Next Car..., *dodges thrown items* Options

[SwissFerdi]

may or may not

My humor meter must be broken. Cheers.

[momentai99]

If it was a 79-81 Trans Am I'd be all over it. That's ok, thinking a 94-95 Miata now.

was offered a 79 with a 461 olds in a trade for my camaro, before I even got to it the stupid kid managed to blow it up and sold it for 1500 bucks. Too many morons with cars they don't deserve

[Box]

^Indeed. That's a shame... The more I think about it the Miata would be the way to go. It handles really well, which is something I've come to expect. I realize that's important to me especially after having to drive my grandfather's Lexus ES300 for a few days, I couldn't deal with anything that handled like that or worse. For a sedan it was ok, but still... The slowness of the Miata is easily fixed, the handling of a Mustang probably not so much. Of course if someone wants to give me about $8,000 I'll just get a C5 Vette.

[sr666]

You'd enjoy the Miata buddy they're very quirky things easy to throw around which is handy just be a tad careful else you'll end up facing the way you came (happened to me when I gave it a bootful)

They're very free revving too (the JDM one my friend has would eat my 2 alive)

They're good cars I'm only pulling your leg about the stigma they come with

[JoshuaM]

Hey Box... So at the start of next year I will be heading overseas for a 6month overseas exchange (for university studies) to either the UK or San Jose in California. If I go to Brittain I obviously already know exactly what to get But if I end up in the states I was thinking I would have to go with a stereotypically American V8 coupe... Especially with gas prices so low (<- See what I did there... I said 'gas' instead of 'petrol'.... I'll fit right in now ).

Since I will be using holiday spending money to buy and run it I was thinking something around $5k USD. HAS to be a manual, and needs to be reliable enough to clock up the kilometers (wait... Miles ) when I'm over there without too many hassles (so no old Trans Ams or the likes ). Since it is Cali in summer maybe a 2003 V8 Mustang Manual Convertible..... Any other suggestions?

[momentai99]

^Indeed. That's a shame... The more I think about it the Miata would be the way to go. It handles really well, which is something I've come to expect. I realize that's important to me especially after having to drive my grandfather's Lexus ES300 for a few days, I couldn't deal with anything that handled like that or worse. For a sedan it was ok, but still... The slowness of the Miata is easily fixed, the handling of a Mustang probably not so much. Of course if someone wants to give me about $8,000 I'll just get a C5 Vette.

Eh a friend of mine has a miata and I think you feel the road way too much. They tend to be very uncomfortable for long periods of time, but the slow problem does definitely need fixed from the beginning haha. my old 92 civic was more comfortable to drive than his car but he was obsessed with it. A lot of miata guys tend to take their cars too seriously i've noticed so I wonder how the community is for them.

Hey Box... So at the start of next year I will be heading overseas for a 6month overseas exchange (for university studies) to either the UK or San Jose in California. If I go to Brittain I obviously already know exactly what to get But if I end up in the states I was thinking I would have to go with a stereotypically American V8 coupe... Especially with gas prices so low (<- See what I did there... I said 'gas' instead of 'petrol'.... I'll fit right in now ).

Since I will be using holiday spending money to buy and run it I was thinking something around $5k USD. HAS to be a manual, and needs to be reliable enough to clock up the kilometers (wait... Miles ) when I'm over there without too many hassles (so no old Trans Ams or the likes ). Since it is Cali in summer maybe a 2003 V8 Mustang Manual Convertible..... Any other suggestions?

