Pelican Parts Forums - Miata vs 914

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The Miata I am currently considering is a '97M with hardtop.

A big plus for me is the ability to drive the Miata year round if needed.

I just don't think miatas are that ugly, but thats just me.

My old car, and the wife's car.
http://home.swbell.net/smasraum/miat...s/IMG_0892.jpg

My new car
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1283996773.jpg

Dedicated skinny snowtires are a must on a winter Miata. And a whole lotta ballast. And then only on plowed roads as they have zero ground clearance. But the 50/50 weigh distribution allows them to have decent traction. They're just so light that they get tossed around by slush, ice, other vehicles/semis, and wind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 71T Targa (Post 5834148)

The Miata I am currently considering is a '97M with hardtop.

A big plus for me is the ability to drive the Miata year round if needed.

I really loved my '97. The M Ed is nice, and the hardtop is great. My car came with a factory ht. I eventually put it on my wife's car. If you decide the ht is too much of a pain, or you don't need/want it. They can be sold for anywhere from $800-1500 depending upon the condition. There are plenty of folks who drive them in snow with decent tires. They just can't handle deep snow because of the ground clearance. They are supposed to be lots of fun in e snow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 71T Targa (Post 5834148)

The Miata I am currently considering is a '97M with hardtop.

A big plus for me is the ability to drive the Miata year round if needed.

Is it the blue one being sold be the male couple?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaisen (Post 5834189)

Is it the blue one being sold be the male couple?

What are you sayin? ;)

The thing I'd hate about owning a miata is going shopping for a matching purse.

LOL in the 5 years I drove mine, I got that a lot too.. a little random drive by hate from others who assume things because im handsome ;)

No my cons arent based on one in rough shape... theyre based on what i've read from people, my friends miata and the 2 I had. First one had from 130k-189k and was in decent shape, second one had from 70k-88k and was in perfect shape.

I wouldnt get another one unless I had $15k to turn it into a proper car :p

I've had a base '90 Miata and a '94 Miata R (both with manual steering), own an '84 911, and test drove a couple of 914s before I bought my Porsche.

If you want an antique to fiddle with and take care of, buy the 914.

If you want something to drive, buy the Miata.

I drove both my Miatas brutally, in all weather, and didn't care much about maintenance. They never missed a beat. They always came back for more. Huge fun to drive on public roads, as stated above. I would wind out the first two gears to redline and be going, what, 35mph? Oh, and the shifter and tranny is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I taught myself how to heel-and-toe in a Miata, which I still can't do in the 911.

At the end of the day, though, the reason I don't have them any more is because they had just a tiny amount of soul. My 911? Tons! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum (Post 5834106)

It sounds like you don't know much about miatas. Ive had a 911 and three miatas (no 914). I feel pretty qualified to talk about miatas. They are very solidly put together/built. You say the 914 will hold its value, and assuming rust doesn't eat the thing, that's probably true. Miatas do hold their value, pretty well too. The ther thing that you mention is having to eat the operating costs, which for an old 914 and the price of parts for porsches culd be healthy. Miatas are extremely reliable, bulletproof is the term commonly used. Operating costs are pretty minimal for a miata.

A lady I know has a Miata and I've done some work for her. As far as fit and finish goes there's no better way to get to know a car than by servicing, washing, polishing and detailing it.
Her car was stock. The roof was starting to fall apart and the paint was so thin it was scary.
Yes it was a reliable to a degree but compared to a 914, or anything built by Porsche it's simply not as well built.
There were some issue with her engine. For instance I had to repair a spark plug thread for her that had failed.

If I had to choose between the two cars I would always choose the Porsche. (assuming the 914 isn't rusted out)
Miatas may hold their value compared to other Japanese cars but a good 914 will have depreciated all that it's going to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum (Post 5834106)

...

914s are safer in a crash? Really? What makes you say that? I'd say that's absolutely wrong. The miata has the benefit of more modern crashworthiness engineering that did not exist when Tyne 914 was around.

I guarantee you the Porsche would be more solid and safer in a crash. The Targa hoop alone would make it safer in a roll over. (assuming the 914 isn't rusted out)
The Miata benefits from newer tech so it may have better brakes etc but given a choice again I would choose the Porsche every time.

I would never consider any car that is rusted out. No matter who made it. There should always good examples around if you take the time to look.

Imagine having a crash with a SUV? Given a choice, what car would you rather be in?

The newer safety tech is about making a bad driver safer. It does very little for a competent driver.
If anything it makes it harder for a good driver. EG: How many people on the road still know how to feather the brakes in an emergency stop situation?
A good driver can stop sooner in a car without ABS as opposed to the same car with ABS... Jam and pray??? - How many older cars still have properly functioning ABS?

The idea of relying on an ABS system that may or may not be functioning properly sounds too much like a crap shoot to me.
And getting an older ABS system to work properly once it has failed can be very difficult and expensive... In my experience most people don't bother and continue driving the car with a failed system.

-------------------------------------

As I said in my earlier post, Miatas are great cars but compared to the value and coolness of a 914 there's just no contest IMO.

OK... So a good 914 would be more expensive to buy and run but you would see that money back when it comes time to sell.
A Miata is only going to go one way in value.

EDIT: For instance, I believe it's better to spend $10,000 or $12,000 on a nice 914 rather than $7,000 for an equally nice Miata.
5 years from now which car will be worth more? Assuming you service and look after it properly.

I only have seat time in a Miata chumpcar. It's an ex spec miata that was totalled in a crash years ago and became a bare shell. We put junkyard parts in it including an engine with 130,000 on it and won the first chumpcar 24 hour race in Portland in 2009. We won because we did nothing but put gas and oil in the thing. It probably helped we had 6 experienced racers and me, an inexperienced racer. We all race formula vees so the whole momentum car thing is something we all get which works well in endurance racing. It had a burnt valve at the end and we went through the head and took 2nd or 3rd in the Spokane 2010 24 hour race. We did do brake pads on that one. Bulletproof is a good term I think. I wouldn't hesitate to own a Miata if I had the chance.

Our car in Portland:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1297213965.jpg

A friend owned a VERY worked miata with a laundry list of mods. lets just say that car could move and i wouldnt hesitate to own one. before purchasing my 914 i was looking at miata's but i couldn't find exactly what i was loking for.

There probably is not a better car than the Miata if you are looking for a man. :D I kid!

I have had a lot of small sports cars: 73 Jensen Healey, 71 240Z, 85 RX7 13B, 86 MR2, 79 MG Midget, 75 914 1.8, 76 911S w/ 3.0. I test drove a new 90 Miata at the dealer.

IMHO:

If it's going to be your only car, you don't or can't wrench, or you really need to drive it every day, buy the Miata (AC, reliable, traffic freindly).

If it's going to be a 2nd, weekend, track, hobby, or a collector car, and you like to/can wrench, buy the 914 (a blast to drive, very cool, always attracts attention, retains/gains value). :cool:

This is an interesting comparison, modern vs vintage sportscars. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/boxen.gif They are both great sports cars for different reasons.