'07 Si Sedan and a Miata

I'm wondering if there is someone out there who has experience with an '07 Civic Si sedan and NA/NB Miatas.

I've got the Si now and love it. I have very fond memories of my first car, which was a '71 240Z. The idea of RWD and better weight balance appeal to me.

So I'm thinking of selling the Si and getting an NA/NB Miata and some kind of cheap used sedan for the winter/carrying more people.

Right now the only negative I see is that the Miata is down a little on power, which doesn't worry me much, and that it has less luggage/passenger room, which doesn't bother me at all.

Anyone have other reasons I should just stick with the Si? Anyone think that RWD and the 50-50 balance thing are overrated?

What would you do with the car? AutoX? HPDEs? Just DD?

It really depends on your needs. If you can afford it, I'd keep the Si as a fun daily driver, then buy a cheap '90-'97 Miata to flog as your toy.

It will be mostly a DD and weekend backroad car. I could see myself getting into autocross, but I haven't yet and have a bad record of buying equipment before I really get into something, so that shouldn't be a big factor.

I might be able to afford to keep the Si and buy the Miata as a toy, but that's not going to fly with my wife. :-) So its got to be beater + Miata or just the Si.

DLC

Honestly I know very little about modern Hondas. But from what I have seen, they do well as a fun DD car that maybe gets some high-po tires straped on once in awhile.

I would not get a beater DD and a track focused car unless I was really going to be tracking a good bit or had a big itch for a fast car.

That said, you can get a decent Miata for under 3K if you look around, and a relaible beater for that same range too. So you could conceivably make some cash on the deal too

I think this is a question only YOU can answer, and I suspect that you already know what you want. We won't be able to change your mind, so follow your heart.

FWIW Miata > Civic Si

Forwarding to a friend of mine who actually owns both.

I have to admit I've been leaning toward the Miata, but the Si is a really fun car and has an awesome engine. I'm really of two minds about it.

Having owned several miata now(I just bought #14 to part out), a miata will never be the most exciting or thrilling car that you ever own but it will be the most satisfying. I have owned at least one miata constantly since 1994. I usually have at least one other DD and most of the time the other was the tow vehicle for the racecar/trailer.
You just have to do what is reasonable in your situation. A basic miata can get boring at a point so you add stuff to it which makes it harder to drive daily. Shocks, springs and sways may make it hard to drive up north but are great for the Dragon. My engine mods make it faster but with an edge. If you want comfort and fun, stay with the Honda and no one will fault you; otherwise join the dark side.

fastmiata wrote: Having owned several miata now(I just bought #14 to part out), a miata will never be the most exciting or thrilling car that you ever own but it will be the most satisfying. I have owned at least one miata constantly since 1994. I usually have at least one other DD and most of the time the other was the tow vehicle for the racecar/trailer. You just have to do what is reasonable in your situation. A basic miata can get boring at a point so you add stuff to it which makes it harder to drive daily. Shocks, springs and sways may make it hard to drive up north but are great for the Dragon. My engine mods make it faster but with an edge. If you want comfort and fun, stay with the Honda and no one will fault you; otherwise join the dark side.

What he said. Once you have the Miata you may wonder why you waited so long and missed out on years of fun

Only 14? I'm on 12 now-catching up to ya!

Find a Miata for sale and test drive it. Then, and only then, can you truly understand what a Miata is all about, and fairly compare it to your Civic Si. Personally, no, the RWD 50/50 weight distribution thing is not overrated. I enjoy it in my Miata, as well as some BMWs I've driven and owned.

One thing a Miata is not - stock, at least - is a rocketship off the line. Your Si will positively smoke a stock or nearly stock Miata in a straight line. For the money you'd get for your Si, you could buy a winter beater, an older NA Miata, and some fun go-fast goodies for it if the lack of power puts you off. Though also keep in mind that power isn't everything. I personally find it more satisfying to come by high exit speeds by driving the corners well and maintaining momentum instead of wallowing through the turn, then mashing the gas to catch up. To me, that's the fun of a Miata.

