"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
10/20/2015 at 08:17 • Filed to: miata, review
7
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"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
10/20/2015 at 08:17 • Filed to: miata, review | 7
| 12 |
I’ll do a Car Quickies of this thing eventually. I finally got my computer sorted enough I can start producing the six or so episodes sitting on my hard drive, including two reviews of cars that don’t even exist anymore. In the meantime, have a text writeup of my 1992 Mazda MX-5.
I am only 5’5” and 135lbs. This is a seriously tiny roadster.
Apologies for the wall of text. I haven’t taken too many pictures of the car yet. Been too busy driving it.
Reviewing or even talking about the MX-5 is a difficult task. How does one even begin to say something new about a car that has achieved status as a cultural icon and internet meme? Hell, even starting out a review with “lol this is hard righting :(“ is almost a Miata trope. But I’ll start it with one word: Quirky.
The MX-5, above all things, is quirky. And that’s why it’s so lovable.
Note that I said “lovable” instead of “good”, because it is incredibly easy to put on seven layers of rose-tinted glasses and completely ignore any faults the MX-5 has as soon as the headlights go up and it stares at you with that goofy-ass grin and huge innocent “hey man whacha doin?” eyeballs.
It’s quirky.
It’s lovable.
It’s flawed.
But let’s break it down, Concourse d’Jake style.
Engine
The 1992 Mazda Miata has a 1.6 litre DOHC straight-four that sucks up regular unleaded at around 25mpg mixed and has a 9.4:1 squish ratio and 7200rpm redline from the B6ZE(RS) developed specifically for the Miata.
And the Mazda Protege.
Much like a Bentley or Rolls Royce, the amount of power contained within the Miata’s little twin-cam mill is best described as “adequate”. It enthusiastically shoves the little roadster around whilst taching up and down, never giving you enough power to get in trouble on dry pavement, but still juuuust enough to have some fun in the wet or on a dirt road.
Of course, for many people the mere 120hp from the Miata’s four-banger is enough of “no balls status” to discourage them from buying one. To this end people will swap in everything from literbike Hyabusa motors to small block Chevy engines, which in my opinion totally ruins the point of the car, but more on that later.
Noise
One of the quirkiest things about the Miata has to be what comes out the tailpipe. Other than your standard assortment of hydrocarbons and cancer you get a surprisingly deep and throaty note from a 1.6l engine. I kind of wish my D16Y7 Honda sounded even remotely like this. When you stomp the ‘go’ pedal everything is fairly typical exhaust noises until you hit around 3800RPM at which point what sounds very much like a turbo whistle can be heard until the car “climbs onto the cam” and then the engine note gets angry . I mean it gets mad . This is amusing, though, because if a Dodge Challenger Hellcat is a pitbull barking at you, a Miata driven in anger sounds a bit like a Jack Russel Terrier with its soprano yaps.
I have driven several convertibles, namely a 2005 PT Cruiser GT Cabrio and a 2008 Saturn Sky. Interior noise, other than the wind interacting with a couple seams, was pretty on-par with many hard-top vehicles. This is what I expected in the Miata.
This is not what I got.
On the highway the Miata is LOUD. Deafeningly so. The top is a-squeakin and a-rattlin while the engine screams along at 6000rpm and you start to wonder why you subject yourself to this every morning.
But you do.
It’s quirky.
Build Quality
This isn’t talked about very often, but I think it’s important in any car just how well it’s screwed together. Furthermore, I believe it prudent to separate this into mechanical and interior build quality.
Mechanical build quality in the Miata is superb. Everything feels solid, you rarely have to do more than change the oil and occasionally do a timing belt or water pump on these (both of which were recently done on mine), and they can keep trucking for obscene amounts of miles.
