Miata Owners In Crappy Climates, ASSEMBLLLLLE

"SVTyler" (svtyler) 09/23/2018 at 15:25 • Filed to: None

0

38

So I found a pristine, well-maintained, low-mileage NB2 that’s absolutely perfect... with the exception of not having ABS. T he forums seem to think ABS isn’t even necessary in the winter if you’ve got good tires and half a brain and I’ll be keeping my Focus with its snow tires anyways so I’m not too concerned, just curious if any Miata owners have experience with this and might be able to offer some insight into how the car behaves in the winter before I make a decision one way or another.

Pretty Miata for your time, the one I’m looking at is pretty much the exact same color.

daender > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 15:29

1

You don’t need ABS, so learn how to threshold brake instead!

For the love of god please tell me the pictured car is the one you’re buying.  That looks like Lazer Blue and that is one hella-rare color.

daender > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 15:32

2

Also, rust-proof the HELL out of it if you’re planning on driving it on salted roads because it will not stand it for long as-is.

lone_liberal > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 15:46

2

No, ABS, AWD, or even FWD aren’t necessary to drive in the snow, but they make it a lot easier. When I started driving RWD tanks were the norm and  tires were crap but  we managed to get around, but I’d rather not have to relive those days.

SVTyler > daender 09/23/2018 at 15:49

0

That’s pretty much what I was planning on doing, figure a tiny light car with good tires wouldn’t need ABS unless you really screw up. Still kinda threw me a car from 2003 wouldnt have it as standard.

Unfortunately that’s not the exact car Im buying, it’s an ‘03 LS thats a shade or two darker ( here’s the link ). Looking at the color options Im pretty sur e it’s Midnight Blue Mica but it’s lighter-looking than the pic in person and  it’s definitely not Laze r Blue. Wish it was, the car in the pic is #goals.

SVTyler > daender 09/23/2018 at 15:52

1

Definitely the plan, our family has an 04 3 so I'm very familiar with Mazdas' tendency to dissolve into orange dust lol.

SVTyler > lone_liberal 09/23/2018 at 15:58

0

Right, it seems more like a psychological, peace of mind kind of thing than a physical impossibility . The guy I’m selling the car is an older guy who’s lived his whole life in Chicago and was telling me all kinds of stories about driving old Camaros and Corvettes in like four inches of snow with no issues and thought I was crazy for wanting some time to do some research and take some  time to think about it lol. The whole 'no ABS' just kind of threw me initially, had no idea it was an option.

AestheticsInMotion > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 16:03

1

I live in Seattle. Endless rain, tons of snow in the mountains, and offroading every weekend. You 100% DO NOT need abs. Just get good tires, and use your brain. Practice recovering from slides. 

someassemblyrequired > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 16:04

1

They’re not terrible, but you need to know what you’re doing. You don’t have great traction just due to the low weight, plus RWD, and not many electronics to save you from mistakes. Probably not too bad on the flat, but if you do a lot of mountain driving, no way would I even advise it. Also note road salt just vaporizes them.

I’d assume you’ll be driving the Focus in the winter, there’s no good reason to get winters for it if you have another vehicle .  

SVTyler > someassemblyrequired 09/23/2018 at 16:23

0

I was definitely planning on getting to know the miata before taking it out regularly in bad weather, there’s a huge parking lot about a half-mile from my house I used to learn how t he Fo cus handles bad weather and I’m planning on doing the same if I get the Miata . W e also have a 2004 Mazda3 so I know how bad early 2000s Mazdas rust, and since the Miata is so nice I plan on taking very good care of it.

And that was pretty much my plan, snows on the Focus for really crappy weather and maybe pick between it and the Miata if it’s nice enough to. Winters in Indiana are weird, one day it’s 45 degrees and sunny, the next it’s -5 with two inches of snow. 

daender > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 16:26

2

That’s not a LS car or else it’d have black leather seats and   silver interior trim !  It might not have a Fuji diff, just an open unit.

SVTyler > daender 09/23/2018 at 16:38

0

Hmmm, is there any way you can tell from the VIN what options the car might have on it? The guy selling it was very adamant it was an LS so now I'm kind of sketched out.

daender > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 16:52

1

I believe you can call Mazda’s customer service to run the VIN and see what they say.