Don't worry about spending lots to get into autocross. I autocross my Miata regularly. Other than Falken Azenis RT-615s, it's bone stock, and a helluva lot of fun to play with, as-is. Sure, you can modify it pretty much any way you want depending on what class you want to run in, but I ran E Stock with the Cumberland Motor Club (local club in Maine) last year, and by some fluke I won.

Also, consider if you plan on having kids. The police frown upon bolting the car seat to the Miata's luggage rack.

You were catching me but I am pulling away again. Good to hear from you, JD!

Not multiple Miatas but rather I have owned the same single Miata for 17 years.
During that time I have owned other fun cars including:
'95 Civic EX coupe
'88 MR2 SC
'86 CRX
'97 240sx
'87 BMW 325is
'95 Volvo 850
These cars have come and gone, but I still keep the Miata!

You and I are in the same part of the world and around here, Miatas only come two ways:
1. Driven only on sunny days - and it shows.
2. Driven every/any day - and it shows.
With that said, conventinal wisdom is to buy a Miata based on condition not on age.
You could spend $8k to get a '02 Miata with 100k miles or you could spend $3k to get a '94 with 100k miles. Often the older one will be in better shape since it was summer only.

In 1990's terms my '95 Honda EX coupe was similar to your current Si and I still consider it to one of the best cars that I ever owned, but....just one of the best. The best one is still in my garage.

As JRW said, if you decide to go with the Miata, condition is more important than age. The engines are pretty bulletproof, and more power is only a credit card away.

Since you're in the Cleveburg area, the three main things to look out for are ---

1 --- Rust.

2 --- A previous owner with really bad taste who put a Bengals or Steelers sticker on it.

3 --- Rust.

The main area for concern is the rockers, especially just ahead of the rear wheel-opening. There's a "character-line" that runs all around the body at about the mid-point. Below this line on the doors, rear quater panels and front fenders, the paint should have a textured feel. If not, it's been re-sprayed, so check for bondo.

I'd also check the general condition of the entire underside of the car. Run-of-the-mill Ohio corrosion makes it a real pain to perform any general maintenance or modifications.

Or, you can find some nice, clean early Miata's in more rust-free areas for reasonable prices.

I currently have a '92 Miata that spent its entire life in Ohio, which I can almost hear corrode. I also have a '94 that I bought in Northern Virginia, complete with Hardcore rollbar and a Flyin' Miata turbo kit pushing 12 psi. ZERO rust, and I paid $3500, which included the cost of having it shipped to Bowling Green. Granted, the car has no carpet, insulation, or much of anything else... But the deals are out there if you decide to come to the Dark Side!!!

Buy the Miata and hide it from the wife. That or tell her that it's an "experiment" and you'll sell it for what you have in it once you're "done".

Here in Virginia you can find decent shape NA Miata's for right around $2k. I'm sure a properly maintained Miata will still draw $2k after you've put enough miles on it to know if you want to keep it or get rid of it.

Xceler8x wrote: Buy the Miata and hide it from the wife. That or tell her that it's an "experiment" and you'll sell it for what you have in it once you're "done".

Hah! I've got a Triumph Sprint in the garage I bought with just that argument. Maybe I can just turn it into a Miata. Worth about $3K.

grafmiata wrote: As JRW said, if you decide to go with the Miata, condition is more important than age. The engines are pretty bulletproof, and more power is only a credit card away. Since you're in the Cleveburg area, the three main things to look out for are --- 1 --- Rust. 2 --- A previous owner with really bad taste who put a Bengals or Steelers sticker on it. 3 --- Rust. The main area for concern is the rockers, especially just ahead of the rear wheel-opening. There's a "character-line" that runs all around the body at about the mid-point. Below this line on the doors, rear quater panels and front fenders, the paint should have a textured feel. If not, it's been re-sprayed, so check for bondo. I'd also check the general condition of the entire underside of the car. Run-of-the-mill Ohio corrosion makes it a real pain to perform any general maintenance or modifications. Or, you can find some nice, clean early Miata's in more rust-free areas for reasonable prices. I currently have a '92 Miata that spent its entire life in Ohio, which I can almost hear corrode. I also have a '94 that I bought in Northern Virginia, complete with Hardcore rollbar and a Flyin' Miata turbo kit pushing 12 psi. ZERO rust, and I paid $3500, which included the cost of having it shipped to Bowling Green. Granted, the car has no carpet, insulation, or much of anything else... But the deals are out there if you decide to come to the Dark Side!!!