Interior build quality is actually alright. The door cards a super flimsy, being made of cardboard covered in vinyl. The carpeting is incredibly thick and well-stitched, and the floor mats are far more durable than the Honda stuff that was in my Civic or the carpet in the Buick, both of which had holes worn in them from people’s heels whereas it was pristine even in a car old enough to legally drink in the US. The switchgear feels fairly substantial, though some of the knobs on my HVAC controls are starting to fall apart and my high beam stalk no longer stays in “high beam” mode. There are a fair amount of rattles and squeaks, many from the frame of the convertible top itself, and I can’t tell if my driver seat is broken or just kind of rocks forwards and backwards by design.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics in the Miata suck. It’s a small roadster, what did you expect? But I’m 5’5”. I’m tiny. Even for me there are things in the Miata that just don’t come easily to me. Take the footwell, for example. I can not heel-toe this car in the traditional sense. The pedals are super close together, and the gas pedal is so far to the right it practically rubs the transmission tunnel. If I’m pushing the brake with my toes and I try to kick my heel over and tap the gas I just end up giving the trans tunnel a love tap. The only way I’ve been able to rev-match this car is with the sides of my feet. Press the brake with the left side of my right foot, catch the gas with the right side of my right foot. For the sake of context, I wear a men’s 9.5 wide shoe.
The shifter throw is short and notchy and very nice with the super heavy weighted shift knob (seriously, screw off a stock MX-5 shift knob and feel it. I swear it’s made of depleted uranium or something), though it doesn’t fall to hand quite as easily as I’d like it, and the cupholder position (not on my car in lieu of an ash tray, which I hope to replace with OE cupholders) is asinine unless you want to spill your Big Gulp all over your passenger every time you shift into 2nd.
Handling/ride
Every review will tell you the Miata handles great. It’s the ultimate autocross car! You can out-handle ANYTHING! You are the unstoppable force on every twisty mountain road, every dangerously-fast drive through a housing development’s needlessly twisty roads becomes your bitch in a Miata!
This is mostly true. For its tiny 185 width tires, the Miata manages to have fairly ridiculous levels of grip. Some highway ramps that were sketchy in the Buick and downright scary in the Civic don’t feel dramatic at all in the Miata. Long sweeping corners can be taken at silly velocities in a manner that is strange and serene because of how effortless it feels.
The Miata has tiny sway bars. It has soft suspension. Other than “muh lightness” I cannot for the life of me figure out how it grips so well, but I try not to spend too long thinking about it and just enjoy.
Because the sway bars are so small the car’s turn-in lacks the mechanical precision found in many modern cars (seriously, have you driven modern compact sedans? Dear god they change direction in a hurry), instead having a sense of organic eagerness. Chicanes are met with an incredible amount of body roll, but with very little understeer. Oddly, I noticed this same property in the C7 Chevrolet Corvette.
It’s quirky.
The handling of my mother’s Saturn Sky is like a hammer. 275mm tires, big sway bars, stiff shocks. It corners flat as all hell and CARVES corners with the laser-like precision of a hammer.
The Miata is much gentler. It absorbs any bumps in the road, keeping all four tires on the ground even through abrupt road camber changes that would unsettle the more brutish handling of the Sky, with the added bonus of making the car far more comfortable for daily driving.
Appearance
It looks like a round bar of soap with a goofy-ass grin tacked on the front of it. Mine is silver.
Brakes
The Miata features disc brakes on all four corners. They bite really early and do a great job of bringing the Miata’s diminutive frame to a halt. There is no ABS, so you’re on your own when the going gets tough, sonny.
Conclusion
I’m going to like this car. It’s weird, but if there’s one thing it does well (horribly unoriginal comment follows) it makes you smile. It makes your passengers smile. And if they aren’t smiling you pop up the headlights and show your fellow motorists just how much fun you’re having through the goofball appearance of the little roadster.
One of my favorite things about the MX-5 is the camaraderie, a word I totally botched to the point spellcheck went “bruh” and refused to help me. In three days I’ve gotten two thumbs up, four or five waves from fellow motorists, and seven people questioning my sexuality. Undeserving homophobic remarks aside, it’s fantastic owning a car that other owners see and go “I get it. This guy gets it.” in a mutual understanding of things mutually understood. Miata drivers drive for the joy of driving, and revel in it. Ownership of this car has resulted in half a tank of gas and several hours spent aimlessly driving around reveling in the open air, the noise, the adorable little horn, and giving rides and letting my friends drive the little car. The Miata is the embodiment of “it’s the journey, not the destination”.
