MX-5 Commuter?

tooloud wrote:

> This is very good advice. To be honest, I find that I like my '95 the best
> when I have the hardtop attached. It removes the B-pillar blind-spot and
> quiets the car, but then again, I've gone on record as saying that I would
> prefer a Miata coupe.

You basically have it with the hardtop on.

> Don't buy the Miata because it's a convertible; buy it because it's a
> fabulous-handling, lightweight sports car. These days I do drive the Miata
> around town only with the top down, but I find it to be a tiring experience
> sometimes and have been looking for an RX-8 for about a year now. Yes, I'm
> so picky that it takes that long to find a car.

You either like convertible tops or you don't. It sounds like you don't.
Since the miata single-handedly brought back the roadster market, it
is obvious that many, many people do like it. Mazda is probably being
smart by leaving it a roadster only and not even offering a coupe version.

> Prezactly. I don't drive mine much in the winter (2-3 times)

This is by far the worst time of the year to drive top-down where I
live, except at night when it drops down to 75 degrees.
I don't have any periods as long as a week, much less a month, where I
have to deal with snow and ice.

> and I definitely wouldn't want it as my only car. I tried that and it just doesn't
> work, and no matter how many people assure you that a Miata is their only
> car, there are just a lot of things that you can't do with one, namely
> carrying more than one other person.

I assure you that a miata has been my only car for about 7 years now.
Before that, I drove 2 seater Z-cars for a good number of years.

Out of almost 22 years of driving, a two-seater has been my only vehicle
for at least 16 years of that time.
Being able to carry only one person has been a blessing for me far more
often than it has been a problem.

Pat

Well I have to say here that I sure can see him getting those numbers
from a 1.6 L. I got the same kind of milage from my '91. You just need
to keep your "lead foot" home in a box to do it. If you drive the speed
limit and don't "Hot foot" the starts, it can be done. I have not had my
2003 LS on a long road trip, but I am getting 32 to 34 MPG with it
around town and some freeway trips. The key is, you must want to get
good milage when you drive. MOST Miata drivers drive harder than that,
so they get much less milage. On a trip I made in the '91 (1.6 L) we
went from Western Washington to Eastern Washington and back ( that is
over two mountain passes, Sealevel to 4,000 ft and back) and got 39.? +
and covered a little over 600 miles. The freeway speeds were 70 MPH and
the country roads were around 50 MPH.

1.6 L will get very good milage, if you try!


Bruce Bing "03 LS

On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 22:29:55 -0700, BRUCE HASKIN wrote:

> Well I have to say here that I sure can see him getting those numbers
> from a 1.6 L. I got the same kind of milage from my '91. You just need
> to keep your "lead foot" home in a box to do it. If you drive the speed
> limit and don't "Hot foot" the starts, it can be done. I have not had my
> 2003 LS on a long road trip, but I am getting 32 to 34 MPG with it
> around town and some freeway trips. The key is, you must want to get
> good milage when you drive. MOST Miata drivers drive harder than that,
> so they get much less milage. On a trip I made in the '91 (1.6 L) we
> went from Western Washington to Eastern Washington and back ( that is
> over two mountain passes, Sealevel to 4,000 ft and back) and got 39.? +
> and covered a little over 600 miles. The freeway speeds were 70 MPH and
> the country roads were around 50 MPH.
>
> 1.6 L will get very good milage, if you try!

My 04 MSM gets very bad mileage, 22-23 mpg, all the time. On premium gas
no less. On the other hand it's such a blast to drive that I don't care
(too much).

"tooloud" > wrote in message
news:QhvDg.1135138$xm3.728011@attbi_s21...
> Iva wrote:
>>
>> My 1990 is still getting 27-28 mpg in town with the 5-speed trans. I
>> average 36-38 on the highway.
>
> I find it extremely hard to believe that you're averaging 36-38 mpg on the
> highway. The car is rated at 30 mpg on the highway and usually it's
> difficult to approach even that, considering the ridiculous EPA testing
> procedures and the high gearing of the car. I'm not sure that I've ever
> gotten more than 30 mpg in my '95 1.8-liter car.

Believe it or not as you wish. I'll be glad to show you my gas receipts.
My best mileage was nearly 40 mpg on a business trip to Baltimore.

Iva & Belle.)
'90B Classic Red.)
#3 winkin' Miata

Bruce Haskin wrote:

> Well I have to say here that I sure can see him getting those numbers
> from a 1.6 L. I got the same kind of milage from my '91. You just need
> to keep your "lead foot" home in a box to do it. If you drive the speed
> limit and don't "Hot foot" the starts, it can be done. I have not had my
> 2003 LS on a long road trip, but I am getting 32 to 34 MPG with it
> around town and some freeway trips. The key is, you must want to get
> good milage when you drive. MOST Miata drivers drive harder than that,
> so they get much less milage. On a trip I made in the '91 (1.6 L) we
> went from Western Washington to Eastern Washington and back ( that is
> over two mountain passes, Sealevel to 4,000 ft and back) and got 39.? +
> and covered a little over 600 miles. The freeway speeds were 70 MPH and
> the country roads were around 50 MPH.
>
> 1.6 L will get very good milage, if you try!

