-Over 30 mpg
-Great handling. Double wishbones on all four corners.
-Engine spins freely to 7000 rpm.
-Rear wheel drive.
-Dependable.
-Cheap- Mine has: hard top, soft top, A/C that will make 911 drivers weep, speakers and subwoofers built into the seats, leather, power everything, and I bought it for $4500.

A Miata can be driven hard without getting the attention of law enforcement. I have to behave myself when driving the 911.

Is it fast? No. Powerful? No. But nothing puts a smile on my face faster than the Miata.

My Silverado has 4:10 gears. I get about 13 mpg.

15 MPG is just an estimate for my truck, I'm too scared to check it for real.:) 2wd, ext cab, 5.3, it's probably about right. Still, it hurts like hell to put over $60 in gas into something I don't really even like driving.

So yours has been reliable? Seems that most people have that same experience, and parts are dirt cheap when something does go. Is it pretty easy to work on?

The Mazda engineers packed an entire car into a relatively small package with the Miata, so some things are tight, but not problematic. Removing a part or two usually allows easy access to whatever needs fixing.

I like the diagnostics- A paper clip! No need for expensive code readers. A paper clip can be used to jump a diagnostics box under the hood that allows the "check engine" light to flash a coded sequence. The shop manual has the table of codes. Easy!

Parts are plentiful. I haven't needed much.

The guys over at Miata.net are as active as Pelican, and even more fanatical about weight. I guess you've got to be with a mighty 115 hp rip-snorting 1.6 litre.

My truck is a 3/4 ton 4x4, with the 6.0 litre. Hauls everything I need, tows trailers with ease, but if I don't need it's capabilities, I take the Miata.

I would go with the Miata. Very reliable and size wise is great for zipping around town with enough room for groceries. Hell before I got into 911's my daily driver from '97-2000 was a 1972 MGB! Buy a second set of wheels to put decent winter tires on and you will be good to go year round.

My only complaints about my Miatas as daily drivers were the occasional water leak, the noisy ride on the highway, and the lack of luggage space. Otherwise, it is a reliable car that is cheap as hell to keep running.

My brother has a Miata (not sure what year) that he bought used several years ago. I know he has over 100,000 miles on it.

One time he heard me talking about my Porsche mechanic. He said: "Mechanic? Miata owners don't have mechanics. They never break."

He has had virtually no problems with it. Not counting, of course, the time he ripped the oil pan off on the high center of his dirt/gravel driveway. But you can't blame the car for that.

A design classic, and an utterly reliable daliy driver- its a Mazda. The only drawback is the sheer smallness, and that you look straight at the grill of most SUVs. (But any 911 owner knows the feeling.) and the soft roof- SO has had two Miatas -both roofs slashed.

Who said they werent fast? Well, they arent really- but on my benchmark track, I was able to get the SO's 98 1.8 Miata to within 4 secs of my 88 911.

The MX5 is the most most fun can you have with your clothes on. A real drivers car.

All very encouraging, thanks guys. The size is a non-issue with me, as it's just going to be a fun/commuter car. If I need space, I have the extended cab 3 door truck, or my wife's 4Runner.

Only thing you can't do with them is car pool. Otherwise, I've always liked Miatas.

I've been in a spec Miata, and sure, while it isn't at all 911 fast on the track, it seems a Miata driver needs to think more about skillful driving than fast driving. Momentum is everything to these little cars. After that, I'm sure Miatas are a lot faster than many other more powerful, yet not as well driven performance cars.

I gave some thought to a Miata, thought my wife would mostly drive. But she's had a couple of knee surgries and wasn't smiling getting in/out of the ones we test drove. I wouldn't mind one around for myself but I'd rather have my batch of bikes.
Jim

Of the two in our household, one is a daily driver from April to November. Great car, enough useful space when needed, and uber-reliable. Not stellar gas mileage when wound out, but not offensive, either. Easy to work on, fun to drive, cheap. Go for it.

My two brother-in-laws both had Miatas as daily drivers for 2-3 years and enjoyed them and so does my best friend. Heavy snowfalls aren't pleasant, but we don't get many of those...

I very seriously looked at getting one of the 2004 Mazdaspeed MX5's (turbo edition) before I settled on my SLK. Great little car, quite quick with the turbo and supposedly pretty darned reliable too. If I were to get a Miata, I'd go after one of those, although they're a bit tough to find (since they only made them for one year). The new GenIII Miatas look like crap, IMO - the nose is fugly. Personally I'd stick with GenII, most of the guys who have those speak pretty highly of them.