How would mileage figure into the calculation? Is there a point when expensive stuff typically starts to need replacing?

$3500 for a rust-free car with a turbo kit and roll bar? Does she have a sister?

Appleseed wrote: Also, consider if you plan on having kids. The police frown upon bolting the car seat to the Miata's luggage rack.

But its OK to attach one to the roll bar, right?

Sparetire wrote: Honestly I know very little about modern Hondas. But from what I have seen, they do well as a fun DD car that maybe gets some high-po tires straped on once in awhile.

I've got some Pilot Exalto PE2s on it right now and it sticks really well. The dynamics are nice and it corners in a pretty neutral way. With the exception of the engine, though, which is a screamer, the Si just feels a bit lacking in the Fahrvergnugen department.

DLC wrote: How would mileage figure into the calculation? Is there a point when expensive stuff typically starts to need replacing?

Besides being hit my 368k mile Miata didn't need anything my 100k Miatas didn't need. Even if a major component grenades a used replacement is cheap and easy to find. Also a good excuse to upgrade-like my 1.8 clutched 1.6 and torsened 93

grafmiata wrote: As JRW said, if you decide to go with the Miata, condition is more important than age. The engines are pretty bulletproof, and more power is only a credit card away. Since you're in the Cleveburg area, the three main things to look out for are --- 1 --- Rust. 2 --- A previous owner with really bad taste who put a Bengals or Steelers sticker on it. 3 --- Rust. The main area for concern is the rockers, especially just ahead of the rear wheel-opening. There's a "character-line" that runs all around the body at about the mid-point. Below this line on the doors, rear quater panels and front fenders, the paint should have a textured feel. If not, it's been re-sprayed, so check for bondo. I'd also check the general condition of the entire underside of the car. Run-of-the-mill Ohio corrosion makes it a real pain to perform any general maintenance or modifications. Or, you can find some nice, clean early Miata's in more rust-free areas for reasonable prices. I currently have a '92 Miata that spent its entire life in Ohio, which I can almost hear corrode. I also have a '94 that I bought in Northern Virginia, complete with Hardcore rollbar and a Flyin' Miata turbo kit pushing 12 psi. ZERO rust, and I paid $3500, which included the cost of having it shipped to Bowling Green. Granted, the car has no carpet, insulation, or much of anything else... But the deals are out there if you decide to come to the Dark Side!!!

How would mileage figure into the calculation? Is there a point when expensive stuff typically starts to need replacing?

$3500 for a rust-free car with a turbo kit and roll bar? Does she have a sister?

Generally, the Miata is no different than any other used car in this area, and most common wear-items are not expensive to replace.

If the car is properly maintained, the main recurring expense will be plug wires. Early Miata's for some reason tend to bake wires fairly quickly compared to alot of cars. I'm using Magnecore's on both my cars now, but I've had no problems with NGK's on previous Miata's. Off-the-shelf wires from typical auto-parts stores usually crapped-out by 15k miles.

And like Junkyard said, when something does wear out, that's a perfect excuse to upgrade!!!

Oh, unfortunately, the turbo doesn't have a sister. But there are a Helluva lot of these little bastards out there, so the right one will materialize. Alot more goodies on the '94 I bought, and she'll look alot better once it's no longer in primer...

DLC wrote: I might be able to afford to keep the Si and buy the Miata as a toy, but that's not going to fly with my wife. :-) So its got to be beater + Miata or just the Si. DLC

Keep the Si, get a good used Miata and get rid of the wife. Oh wait scratch that idea. That would ultimately be the most expensive solution.

The SI is more practical. Much better in the winter. A little more passenger room. The Miata is more of a FUN car. So it is your choice. Me, I'd stick with the SI.

iceracer wrote: The SI is more practical. Much better in the winter. A little more passenger room. The Miata is more of a FUN car. So it is your choice. Me, I'd stick with the SI.

I agree, the Si is a beast in the winter. With Blizzaks on mine I can plow through anything a Cleveland winter has thrown at me so far. It will happily crunch through eight or ten inches of snow.