Psst, Bruce, I'm not a "him" ! <G>

While most of my Miata driving is done on back roads, highway driving (i.e.
steady long-distance driving, not start-and-stop driving) does indeed get my
little 1990 an average 36-38 mpg. And I've got the receipts to prove it.
<g>

But track driving, like the course I just took at Pocono Raceway, drops the
mileage down under 15 mpg!

Iva & Belle.)
'90B Classic Red.)
#3 winkin' Miata

pws wrote:
> tooloud wrote:
>
>> This is very good advice. To be honest, I find that I like my '95
>> the best when I have the hardtop attached. It removes the B-pillar
>> blind-spot
>> and quiets the car, but then again, I've gone on record as saying that I
>> would prefer a Miata coupe.
>
> You basically have it with the hardtop on.

Sure, but it still doesn't look quite as clean as a coupe.

>> Don't buy the Miata because it's a convertible; buy it because it's a
>> fabulous-handling, lightweight sports car. These days I do drive the
>> Miata around town only with the top down, but I find it to be a tiring
>> experience sometimes and have been looking for an RX-8 for about a
>> year now. Yes, I'm so picky that it takes that long to find a car.
>
> You either like convertible tops or you don't. It sounds like you
> don't. Since the miata single-handedly brought back the roadster
> market, it is obvious that many, many people do like it. Mazda is probably
> being
> smart by leaving it a roadster only and not even offering a coupe
> version.

But they kind of *are* going to be offering a coupe version with the
retractable hardtop option.

>> Prezactly. I don't drive mine much in the winter (2-3 times)
>
> This is by far the worst time of the year to drive top-down where I
> live, except at night when it drops down to 75 degrees.
> I don't have any periods as long as a week, much less a month, where I
> have to deal with snow and ice.
>
>> and I definitely wouldn't want it as my only car. I tried that and
>> it just doesn't work, and no matter how many people assure you that
>> a Miata is their only car, there are just a lot of things that you can't
>> do with one,
>> namely carrying more than one other person.
>
> I assure you that a miata has been my only car for about 7 years now.
> Before that, I drove 2 seater Z-cars for a good number of years.
>
> Out of almost 22 years of driving, a two-seater has been my only
> vehicle for at least 16 years of that time.
> Being able to carry only one person has been a blessing for me far
> more often than it has been a problem.

It's not that I don't believe you, but having a toddler in the house
immediately rules out using my '95 as an only car. I tried it when I was
single in my early 20s, but after buying a house and the things that come
along with that, I'm not going to try it again.

Heck, I could barely get the last laser printer I purchased into my
FX...there's simply no way it would have fit in the Miata. I can't help but
think that the Miata-only owners are leaving out some interesting details as
to how they get cargo moved from one place to the next, and when I say
"cargo", I mean things like that new printer or a lawn mower or virtually
anything if you happen to be carrying a passenger. I can't fit my laptop
case in the car if I'm carrying a passenger.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply

tooloud wrote:

> But they kind of *are* going to be offering a coupe version with the
> retractable hardtop option.

I wouldn't call it a coupe. That is why I said you "basically" have one
with a hardtop, as in not quite, but with many of the same benefits.

It still doesn't look as clean as a coupe, as you mentioned yourself,
nor will it be as stiff as if the roof were metal and part of the
monocoque structure of the car.
I would call it a convertible roadster with a retractable hardtop,
definitely not a coupe.

> It's not that I don't believe you, but having a toddler in the house
> immediately rules out using my '95 as an only car. I tried it when I was
> single in my early 20s, but after buying a house and the things that come
> along with that, I'm not going to try it again.
>
> Heck, I could barely get the last laser printer I purchased into my
> FX...there's simply no way it would have fit in the Miata. I can't help but
> think that the Miata-only owners are leaving out some interesting details as
> to how they get cargo moved from one place to the next, and when I say
> "cargo", I mean things like that new printer or a lawn mower or virtually
> anything if you happen to be carrying a passenger. I can't fit my laptop
> case in the car if I'm carrying a passenger.

As far as hauling big items, I have gotten creative and even removed the
passenger seat to get a TV home one time.
There has been more than one long box that I have shipped that fit in
the miata passenger seat but would not fit in a Camry, because the rear
Camry doors would not close and I had no height limit with the top down.

Since I know roughly 138,000 people who drive pickups and SUV's, and
many of them owe me favors, it has never been much of a problem getting
big items like lawnmowers from place to place.

If I were married with kids at home, I would definitely have a second,
larger car, so that both adults would have a vehicle and for when more
than 2 people needed to travel.

Pat

pws wrote:

> Since I know roughly 138,000 people who drive pickups and SUV's, and
> many of them owe me favors, it has never been much of a problem getting
> big items like lawnmowers from place to place.

One of the universal truths: It's better to know someone with a pickup
truck than it is to own a pickup truck!

"XS11E" > wrote in message
news:5XKDg.1020$0F5.170@fed1read04...
> pws wrote:
>
>> Since I know roughly 138,000 people who drive pickups and SUV's, and many
>> of them owe me favors, it has never been much of a problem getting big
>> items like lawnmowers from place to place.
>
> One of the universal truths: It's better to know someone with a pickup
> truck than it is to own a pickup truck!

Same goes for a boat.

Frank Berger wrote:

> Same goes for a boat.


What is the old saying about it being better to rent than buy?
Anything that flies, floats or...... oh yeah, that too. ;-)

Pat