I've got a 94 with 200K on it and all it sees is the occasional weekday drive to work and 1-2 autocrosses a month. It's starting to burn more oil when run hard than I want, but otherwise it runs/drives great. I just finnished up with a front end rebuild, replaced 1 control arm(destroyed it trying to get the ball joint out), the lower ball joints, the tie rod ends, alignment bolts, upper ball joint boots and brake pads. All for under $300 from mazda motorsports. Which brings me to my point. Go run a couple autocrosses and join the mazda motorsports, you'll get OEM parts cheaper than you could anywhere else.

One more vote for buy it and love it. It's no 911, but it's no slouch either. BTW the wife to be loves it as well.

If you get one, I have a brand new adj. coil over set for one, and some brake bits too

Ooooooh, that sounds like fun.:)

I have a '97 that I drive daily. It's a fun DD. It's similar to my old '88 911 as far as daily driving goes except that the 911 seats were much more comfy, and the 911 was much faster. I used to get 15-17 mpg winter and 17-19 mpg summer in the 911. I get 21-23 daily in the miata. I did 3 weeks getting 25 mpg daily in the miata, but it was too boring. I've gotten 32 mpg on the highway in the miata.

The stock miata suspension is too soft, so I upgraded the springs to height adjustable sleeves over Bilstein shocks. There are some very sticky fun tires for the miata in 14" and 15".

My miata corners as quickly, or more quickly than my old '88 911 did.

My miata came with a removable hardtop. The hardtop was extremely quiet and water tight. I could take it off and put it on by myself. My car came with the hardtop, but to get one after the fact will run you $1000-1500. I replaced my stock black, plastic rear window top with a tan glass window top. The glass window is much better.

My wife's '99 came with the spiffy lightweight wheels (10.5# 15x7), I upgraded my stock 14" wheels with 11.5# 15x6.5 wheels.

not mine, but that's what they look like.
http://www.virkki.com/jyri/miata/gc2.jpg

my car before I lowered it (foreground) and the wifey's car(background, without hardtop).
http://home.swbell.net/smasraum/miat...s/bothside.jpg

Thanks for all the good feedback guys, seems like it's a good idea. The only other car this cheap that could tempt me is a Mk1 or Mk2 GTi in good shape. They also seem to sell for next to nothing, and would be a lot of fun.

Now it's just a matter of finding something. KS (and the midwest) is a black hole for cars, especially foreign ones. Now if I were looking for a Taurus or F150, I'd be set.

My daily driver... MazdaSpeed3
 

Here's my daily driver... 2007 MazdaSpeed3 with 263HP and a 6sp manual. I love this car! I've put 4800 miles on it since 2/19 and I love it more every time I drive it!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1180709609.jpg

Re: My daily driver... MazdaSpeed3
 

I've been a big fan of the 3 since it was introduced. I even managed to sell my in-laws on one, for their first foreign car (ever!). The Mazdaspeed 3 and 6 are both very impressive cars, if I was in the market for a new one I would give both a serious look.

Matt,
Yep, I love this car! I just took it to the local Mazda dealer to get the 2nd oil change (4888 miles) and I brought in my own AMSOIL 5W30 and I had them put my AMSOIL 75/90 gearbox lubricant in the tranny. I replaced the rubber shifter bushings with metal bushings and the car shifts much more precise now. This is by far the best new car I've ever purchased!

Art - what was the verdict on torque steer? Is it fairly minimal? That engine pumps out more horsepower to the front wheels than a 3.6. :eek:

dd74,
The torque steer is absolutely manageable as I've only noticed it twice in 4888 miles. Of course, I may have been exceeding the legally posted speeds and I may have been executing a tricky manuver! I replaced the shifter bushings to get a snappier shift, but besides that, the car is perfect and I enjoy driving it every bit as much as driving the 911. I really like the "stealthy" nature of the car and it goes like a rocket! My V1 detector has saved my butt a few times!

Art - I read an article where they use a computer to mitigate the torque steer by turning off the power to the steering when the accelerator is mashed. Very smart, IMO.

Here's mine:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1180731859.jpg

Miatas are great small cars.

You guys have me sold, now if I could just find one. There's quite a few in the $3k range, just not anywhere near KS.:(

In the meantime, I stumbled upon a really nice '87 325e.http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/...s/beerchug.gif

Matt,
Have I told you lately how much I love my MazdaSpeed3 and how fast it is?!!!

