Withdrawal

"HoustonRunner" (houstonrunner) 04/12/2019 at 15:03 • Filed to: None

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Since I turned in the leased BMW I’ve been without a manual transmission. I enjoy my Suburban, but having no clutch pedal in my life is giving me major withdrawal.

Ultimately I want to find an E24 or E28 BMW to drive and wrench on, but I really don’t have time on the weekends to search for one outside Houston. Surprisingly there are very few that pop up on CL in the Houston metro area.

So my conundrum is - continue to just wait, or buy something now that will be fun for a while? If I try to find something now just to have a little fun with, I would want something that has very little financial downside - so simple to work on, plentiful parts, and won’t lose much value if I have it for 3 months or 2 years.

I’ll drive it evenings and weekends, if it is reliable enough maybe to work once a week. Just enough to soothe the withdrawal symptoms.

(Two wheels is not an option with the wife, even though I have the license for it.)

If I keep it to $5k or less my wife won’t say anything , moving above that and we might have to actually discuss.

I know the answer is always Miata, which I’m not opposed to. If that is the answer, what year / mileage / option range should I look for to meet the above criteria?

Other suggestions?

OPPOsaurus WRX > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 15:09

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how often do you press the clutch despite it not being there?  I did it for a while after I lost the Allroad.

Tripper > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 15:18

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I think the Miata is it @ that price point. I’d look to others on what year etc... 

diplodicus forgot his password > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 15:19

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Just browse mye28 classifieds regularly. Once a good one pops up flyout and drive it home. That’s what I did. e24/e28 aren’t something that come around locally a lot. Seems like most of them are concentrated in SoCal or the PNW and the rest are just scattered. 

HoustonRunner > OPPOsaurus WRX 04/12/2019 at 15:21

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Never in the Suburban.  I think I tried a couple of times in my dad’s Model 3, and definitely tried in my mom’s Fiat 500.

HoustonRunner > diplodicus forgot his password 04/12/2019 at 15:23

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I think you recommended this before? Yes, I’m on there 3-5 times a week (ok, maybe a day). With the kids activities it is hard to justify a weekend trip. I may not be catholic, but the guilt would still be heavy.

diplodicus forgot his password > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 15:27

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Yes I think I have.

So you’ve seen the project car in lubbock then. I don’t know how far that is from houston plus it’s an auto so you’d have to do the swap. But it’s also only 900$

Chuckles > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 15:31

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I am biased, but I say get a Miata. The first gen is the best based on flip up headlights alone. 

diplodicus forgot his password > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 15:49

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http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30247&start=25  

HoustonRunner > diplodicus forgot his password 04/12/2019 at 15:59

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Yep, looked at that listing. The no AC from the factory turns me off a bit - Houston is brutal in the summer. Even 80's BMW AC is better than none.

Yes, I'm picky.

AestheticsInMotion > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 16:34

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90-93 (NA6) Miatas have a weak differential , the smaller 1.6 engine, and an incredibly floppy chassis. Skip unless you get a killer deal or are planning on doing major modifications and desire the absolute lightest base platform to start with. On the plus side, they have the sexy dashboard without a passenger airbag.

94-97 (NA8) have the more powerful and more reliable 1.8, as well as an available torsen LSD (that’s found on the vast majority of Miatas in this year range, just avoid base models ) . You definitely want the torsion. The 5-speed here is objectively the best feeling g earbox, and the strongest gearbox. There’s a reason NB 6-speed g uys swap in NA 5-speeds. Bigger brakes were also added to the NA8. 94-95 are both OBDI which might help you out if testing is an issue. The 94 is the only NA8 year that has a real oil pressure gauge, the rest have dummy units. The 94 also has the lowest compression at 8.8:1

99-00 (NB1) Renowned for t errible headlights. Cylinder head has the best airflow out of all NA and NB applications. A 99 sport package was the fast NA/NB from the factory, not counting the Mazdaspeed Miata, and is a great option although hard to find and a bit pricey.

01-05 (NB2) They got a major headlight upgrade with projectors , much better front end styling and variable valve timing. From 03-05 they dropped the torsion LSD for an inferior unit.

Mazdaspeedmiatas are generally in the $10k+ range for well-maintained examples, and will still require a few thousand to be able to put down their power effectively and reliable. Out of budget. The 10AE special edition (BLUE ALL THE THINGS) is one of the coolest special editions, but again likely out of budget. NC’s are fine, but don’t offer the same smiles per dollar. And examples in your budget will be pretty beat. Stick to NA/NB. NBs will represent the best value, by far.

TL:DR: get an 01-0 2 with the sport package. You’ll have the best factory engine, suspension, brakes, platform, etc. Without breaking the bank looking for an increasingly expensive special edition.

Alternatively, grab an NA8 (94-97), with a 94 in particular being your best bet. Make s ure it has the torsion LSD. A 94R is very ra re but a fantastic choice, as are many of the various special editions for the NA8. M-edition Miatas all have the torsion LSD, special colors and other goodies. E xpect to pay more for a good one than the 01-02 above, because unfortunately prices have been on the rise for awhile.

Future Heap Owner > AestheticsInMotion 04/12/2019 at 17:07

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Fuck dude, make this a post so I can more easily reference it in my idle CL browsing

Montalvo > HoustonRunner 04/12/2019 at 17:54

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Mustang. C heap, plentiful, parts everywhere , fairly easy to fix and usually pretty reliable. Can’t go wrong with a V-8 and a 5/ 6 speed.

Chuckles > AestheticsInMotion 04/12/2019 at 18:33

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As the owner of a 94, I endorse this message.

(Also I'm going to be listing mine for sale soon)

AestheticsInMotion > Future Heap Owner 04/12/2019 at 19:04

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I’ll make a slightly more fleshed out version. With pictures!

HoustonRunner > AestheticsInMotion 04/18/2019 at 12:12

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Oddly enough when I brought up Miata to my wife she wasn’t on board with the comment “that is really small”.  Didn’t expect that reaction, so Miata may not be the answer.