Cash Rewards > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 17:04

1

What daender said. Call Mazda customer service, give them the VIN, they're happy to do it. Seems like to do it often, as they weren't at all surprised when I asked. Also, find out if it has the sport s or hard s packages

Cash Rewards > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 17:05

1

I autocross mine without abs, have yet to lock them up (I will try harder next time). Haven't seen a winter in it yet.

SVTyler > daender 09/23/2018 at 17:07

0

I’ll have to do that then, really interested to know what the car is now. It passed the PPI with flying colors (the service manager was amazed how well-kept it was and ) so I’m not concerned about that, I’d just like to know exactly what I’m buying. If anything it might be a good thing because I might be able to get it cheaper if it’s just a base model.

daender > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 17:18

1

If it’s a base, then definitely haggle the price down. At the very least, haggle it down as much as it’d cost to swap in a Torsen unit! It’s a bit of a blessing if you find a base ‘03+ car. You don’t have to deal with unique BOSE-specific speaker wiring and tweeters if you want to put in your own sound system, the open diff means you have all the reasons to swap in a Torsen, and you get the grippy cloth seats than the slip’n’slide leather seats.

SVTyler > daender 09/23/2018 at 18:04

0

Wil l do, hopefully it works considering the freaking service manager told the seller he could probably get a few grand more for it lol. I don’t think the price of a Torsen would be unreasonable though, the seller seems cool so I doubt he’ll play hardball too much.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 18:10

1

Just to throw my name into the hat, I don’t have a Miata, but I DD a 2009 Hyundai Accent base model with no power anything, no ABS, no ESC, no Cruise, etc year-round through Canadian winter.

As long as you’re careful it’s perfectly fine having no ABS. Just remember that stamping the pedal locks the brakes, practice modulating the pedal in an emergency stop on some icey surfaces in a parking lot somewhere to get used to the feel of how hard you need to press without locking the wheels and you should be good to go!

SVTyler > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/23/2018 at 18:34

1

Thanks for the input man, will definitely have to get some practice in between now and winter. I’m in Indiana so our weather isn’t nearly as terrible as Canada’s so hopefully I won’t need too often lol.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 18:46

1

A few years ago here....many hours were spent digging my car out.

That’s a little uncommon though, most storms are more like this around where I live :

:)

for Michigan > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 19:08

2

3 rust is nothing compared to Proteges and NBs. Here’s what 17 Ohio winters have done to my brother’s 01 NB SE. Front sway bars aren't doing much anymore.

SVTyler > for Michigan 09/23/2018 at 20:42

0

Well that’s horrifying. Is it his only car? I have my Focus as a spare for really heavy weather but that's kinda making me reconsider driving it in the winter at all.

someassemblyrequired > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 21:47

1

Sounds like a plan, Miatas are perfect for areas like that where you get “bonus days” as the recommissioning process is 1)disconnect battery tender 2) open door and get in 3)turn key.

For the winters here in DC (and when I lived in CT) I generally tank up with a good super in the fall and add a little stabilizer just as a precaution.

But I warn you, once you have a Miata you won’t want to give it up, so be sure to anticipate by acquiring additional garage space.

for Michigan > SVTyler 09/23/2018 at 21:51

1

It was for a while . He replaced it with a Wrangler when he moved out of state a couple years ago and left it behind. I drive it from time to time, but it’s doesn’t get much use anymore because of the rust and the deteriorating top.

From what I understand, it’s a common problem area for these cars. It’s not the only rusted part (side sills, wheel arches, doors, etc. ), but it does seem to be the worst. The right side looks the same.

It’s a shame because it’s such a fun car, but I’d never buy one because of the rust issues. I’m currently looking into scrapping the body and reusing the rest of it (engine, trans, diff, suspension, etc.) in a Lotus 7-style build.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > SVTyler 09/24/2018 at 01:23

1

Back in the day everyone drove in the snow without ABS... A little practice in parking lot will get you the hang of it.

Especially with an LSD, a miata will get you anywhere you need to go in up to 4-6 inches of snow. The limiting factor is ground clearance. They’re tremendously fun to drive up plowed mountain roads in the snow.

ateamfan42 > SVTyler 09/24/2018 at 10:39

1

As has been stated, ABS is nice but isn’t a necessity for winter driving. There are a number of cheaper later model cars for which ABS is not standard. And people drove in the winter for decades before ABS was ever a thing.

