THSCC Forums

Miata's are a dime a dozen, if you really want ABS, then don't buy this one.

Remember, it's not a big deal to get a car that is out of state, it's even getting to be a nice time of year to drive one home!

Buy one in Knoxville and come back via Deals Gap...

Scott

I've had my 95 miata since 98 and it's done A LOT of autocrossing and track days without ABS, and without flatspotting tires. Not saying I never lock up that front right tire, I do. Perhaps the trick is in the modulation of the brake pedal as not to lock down that front tire and LEAVE it there? Then again, maybe that's why I'm not nationally compeditive in autocross. I have ABS on my truck, I personally prefer panic breaking in the non-ABS Miata. Something about the car thinking it's smarter than I am doesn't sit too well with me.

Ask Karl Shultz what happens when you rely on ABS for your breaking and it goes on the blink... Fortunately, Carlisle PA is a tiny little "track" and you didn't get going very fast.

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Diane (Hall) Bundas
1992 Spec Miata #48 - 1997 Chevy Tahoe - 2007 Honda Civic Coupe

I guess you have to ask yourself what do you plan on doing with the car over the next couple of years. If you plan to run 8 local events per year and maybe do some TT, then you will not go wrong with your choice.

If your plans call for advancing, you don't want to be wishing you had ABS a year down the road. So it might be beneficial to search a little more.

I think a Miata is a wise choice. I believe it is the best all around, inexpensive ride there is. Plus, there is so much you can do with it.

Don't forget, the Torsen throws you out of STS2. You can join the ranks of us other fast sportscar owners with no ST class

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

When did your car become both sports and fast?

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Notice I said car owners I guess the power that be have decided it belongs with the likes of the Vettes, S2000, Porsches, new Miatas...what fine company for a little old $5,000 car Oh yea, new MR2 Spyders...sorry Eric.

New goal for local events, beat Eric's raw times...

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

Jim,

There is a good reason why there is no ST class for the fast sports cars. They are so good Stock that there is no need to significantly modify them to make them decent autocross or street or even open track cars.

Just slightly tongue in cheek . . .

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Hey! Don’t listen to any of these gear-heads! Miatas are a total waste of time and the worst car ever built. Take it from me, I owned 4 at the beginning of last year and how many do I have now? Zero! That’s right, zero! Those cars are overrated and a total waste of time. Quite possibly the worst handling cars I’ve ever driven. It took me 4 cars and countless dollars to finally see the light but now that I’ve finally come to my senses, I’m steering everybody away from them as fast as I can. I thank God everyday that the poor slobs that bought my old cars didn’t figure this out in time!!!



But seriously, they are great cars. One of these days I’ll probably get another just to goof around with. I think the best advice was given above-- be patient with your decision and make sure that you get everything you want in one. If you really want a particular feature in a car and you think you might not regret getting it down the road, I can practically guarantee you will. Or you can just be an idiot like me and switch cars every year for no particular reason.

Having driving the ABS and non-ABS versions extensively, I can honestly say that the ABS versions will provide much better stopping power. Non-ABS Miatas (especially stiffly sprung ones) tend to lock up the right front and while you can do some things to tune around it, you’re miles ahead if the ABS computer can take care of most of the work.

My old turbo Miata didn’t have ABS and while you could still hustle the car around a course, it would have been much faster if you weren’t always worried about smoking the right front. After driving a few ABS equipped Miatas around and practically standing them on their nose under heavy braking , it seems that you’re never going to get that kind of performance without it. Of course, all this is assuming you are looking for that last 1% of performance out of the car. If that isn’t a big deal, I wouldn’t give much thought to getting ABS if I found a nice non-ABS car I liked.

FWIW, YMMV and all that stuff…

The shorter Jim

Actually, we widened our search radius, and ARE looking at one in TN now too... may go for a drive on Saturday



Actually, I'm more worried about the last 10% performance from the DRIVERS. Though maybe considered a crutch, I think ABS would help us push ourselves harder - not worrying about smoking the tires WHEN we make mistakes. Besides, if I'm to error in this, probably better to error on the "have" than the "have not".

Still haven't written off the local dealer (i.e. No ABS option), but it looks less likely every passing hour.

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

We have a 99 PEP (that's actually POPULAR equipment pkg) we bought new that I still love even tho we don't AX it any more. Our also doesn't have ABS, but I can't say I've ever missed it or had problems with flatspotting. The PEP is softer sprung than the Sport and came with 14" rather than 15" wheels on the sport, which means it has a lower roll center and uses cheaper AX tires.
I wouldn't pass on that one just because of no ABS unless you're a national caliber driver.
I have driven ours for as long as 16 hrs straight, with more comfort than in our Celica and I'm 6'2" 250#. It's just plain fun to drive in my opinion.
I have a friend who's daily driver is a Miata who is 6'7"!!!

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

There must be a trick. I'm 6'-3" 200# and it's very tight to me. After the 2 hour drive to Sanford I'm really ready to get out.

At stoplights I have to either wait for the driver beside me to go or tilt my head to the side to see the light.
It would be nice to be Feinberg's height while drving a Miata. Though reaching the pedals would be more difficult.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

So how are these Miata engines for reliability? I've found a '99 with 106k miles. Asking price seems reasonable - about 1.5k less than others with half the mileage. It appears to be a one-owner car, and well taken care of. If this were a CRX, I wouldn't worry too much about it, pocket the difference and plan some deep "maintenance" in the off-season (5years from now ). But not knowing much about the Mazda's, I can't really say if this mentality applies. If there's not recent records, I would obviously take care of the obvious stuff like Timing belts, Water pump, and if not already changed it will likely need shocks and possibly a clutch. From what I've heard, maintenance isn't too bad on these, but are there any other high mileage concerns for the 1.8's?

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

Dude, you've obviously never tried J.C. Whitney's pedal extensions! I install them in every car I own!

Jim
- who finds that a pillow in the seat doesn't hurt either...

There is a trick...remove the extra padding from the driver's seat. Just take an electric knife and cut off the padding that fits into the seat bottom depression.

It will drop you about 3 inches in the car without impacting the comfort.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

I've read about that on dot net. I'm sure that would help me to get legal for passing the "broomstick test" if I decided to do HPDE's in it. However the width problem is still there. I knew all this when we bought the car so I'm not complaining...well maybe a little.

It's not my daily driver anyway. It's a weekender and Sonya's Auto-X car. It works well for both of those, was $16,500 less than my truck...which was hardly ever driven.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

At stoplights I have to either wait for the driver beside me to go or tilt my head to the side to see the light.


I'm all of 5'7" and the first time I got in a Miata I couldn't decide if I should look over or under the windshield header . Then the "barn doors" went up and I thought I'd never get used to it.
Took a couple of days ...

You might find pedal extensions (or bending the existing pedals) helpful for heel and toeing. The pedals are close enough but my knee would hit the bottom of the steering wheel. The extensions let my foot remain more upright with less knee movement. Unstuffing the seat would help here too.

Frank