5k for a convertible 2003 mustang manual? good luck buddy in cali haha. They go for more than that out here in PA and they're rusted here. But your totally fitting in now had no idea you weren't an american

[JoshuaM]

5k for a convertible 2003 mustang manual? good luck buddy in cali haha. They go for more than that out here in PA and they're rusted here. But your totally fitting in now had no idea you weren't an american

I just had another look and I don't know what I was looking at last time I was looking at V6 and V8's with coupes and Verts from '97-'03... Must have chosen the most expensive combination and remembered the cheapest price

And I don't mind traveling a bit to get it... After all traveling is what I'll be getting the car for

But anyway, suggestions are welcome since you guys probably have a rough idea of everything worth investigating off the top of your heads... Prices are very different over here (BTW Box, a mate just started looking at MX5's here... Like $8k for a decent '91 model )

[Box]

You'd enjoy the Miata buddy they're very quirky things easy to throw around which is handy just be a tad careful else you'll end up facing the way you came (happened to me when I gave it a bootful)

They're very free revving too (the JDM one my friend has would eat my 2 alive)

They're good cars I'm only pulling your leg about the stigma they come with

Careful is my middle name. I always start at the speed limit, then slowly increase it each time. That way the chance of something terrible happening is minimized significantly. I knew you were, I don't care what people think. EVERY car has some negative stereotype to it, so if that bothers you just walk.

[Box]

Hey Box... So at the start of next year I will be heading overseas for a 6month overseas exchange (for university studies) to either the UK or San Jose in California. If I go to Brittain I obviously already know exactly what to get But if I end up in the states I was thinking I would have to go with a stereotypically American V8 coupe... Especially with gas prices so low (<- See what I did there... I said 'gas' instead of 'petrol'.... I'll fit right in now ).

Since I will be using holiday spending money to buy and run it I was thinking something around $5k USD. HAS to be a manual, and needs to be reliable enough to clock up the kilometers (wait... Miles ) when I'm over there without too many hassles (so no old Trans Ams or the likes ). Since it is Cali in summer maybe a 2003 V8 Mustang Manual Convertible..... Any other suggestions?

That's ok, I say petrol anyhow. Along with many other non-American terms, too much BBC... Anyhow... I say go for a LS1 Camaro/Firebird and that'd be lots of fun. Later Mustangs are bleh, went to overhead cams and still made less power than the traditional overhead valves Chevrolet engines...

[Box]

Eh a friend of mine has a miata and I think you feel the road way too much. They tend to be very uncomfortable for long periods of time, but the slow problem does definitely need fixed from the beginning haha. my old 92 civic was more comfortable to drive than his car but he was obsessed with it. A lot of miata guys tend to take their cars too seriously i've noticed so I wonder how the community is for them.

The way my Celica is set up you feel everything anyhow, so I'm used to it. If anything the Miata will be more comfortable than what I have now, until I lower it anyhow. I joined Miata.net not too long ago to scope things out, seems like a lot of nice and knowledgeable people are there. Sort of reminds me of here, though not as close knitted since it does span three generations versus just one.

[SwissFerdi]

As far as clarity of content and breadth of information, that forum is the best I've yet come across.

[sr666]

Obviously I'm not sure on what the specs are for the US cars but my friend has had a 1.8 MK1 and a MK2 1.8 Eunos jap versions and has had Bilstein shocks on both, I'm certainly not too hot on the knowledge of them but they came on the higher spec imports so you maybe able to source them? They also came with slightly lower springs than the non performance ones and are a lot more grippy. They're great fun little things too

Another guy I used to know had a MK1 BBR Turbo and that was lovely looking too

Given the choice again and if I was around 6 inches shorter I'd take the Miata over the MR2 9 times out of 10

I'll try and find some pics of my friends one :-)

[Box]

The Miata R had Bilsteins on them. I'd just go with coil-overs if I were to bother with lowering it though. I'll just leave it as is for awhile before messing with things.

[rentaspace]

The slow problem is easily fixed:
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

They are a nice car and are great and fun to drive

[sr666]

The Miata R had Bilsteins on them. I'd just go with coil-overs if I were to bother with lowering it though. I'll just leave it as is for awhile before messing with things.

Ah ok so the Miata R = the Eunos RS

JUst be careful as there's a fair few coilovers that'll actually wreck the handling of them, There's a company over here called Rokkor who create for the MX5 and the quality / ride comfort is shocking but it's 'scene' so people do it

A few piccies anyways of a local meet we went to

The black one with a cage is a MK2 as is my friends but it's packing 250bhp, It's a tarmac terrorist

[Box]

I was going to go through the suspension section of Miata.net before just running off and buying whatever coilover set. Research is my middle name. Partially why I never just go off and go with something, have to research the Hell out of it. As far as solving the slowness I'll either turbo it or do a LS1 swap, whichever seems more feasible at the time.