So go. You owe it to yourself. Take a journey in a Miata.
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
10/20/2015 at 08:27 |
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The only way I’ve been able to rev-match this car is with the sides of my feet
That seems to be how most people heel-toe anyway. I’ve never actually used my heel and toe for it.
yitznewton
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
10/20/2015 at 08:34 |
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Me too
miadaman? yes please
> Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
10/20/2015 at 09:31 |
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The main thing with heel and toe in an NA miata is steering column gets in the way of your knee. To fix that, consider perform a foamectomy to the driver seat as it is over bolstered from factory.
As far as my experiences go (compare to hondas and GMs), miatas have some of the better pedal placements without the need for aftermarket covers.
Jayhawk Jake
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
10/20/2015 at 09:43 |
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That’s how I do it. I have big feet though.
Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
> Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
10/20/2015 at 10:00 |
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What about overall refinement? I’ve test driven several NAs, and what stops me every time from buying one is that the shifter feels crunchy (not gear crunchy, some other kind of crunch), the clutch pedal is 90% dead and an on/off switch, and the wheels feel like they’re all trying to wiggle loose.
I’m going to assume that this is a character of the cars I’ve driven, but it’s literally been every one so I’m starting to think my barometer for a 25 year old econosportscar is too high.
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Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
> Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/20/2015 at 10:09 |
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The clutch is useless for the bottom 90% of its throw. The shifter feels fine to me though when shifting quickly I’ll occasionally clip another gate. My tires are in awful shape and have a broken belt or too so I can’t comment on highway ride quality.
The Real Dacia Sandero
> Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/20/2015 at 10:54 |
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The shifter definitely has kind of a crunchy feel to it. Both my Miatas have been like that.
But, the clutch is the furthest thing from an on off switch that I’ve ever felt. On both my cars the clutch bites pretty low and continues through most of the pedal throw. It’s great in traffic, but is actually one of my complaints. I’d like it to be more of an on/off switch as the length of the throw gets annoying in everyday driving. The slave cylinders get trashed on these cars, a new one and braided stainless clutch line improves everything.
The problem with wheels is miatas are incredibly sensitive. If the wheels and tires are the slightest bit out of balance, it will shake. They have to be absolutely perfect for a smooth ride. Even slight differences in pressure has caused shake for me.
Local Miata Bro
> Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
10/20/2015 at 11:35 |
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Haha you think it’s tight in a miata, I’m 6’0” 200lbs, cramped is an understatement. But I love every second of this “quirky” car, it’s just perfect. Obligatory potato picture of Mia
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Local Miata Bro
> Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/20/2015 at 11:38 |
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It could very well be the shifter needs to be rebuilt. The shifter in my 94 M is extremely notchy and crunchy, and probably the original one. Where the shifter in my dad’s 97 is buttery smooth and was just rebuilt by the previous owner. I’ve never felt like the wheels are loose, that could be the wheels not torqued to the right spec, but yeah the clutch sucks.
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Local Miata Bro
> The Real Dacia Sandero
10/20/2015 at 11:40 |
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Tire pressures are huge for a miata, if one of my rear tires is higher than 32psi, the whole rear end feels loose.
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Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
> Local Miata Bro
10/20/2015 at 11:43 |
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Little bugger fits me like a glove
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The Real Dacia Sandero
> Local Miata Bro
10/20/2015 at 15:08 |
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I run 28psi. If it’s more than 1 psi off it all feels weird. The 65mph shimmy is only fixed by doing a Hunter roadforce balance at under 10 lbs of roadforce.
For the clutch, go but the 949racing clutch hydraulic overhaul kit if you haven’t replaced that stuff. A new slave cylinder and braided stainless line adds a lot of definition to the clutch feel. It’s still too fucking long of a throw for the clutch pedal, but at least it feels good.