Yeah, but it's still a FWD econobox, granted, a fast, good handling econobox, but still that. It lacks the character of the miata.

Are they already selling for $3k or so? Because that's what I'd like to spend. Somehow I think I already know the answer to that one.;)

I've owned my 1990 for about 10 years now.
0 problems
0 maintenance
an absolute kick in the pants fun-wise
last year I acquired and sold a 1991 miata. perfect mechanical shape, slight wrinkle in the left front fender, some scratches in the paint, went for 5000, and that was more than I was expecting
look to spend 4.5k not 3k, it can make quite a difference in the bang for your buck

thats something I came across too...
perhaps in an effort to make it seem more british, this is the one quirk i've been able to find in the car. it turns out that water condenses on the circut board of the radio, and will not let it turn on until it has evaporated. basically the radio just wont start for the first 10 minutes of every drive, and then it clears up. my solution is just not to turn it off [turn the volume all the way down instead] but you can also pull the radio [takes 10 minutes, did it on the other car] and short between 2 connections, if you google it, you can find out which 2.

I say go for it, the only downsides ive found are 1:
baaaad in snow
and 2:
a little wearisome on the highway


"the most fun you can have with your pants on"
how true..

It's pretty ironic that you mention the Mk1 and Mk2 VW as a second choice. I owned my 1987 VW Golf for nearly 15 years before selling it to buy a Miata. As much as I loved my VW, the Miata is alot more fun to drive. Not nearly as 'quirky' either. Here she is in her current state:

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...a/DSC02457.jpg

Ive always thought the Miata to be the spiritual successor to the great tradition of small, light Brit roadsters. MG, Healey, Lotus. Except its a Mazda, so you can drive it in the rain and it starts every morning.

IMHO, there is not better chassis around in an inexpensive car. And its a drivers car because you can can never give up monentum and rely on power....I reckon if people think a Miata needs more power, they dont get it. Although, there is/was a guy sticking the Lexus 4.0 quad cam alloy V8s in them- with a supercharging option. eh gad.

And I just happen to have an extra Lexus 4.2 with a host of TRD bits if anyone wants to build something fun :D

Is anyone familiar with the Miata R Package? It seems to command a fairly high price over other Miatas. I know the "R" comes with LSD, but is the LSD even worth it with such little power going to the rear wheels.

After all, several Porsche mechanics and racers have told me LSD is more a hindrance on 911s in most cases, so I'm thinking it's the same scenario with Miatas.

The R package was basically a base model with an LSD, Bilsteins, spoilers F&R (can see the R front spoiler on my '92 B&T above), etc. I would definitely take an R model. In fact, my B&T is way over optioned for what I wanted, but I *really* love the lightweight 14" BBS wheels that came on it. If I'm not mistaken, they only weigh 8.6 lbs/ea.

The Miata aftermarket is HUGE. There are the 'hairdresser' mods, and then there are 'driver' mods. Check out www.miata.net and check their sponsors. You'll see pretty quickly who caters to who. Flyin' Miata is well known for their turbos, and the owner (Bill Cordell) was an independent Porsche shop owner before a client brought in a new '90 Miata and the rest is history.

For the money, it's a GREAT car. The a/c works great, the transmission is great, very reliable, cheap to maintain, etc....

Don't forget that the R package as a manual steering rack as well. If you parallel park a fair amount an A package car might be better. That's what I've got, same thing really save the bilsteins. mine came with those as well though, they were put on afterwards. LSD, manual windows, AC etc.

Here's mine from last weekend's autocross school

http://www.hungoverracing.com/tpwalsh/IMG_0064.jpg

About 8 years ago I had one as a daily driver. It was modded to the max as well, supercharger, headers, exhaust, springs, shocks, sway bars, Roll bar.... I loved it. Fun car, great on gas, had just enough trunk space etc. I beat the crap out of it and all it needed was gas and oil.

I even drove it in the snow (with snow tires)

Sold it in 99 to a fellow who still ownes it!

Cheers

If you find a manual steering car around you, go test drive it. The steering feel is TOTALLY different. Both my Miatas (a base '90 and an R '94) had manual steering. I hated the feel of the power steering in those cars. They felt totally uncommunicative to me.

I would think to get that manual feel, all a person has to do is disconnect the power steering mechanism. Or is it much more complicated than that?