By: John Saupé
You open the door and sit down. You notice the seats hug your sides ever so slightly. You feel secure but not cramped. Then you put on the seat belt and turn the key. As you start to move, you notice the sensitive steering and tight handling. Now you hit the gas in first gear and it squeals the tires as you accelerate and feel the suspension tighten up. That’s when you love yourself for buying a Miata.
Since its day view in the year 1989, the Mx-5 Miata has been the leader in the small roadster class. It is recognized worldwide as the inexpensive, reliable, and fuel-efficient track car made for the street. When the Miata came out, they sold like crazy because of this, which makes it the perfect car to start a race car project or a car to enjoy driving to work while getting 30 plus miles per gallon. This is great because now there are many parts available both aftermarket and original engine manufacture. So that brings us to the start of what this blog post is about.
Over the years I have grown to love all sports cars for what they are. Sports cars have been around since people have manufactured cars. At first they were just stripped down versions of normal cars to increase speed and handling capability. But I am truly in love with the’ 90s sport cars. I have ridden in and worked on cars such as the Nissan 240sx, Toyota Supra, Corvette, and of course the Mazda Miata.
When I went to go buy my first sports car, I made the mistake of getting a Honda Crx. Not a bad choice if you have a lot of money to make it reach its potential, but being a broke college student, I soon realized this and got rid of it for a 1994 Mazda Miata. I did my homework and sat down and figured out that it has almost everything I was looking for. The Miata is still just as slow as the Crx, but it has the potential, for less money, to become a true thrill to drive. What I was looking for was a reliable, two-door, lightweight, rear-wheel drive car. That was when it hit me. A 1990s Miata will run you about $3,000 for a nice one, or for my case, $1,800 fixer-upper. I was fine with this because, even though I am by all means not a car guru, I have the ability to do regular maintenance and small repair jobs such as oil changes and other random engine maintenance and repair requirements. Also, since the Mazda Miata was made in the 1990s, it is old enough to know the common problems and new enough to still easily find parts for the car.
When I went to go buy my first sports car, I made the mistake of getting a Honda Crx. Not a bad choice if you have a lot of money to make it reach its potential, but being a broke college student, I soon realized this and got rid of it for a 1994 Mazda Miata. I did my homework and sat down and figured out that it has almost everything I was looking for. The Miata is still just as slow as the Crx, but it has the potential, for less money, to become a true thrill to drive. What I was looking for was a reliable, two-door, lightweight, rear-wheel drive car. That was when it hit me. A 1990s Miata will run you about $3,000 for a nice one, or for my case, $1,800 fixer-upper. I was fine with this because, even though I am by all means not a car guru, I have the ability to do regular maintenance and small repair jobs such as oil changes and other random engine maintenance and repair requirements. Also, since the Mazda Miata was made in the 1990s, it is old enough to know the common problems and new enough to still easily find parts for the car.
If you are looking for a reliable, fuel efficient, and fun drive, look no further. The Miata has been featured in many car magazines as well as on many forums as the number one track car even still today. It is the king today because of the previously mentioned attributes. And with the aftermarket for the car being massive with the help of companies such as Flyin Miata, anyone can build a street-legal race car. Companies such as Flyin Miata offer everything from oil filters, to wheels, to turbo, and suspension components. This is when what I call the cost to fun factor, comes in. For less than the price of a newer 2005 4.6 liter v8 Ford Mustang, you can have an older Miata that will eat the new 5.0 liter Mustang. Figure it this way; you buy a Miata for around $2,500 and build the engine for $2,000. Now you can make around 300 to 400 horsepower without blowing up the engine. Add another $3,500 in suspension and a turbo, and put a little elbow grease in there, and you have a monster! Oh yeah, and $8,000 is about what a mint condition 2005 Mustang should run you, unless you want the 2014 5.0, which starts at $31,210.
One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of a race car is the weight. People love the Mustang as do I. But at the end of the day, it still weighs in close to 3,500 pounds when the Miata can be reduced to slightly under 2,000 pounds. This is where power to weight ratio comes out to bite the v8 owners in the butt. Let’s do the math; 300 horsepower on a low boost Miata that weighs 2,200 pounds is one horsepower for every 7.3 pounds. Now the new 5.0 Mustang weights around 3,700 pounds, which is not horrible by all means but does limit the ability of that car. Now the 3,700-pound Mustang makes 420 horsepower, which means the power-to-weight ratio is 8.8 pounds to the same one horsepower. Which, since you're reading this, you know that makes a huge difference especially on a back road.
This is why I encourage you, if you have not already bought one, to buy a Miata. The possibilities are endless for performance. Or if you want to keep it original and have fun do what you feel is right. Here’s a link to the Flyin Miata's website; http://www.flyinmiata.com/. So, go ahead and take a look at what’s there. If it’s for you, then chase your dreams. If it’s not, then have fun, but get ready to be passed! Thank you for reading have a great time on the streets!
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