[sr666]

I was going to go through the suspension section of Miata.net before just running off and buying whatever coilover set. Research is my middle name. Partially why I never just go off and go with something, have to research the Hell out of it. As far as solving the slowness I'll either turbo it or do a LS1 swap, whichever seems more feasible at the time.

Not sure if you get them over in the US, I expect you can but I hear the Supercharger from the new Cooper S bolts up nicely

[Box]

There is a supercharger system made for them, my uncle has one on his 2000 NB Miata. Turbo setup would be cheaper though, since you can shop around and put something together. Was driving the Celica earlier today, I don't think I could stand to buy another car that slow. The Celica ST has a ratio of 21.82 pounds per hp where as the 94-95 Miata has a ratio of 17.7 pounds per hp. I'd think the straight line performance would be somewhat better, but still... At least with the Miata you can fix the slow.

[6strngs]

Hey Box... So at the start of next year I will be heading overseas for a 6month overseas exchange (for university studies) to either the UK or San Jose in California. If I go to Brittain I obviously already know exactly what to get But if I end up in the states I was thinking I would have to go with a stereotypically American V8 coupe... Especially with gas prices so low (<- See what I did there... I said 'gas' instead of 'petrol'.... I'll fit right in now ).

Since I will be using holiday spending money to buy and run it I was thinking something around $5k USD. HAS to be a manual, and needs to be reliable enough to clock up the kilometers (wait... Miles ) when I'm over there without too many hassles (so no old Trans Ams or the likes ). Since it is Cali in summer maybe a 2003 V8 Mustang Manual Convertible..... Any other suggestions?

Did I just see the words "reliable" and "mustang" in the same paragraph? No need for an american car in san jose, I see way more modded japanese cars there (I live about half an hour away). For $5k you could get an s14 240sx, an NB miata, a 7th gen celica, a clean integra, etc. Whatever you get, just make sure the A/C works! The convertible top won't help you when you're stuck in traffic everyday (and you will be...) from 3pm until 7pm.

And how come a miata discussion comes up and I no get invite? If you're worried about "killing" the handling of your miata then you obviously have been browsing miata.net for too long... That crowd is mostly the older guys and the serious racers who believe if you lower the car more than 1/2" you "kill" the handling of the car. They may be right if you were a serious competitive racer, but my car is lowered on coilovers and trust me, the car is still very, very nimble. I prefer the forums at clubroadster.net, a much younger crowd and more modification friendly. Don't get me started on the miataturbo.net forums though. It is impossible to get a question answered there, they just tell you to search... So you search and all you can find are threads that end in the person telling the OP to search (after a lot of flaming and name-calling)...

The miata is definitely not faster than a celica though, not by a long shot. The power bands are pretty opposite, where a celica falls on it's face after 4.5k rpms, the miata doesn't start moving until 4.5k rpms... The miata pretty much needs a turbo to be even remotely considered fast.

[Box]

The 5.0 Mustang is reliable enough, and parts are dirt cheap.

I just want to make sure that the car is improved, and not waste money in the process. I'm tossing around the idea of lowering springs or coil-overs. Though coil-overs aren't much more than springs and struts for the Miata. The Miata would be a tad faster, just by going off 0-60 times. It's just tiring having a car that doesn't have enough ass to make it around hilly areas without downshifting or speeding. The act of doing it isn't a problem, it's just like "Gah you anemic piece of ****, can't even make it up a hill past third." I know what I want, but I don't know at the same time. I don't have the money to fulfill all of my needs/wants, so I'm having to pick and choose. Therein lies the problem. I keep bouncing back and forth, I do know I'm not happy with the Celica though. Knowing minivans blow the doors off your sports car isn't exactly the greatest feeling in the world.

This post has been edited by Box: Jun 24, 2013 - 12:34 AM