DeadSkunk said:In reply to OldGray320i :
I keep looking at the six from a Suzuki Verona and thinking it would be nice in a Miata. It's all aluminum and short enough to be used transversely in the Suzuki. Straight sixes just sound right.
Dang. I need to look that up. I also need to hear it - loved the six in the e30, but I'm ambivalent about how bimmer sixes sound uncorked.
Those Datsun motors just sound so sweet at high rpm.
When I last purchased a daily driver, I cast a pretty wide net, considered a LOT of different vehicles. Figured to go used, let someone else take the depreciation hit. Sort of expected I would get an S2000, coming out of an Integra GSR sedan, was digging Honda vibe, revs to ridiculous, sings just the right song for me and I have always been a ragtop guy.
Some I did not even drive, sitting in it was enough to know, Solstice, for example, did not get past sitting in it. I like to take care of my cars myself, so looking under the hood of a MINI was as far as I got with that one. Liked the Boxster, a lot, but already had the 914, and was spooked by IMS bearing thing. I always liked BMWs, but never liked the Z3/4, and am of the opinion the brand is not what it was 25 years ago. Never considered a VW/Audi, none of them held any interest for me recently but the TT when it first came out, before they started putting the silly looking spoiler on the back to keep the tail planted when the speed gets too deep into the triple digits. Not impressed with any VWs since about 1985. C5 'vette was very tempting, intoxicating even, but was so very Chevrolet inside. It also felt huge from the driver's seat. If I still lived in Texas, I probably would have ended up in a Corvette, would have been great running it in that wide open country.
The Hondas did not do it for me. Civic Si was like a hot rod version of my beloved Integra, with an interior I did not care for at all. Hated the video game instrument panel. Was competent enough, good seats, but did not like how it drove. I liked the S2K, extremely yellow, more so than the Boxster even, groovy shifter, fast when you spin the tach up to ridiculous, but could not get comfortable in it, also had same video game instruments as the Civic. I was surprised it left me so cold. Tried to find an NSX, but could not locate a nice one that had the right number of pedals in the course of my search.
Looked at a few new Mazda offerings. Mazdaspeed 3 was a bit of a handful. Torque steer had you wrestling the wheel, but if you had it pointed straight when you kicked the loud pedal, look out. 5 door practicality with a stupid amount of power going through the front wheels, sort of a Neon SRT hatchback. They did not have a Miata with 3 pedals, so I drove one with an automatic. Did not like the NC that much, maybe the slushbox ruined it for me, but it felt like a boat.
Then I drove an old Miata
It was a clapped out, oxidized red 1999 with cloth seats. It fit so well it was like they had me in mind when they designed it. I started looking for a nice one. In the course of looking, discovered they made a turbocharged flavor, who knew. Decided on a Velocity Red Mazdaspeed Miata, but had to settle for an invisible grey colored one because it was only 500 miles away and looked so minty. Flew up, drove it home. It has suited me perfectly.
I drove an MGB as my primary transportation for 9 years and missed it the entire time after I sold it. I briefly worked for a Honda dealer in 2003 and had the chance to drive many S2000s and a couple of NSXs. We also had a 2000 NB Miata on the lot, so I was able to compare it with the S2000. The S2K never really did much for me. It would run rings around the Miata, but it lacked the Miata's personality. Once both kids were old enough to drive, I started looking for a Mazdaspeed Miata, because I really like the front and rear trim pieces on it, not to mention the added power from the turbo. I found a Titanium (Pavement Grey Mica) MSM locally, traded my RSX-S for it, and never looked back. The MSM is definitely a diamond in the rough, with its crappy ECU tune and odd suspention tuning, but it's still the most enjoyable car I've ever owned. It fits me perfectly, sings a great song, and is reliable in every way the MG wasn't. Changing to quality springs/shocks and going to 15" wheels completely changed the ride, and adding an intake and full Flyin' Miata exhaust made it even easier to put my license in jeopardy. Best car ever!
I will say I own 1 Miata currently and very like 2 by this weekend. I hate the way the Miata feels without a hardtop. To me a Miata with a hard top is perfect.
MrChaos said:I will say I own 1 Miata currently and very like 2 by this weekend. I hate the way the Miata feels without a hardtop. To me a Miata with a hard top is perfect.
Every one of mine has a more or less permanently installed hardtop 
2/3 of them don't even have a soft top underneath.
Keith Tanner said:MrChaos said:I will say I own 1 Miata currently and very like 2 by this weekend. I hate the way the Miata feels without a hardtop. To me a Miata with a hard top is perfect.
Every one of mine has a more or less permanently installed hardtop
Hmmmm...... interesting. The only ones I've driven with a hardtop were on a rallycross course. Maybe I need to street drive a hardtop car for a bit?
