Which year Miata should I look for?

[Grendel]

Hey all, I am thinking of getting a newer car, and am really considering a Miata...

What year would be the best? I don't particularly like convertables (easier to die when you crash :P), and wanted to know which was the lightest...

I really don't know much about Miatas, do they come with power anything? I know they are light, but are they lighter than a 1970 240z? An older Z is the other car I am considering...

Thanks in advance...

-Grendel

[NB8CT]

I dunno about the weight thing, but I think that the older the car, the lighter is is. And with the whole roll over thing, if it bothers you just get a roll bar. It stiffens the car up A LOT and you no longer run the risk of being beheaded!
I think that the newer cars look a bunch better than the old cars but thats just me. The best to look for would be a '94-'97 car. They do come with power, and some have power everything(windows, mirrors, radio antenna, crusie). And try to make sure it has a LSD in the rear.

[MiatamanMX5]

if you were to go with the old school body style go wityh a 95+. i have a 95 and its great. plus i think in 95 they lighened the flywheel and gave it more of a close ratio tranny than the years prior.PLUS it has a 1.8 liter compard to the 90-93's 1.6 liter

[esco]

well the latest generation has more power and i've heard its actually just as light if not lighter, its also safer and much more comfortable and a glass window with defogger is standard for 2000+, also standard are nardi steering wheels and AC, with the previous generation those were all options I believe. It's a matter of styling preference, I know most of the old people like the older ones for some reason, maybe it looks more "british like", I prefer the latest generation, a green one with tan leather and top resemble a mini jaguar xk8 er whatever jaguar that was.

[tigermiata]

The Holy Grail at Miata.net (you really should hang out there if considering one) seems to be the 1994; early 1.8l engine, but before OBDII, so apparently engine mods are simpler.

Mines a 2000, w/out the pop-up headlights, and love it. Should have bought a Miata when they 1st came out!

And yes, I recommend a true roll bar (many install the "style bars" which look great, do little).

[dustind]

The newer ones are definitely heavier, at least one hundred pounds, if not two. They are also a bit bigger and stiffer chassi wise, not to mention a bigger engine.

[kfoote]

The lightest of the Miatas are the 1st gen 1990 cars with the 1.6L engine. 1994's are the lightest of the 1st gen 1.8's, and the 1999's are the lightest of the 2nd gen's. For perspective, with me in the car, a full roll cage, no convertible top, the factory hard top, the trunk interior removed, and at 1/4 tank of gas, my car ('99) weighed 2460 lbs, and it has power mirrors and windows, which are a bit heavier than the manual stuff (but a lot more convenient). Generally, the cars are not quite as light as the 1970 240Z, but they are close and the handling is quite a bit better. The only other issue with a Miata is that if you arre taller than about 5'10", you will probably want to replace tthe driver's seat. The total weight difference from the lightest of the 1990's to the heaviest of the Miatas is probably about 200-300 lbs

[dustind]

90-91.5 had crank problems, the key that held the pulley on was small, and could "break" for lack of a better word, causing the pulley to come off, and damage things. Its an easy, fast, and cheap fix to upgrade the nose of the crank to fit the larger pulleys that do not have the problem, if it has not already been done.

The 1.6 is the turbo charged engine from the gsx. Almost nothing but the cams, and maybe pistons too, were changed. The engines even have the oil squirters for the pistons. The 1.8 is almost identical, just a tiny bit longer(block length), to space the cylinders out. I believe there were a few minor head changes, low end torque cams, and maybe better bearings for the crank.

In 1994 they gained 77 pounds. The weight was spent well on brakes, clutch, rear end, engine, and mostly for frame stiffening and safety. Everything but the last two things i mentioned can be swapped from the earlier to the later as a bolt on(well the engine might not be considered a bolt on, but its very easy as far as engine swaps go).

They gained a total of about 200 pounds from 90-93 to present, and were changed significantly in 1998(NA series to the NB series). Minor changes were made in 96 and 2000, maybe 2002.

[94mx-5]

get a 94 and buy it from ME!!!!

[caryard]

I have a 1994 Miata and my previous car was a 1975 Datsun 280Z. The Miata is lighter than the Z (according to the info on the door jams). I would buy the Miata over the Z. It's more reliable (althought the Z was pretty reliable) and it handles much better. It's not quite as fast top end and I think you can make the Z faster than the Miata. Both cars have tons of aftermarket parts available. Both even have V8 conversions.

[Miataracer]

There is a lot of factual info here but some flaws/missing bits... allow me to add what I know.

-late 89-93 model cars had the 1.6L engine, 94-present models have 1.8L engines

-the 1.6L engine is in fact the engine that came from the GTX turbo, although the rods and pistons are not the same ones (still very strong, but not quite so much so as the GTX versions) all 1.6 & 1.8 engines have piston oil squirters

-1.6L engines w/ 5 speed manual tranny have 4:30 rear gear ratios, 1.8L engines w/ 5 speed manual tranny have 4:10 rear gear ratios, 1.8L engines w/ 6 speed manual tranny have 3:90 rear ratios ('99+ Miatas)

-late 89-91.5 1.6L engines had the crank problem; this is not fixable by simply changing the pulley. some cars have a problem with this crank and some do not for whatever reason. it seems there is a flaw present but it does not always cause a problem (side note: with Spec Miata growing as a class there are quite few used stock Miata engines floating around. with a damaged crank it is likely to be cheaper to buy someone's stock short/long block and replace the entire thing instead of just the crank from the original engine

-late 89-90 Miatas were the very lightest ones made, esp. the ones with manual steering and no air. as years went by the suspension got more and more braces (very first Miatas had no subframe bracing, present Miatas have subframe bracing on both front and rear)

-the introduction of the 1.8L engine brought with it larger brakes all the way around, along with larger gears in the rear end

-'94 & '95 1.8L engines are said to have the best pistons/rods for turbo applications

-glass window tops came into play on the '99 model year cars, previous cars came with a plastic rear window (these do not last very long)

On a more opinionated note... I think the pre '99 Miatas were more of a true roadster with less of the little luxury touches the new cars have. This is not always the case as has been mentioned before some of the pre ’99 Miatas had power windows and mirrors, etc. but as a general rule most do not. I have been through a ‘92, ‘95, and ‘99 Miata. The ’92 Miata was manual steering, no A/C, no power anything, the ‘95 has power steering and A/C but no other power options, and the ’99 has power steering, A/C, power windows/locks, power mirrors, glass rear window, rear window defroster, and Bose CD. To me this kind of takes away from the original concept of a true roadster but does make it a MUCH more comfortable daily driver. And it does still have a decent amount of power (as far as Miatas go) and also still handles very well.

Hope this has helped. Many people become hooked on Miatas after driving one for a while!

[kfoote]

Originally Posted by Miataracer

... I think the pre '99 Miatas were more of a true roadster with less of the little luxury touches the new cars have. This is not always the case as has been mentioned before some of the pre ’99 Miatas had power windows and mirrors, etc. but as a general rule most do not. I have been through a ‘92, ‘95, and ‘99 Miata. The ’92 Miata was manual steering, no A/C, no power anything, the ‘95 has power steering and A/C but no other power options, and the ’99 has power steering, A/C, power windows/locks, power mirrors, glass rear window, rear window defroster, and Bose CD..

Although small in numbers, you could get the 99+ Miatas with manual steering and non-power windows. This is the preferred comfiguration for SCCA SSB, where in order to run those options, they had to be available (or in this case, not available).