I’m pleased my NB2 has ABS, but that’s peace of mind. I have very rarely engaged my ABS.

#1 best thing for winter driving: winter tires. LSD + ABS are nice (so is traction control, but that didn’t show up in the MX-5 until the NC). Also a hard top is another bonus to have if feasible.

t0ast > SVTyler 09/24/2018 at 11:29

1

Tires and brain are adequate. The last non-ABS car I had in the winter was an Escort ZX2 on all seasons, and with some discretion and brake finesse (threshold braking, manual pumping, etc.) things worked out with only a few small code browns that could be chalked up to the tires and my inexperience at the time. Later, I ran Blizzak LMs on my NC Miata for a few winters and ABS seldom ever did anything more than a quick pulse or two. As for how it drove, the only times it ever felt out of sorts were steep hills (due to the open diff) and snow deeper than the car’s ground clearance . Other than that, it was nice and predictable, even without TCS/STM.

daender > SVTyler 09/24/2018 at 20:50

0

Any word from Mazda?

SVTyler > daender 09/24/2018 at 21:32

1

Yep, it’s a base with no options whatsoever, not even cruise control . The bigger issue is that when I called the owner to let him know we got to talking and I found out he either didn’t remember if he put premium in the car or alternated tanks between 87 and 93 (he changed his story so that sketched me out). From the AutoCheck it shows that he only owned the car for a year and few thousand miles though so I have no clue at this point.   I know you had major issues with an NB2 run on 87, you got any input?

daender > SVTyler 09/24/2018 at 23:20

1

It has cruise control, you can see the button in this picture next to the fog light button. Cruise is between the fog light and the dimmer roller for the interior lights/gauges.

I don’t like running 87 because it pulls timing due to detecting knock. I tried running it for one tank and never went back. It shouldn’t have messed anything up as long as it wasn’t driven hard with 87 .

daender > SVTyler 09/24/2018 at 23:31

1

Test-drive it like normal more or less.

SVTyler > daender 09/24/2018 at 23:54

0

The car felt perfectly fine on the short test drive I did, I’m just planning on keeping this car basically forever so I’m trying to think extremely long-t erm here, like 100k miles or more from now. I thought there was someone here on Oppo ( thought it was you, might be someone else ) who had a bunch of engines problems after running 87 in their car, do you know if that’s something the NB2s had issues with? A few other guys in my previous threads seemed to imply that. Again thanks for the help man, sorry to keep bothering you lol.

daender > SVTyler 09/25/2018 at 00:05

0

No problemo with asking questions! I had some engine problems but it was more due to carbon build-up in the pistons and cylinder heads...probably from the rust in the gas tank/fuel pump/filter caused by having it sit between dealerships for so long between the original owner and myself. Or bad gas from a Shell station (normally they’re pretty good) . I don’t think running 87 harmed mine because I only ran it on 87 for a very short time.

SVTyler > daender 09/25/2018 at 00:07

0

Hmmm interesting, I never even bothered to check for cruise control myself . The guy at Mazda said that because they pur ge their VIN records every seven years or so he couldn’t get a full options list for the car but assumed that it was a zero-option car based off the things it didn’t have (door tweeters, mudguards, etc).

daender > SVTyler 09/25/2018 at 17:47

1

According to the 2003 FAQ on Miata.net, cruise control was standard equipment that year along with the shock tower brace. https://www.miata.net/faq/america/2003.htm

Still, a base model as it means you get to build it up however you want!  I’ve pretty much done the inverse, lol.  I’ve converted a tan interior LS car into a base-black interior but retained the BOSE system and added blue carpets out of a 10AE.

SVTyler > daender 09/25/2018 at 19:21

1

Huh, TIL. Actually going to have to learn a whole lot more because I called the guy and agreed to buy it about 15min ago, will be picking it up this weekend! Again I can’t express enough thanks for your help with all this man, Oppo’s such an awesome community. You ever come through Indianapolis let me know, I owe you a beer or two.

daender > SVTyler 09/25/2018 at 19:59

1

Lol, it might be a while unless Eli Lilly wants my company to send me up there for another site visit!

daender > SVTyler 09/25/2018 at 20:11

1

Thanks for the offer!  I hope you enjoy your low-for-its-age-mile Miata!  Make sure to find curvy roads to get the most out of it!