It doesn't change their fundamental nature, of course. But you get more visibility, better gas mileage and the car is quieter than running with the soft top up. If you pull the soft top (a fairly easy job), there's a useful amount of room behind the seats. Plus they're cute.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Well, I'd like it to feel more like a car and less like a bass boat, so maybe that would be the ticket?
Anyone want to sell me a hardtop 
MrChaos said:I will say I own 1 Miata currently and very like 2 by this weekend. I hate the way the Miata feels without a hardtop. To me a Miata with a hard top is perfect.
With the coilover drop and deep Corbeau buckets, I can barely get out of the Manic Miata with the top up. It's actually comical to do, let alone watch: pivot 90 degrees so legs are out, reach up with both hands to grab roof edge like I'm chinning, lean back as far as possible, and spiderwalk / limbo forward until my head clears the roof edge, then awkwardly pull myself upright.
I don't even take it out of the garage unless I'm willing to drive with the top down.
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
Well, I'd like it to feel more like a car and less like a bass boat, so maybe that would be the ticket?
I'm not really sure what that means
Getting in and out of the Targa Miata is a bit of a gymnastics move, between door bars, a decent race seat and the hardtop. The key is a removable steering wheel. Ironically,when it's in the trailer, it's probably easier because I can use the door bars as a step and the trailer wall to lean against.
Maybe it is not stiff enough for him?
Cage would stiffen it right up, but sort of ruin it as a daily driver. I would love to have a hardtop, garage would be perfect for a hoist for nice days too.
Hardtops do stiffen the car a little, I would think that bolting them in would help.
There are lots of aftermarket options to help with rigidity if that's a concern.
Keith Tanner said:It doesn't change their fundamental nature, of course. But you get more visibility, better gas mileage and the car is quieter than running with the soft top up. If you pull the soft top (a fairly easy job), there's a useful amount of room behind the seats. Plus they're cute.
They also add 5 mph going into turn 1 from the better aero. :)
Keith Tanner said:Hardtops do stiffen the car a little, I would think that bolting them in would help.
There are lots of aftermarket options to help with rigidity if that's a concern.
Oh yeah, that was really my only other significant complaint on the 1.8 NA versus my NC. I’ve got the butterfly brace on order to help, and will probably get a roll bar in the spring for it. Although the roll bar is also for style and so I feel a bit safer in case I get t-boned by someone who doesn’t see me.
The NA and NB platforms got stiffer as production rumbled on. Some of it was bolt-ons, some were more fundamental such as a change in the firewall gussets and sheetmetal thickness. When the NA was new, it was considered fairly rigid but as CAD has evolved, so has our expectation of chassis rigidity. Bad suspension bushings and crap shocks can also make the structure feel loose, and the most common place for the NA/NB to rust also happens to have rigidity implications.
Keith Tanner said:It doesn't change their fundamental nature, of course. But you get more visibility, better gas mileage and the car is quieter than running with the soft top up. If you pull the soft top (a fairly easy job), there's a useful amount of room behind the seats. Plus they're cute.
Interior room is one of the benefits of running a hardtop on a Spitfire, since I removed the soft top as well.
Keith Tanner said:So, "they're not that great, you're all wrong, you just don't have the experience to know better"
This remind me of Jeremy Clarkson recently saying on "Grand Tour", "It's like people who think they like classical music - they're simply wrong."
Keith Tanner said:It doesn't change their fundamental nature, of course. But you get more visibility, better gas mileage and the car is quieter than running with the soft top up. If you pull the soft top (a fairly easy job), there's a useful amount of room behind the seats. Plus they're cute.
What's your preference with the ND: RF or soft top with a hard top installed?
ND hard top? Did I miss something?
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-2024.html
Great discussion, gives me a chance to get a good overview of these. I have always disliked convertibles and roadsters, and that hasn't changed.
A hardtop and roll bar would be requirements for me.
I saw that an aftermarket top could bump you out of stock class. That true?
I'll take an RF any day of the week over a soft top ND with an aftermarket hardtop.
Unless that day is a day with a track day in it, in which case I need a real roll bar and that doesn't work with an RF. But I have a dedicated track car, I rarely need to take one of my street cars to the track.
If an aftermarket top bumps you out of stock class in autox, you need to find a more fun organization to play with. If that's an issue, you can always pull the top for the duration of the event. It'll be lighter anyhow. Pulling the soft top, that I can see bumping you out of stock.
I really need to try one with a hardtop one of these days based on this discussion. Seems like it transforms the car.
Not transforms. But it addresses some things that might bother some people. If your complaint is that the NA/NB doesn't have enough rear suspension travel, a hardtop won't help. If you think it's underpowered, same deal. If you don't like a blind spot over your shoulder, then sweet.
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