Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » miatas vs. my dad 1 2

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  Jan. 1, 2011 7:22 p.m. grimmelshanks HalfDork

  so im in the process of saving up money in order to get my butt into a set of wheels that i can actually call mine. i was talking with my dad about different ideas and i thought that i would reeeaally like to find me a na or nb and stick a blow dryer on it. it was at that point he goes off on this huge rant about how miatas were made to fit smurfs, they cant get out of their own way, theyre total turds, they have countless electrical gremlins, blah blah blah. now i know a bone stock 1.6 na is no rocket ship but i still want one. can you guys help me formulate my rebuttle?

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  Jan. 1, 2011 7:27 p.m. nderwater HalfDork

  I'm guessing that he 1) has never driven one and 2) thinks they're for girls. Will he be paying for/toward your car? You might try taking him to an autocross or club race, of find a local guy with a Miata to give him a ride.

  Auto photo blog: http://motomania.tumblr.com

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  Jan. 1, 2011 7:28 p.m. Toyman01 SuperDork

  Your money, your car. Buy one, take him for a ride and scare the crap out of him.

  A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

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  Jan. 1, 2011 7:34 p.m. Drewsifer HalfDork

  Miata's are actually known for being very reliable. Any maker can turn out a lemon. So maybe he's just had a bad experience with an unreliable Miata in the past. They make real fun little cars. I agree with Toyman though, unless his money is going into it who cares what he thinks? Take him for a ride and blow his hair off.

  Better to be a racer for a moment than spectator for a life time.

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  Jan. 1, 2011 7:36 p.m. NOHOME Reader

  -Cheap to buy -Cheap to insure -Cheap to maintain -Not so fast that it will be dangerous to a young driver -Not going to be the guy driving all the guys to the bars -Tends to fly under the Cop-Hating-Tenage-Driver radar -Fund to drive -Safe due to ability to perform evasive maneuvers -Blow the doors off most cars in a track day -Its a convertible( good chick filter, if the gurl don't like convetibles, there is something wrong with her! NEXT!)

  Out of curiosity, what does the Father Unit want you to drive?

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  Jan. 1, 2011 8:09 p.m. friedgreencorrado SuperDork

  Is your dad an enthusiast? If not, that might explain why he's got such a hate for one of the best little cars on Earth (I don't own one, but I've driven a few, and I want one).

  My own dad was one of those folks who hated "foreign" cars, but that was more than thirty years ago..I wish there'd been something as reliable as the Miata back when I was hiding my British cars at my friends' houses in the late 70s-early 80s.

  How can it be a midlife crisis, when I've driven sportscars my entire life?

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  Jan. 1, 2011 8:22 p.m. Salanis SuperDork

  As stated above. Not to mention inexpensive and easy to work on when you do have to. Unlike cars that are "fast" because they have big motors, you also won't break the bank keeping it in tires and brakes.

  Here's my little story to illustrate all that. Long story short: I had a minor coolant hose burst at a trackday and didn't notice because I was too busy hunting down, and eventually passing, an Evo. I did two (maybe three) laps with zero coolant in the car, one of them at 10/10s. Plugged the burst line and limped the car home with no damage to the engine after doing something that would have probably berkeleyed most cars.

  They are perfect cars to learn performance driving. The handling is absolutely textbook. It does exactly what you tell it to. Drive it right, and you're rewarded. Drive it wrong, and it lets you know, but won't bite you in the ass unless you REALLY screw things up. Lacks the power or gadgetry to hide bad habits, so the only way to be fast is to do everything right. That ultimately makes you a much faster driver.

  Watching videos of sportscar racing does not fully convey the experience. It's more like playing a three-way game of Speed-Chess while strapped to a chair... inside a giant beehive.

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  Jan. 1, 2011 8:24 p.m. Maroon92 SuperDork

  OHMYGAWD < my reaction after exiting my first run in a mildly prepped CSP miata

  XBL GamerTag: bcbrownell Racing is the process of turning money into noise.

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  Jan. 1, 2011 10:35 p.m. Blitzed306 Reader

  I remember cutting my first smokey doughnut in a NA miata

  "Drift this mother berkeleyer. . ."

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  Jan. 1, 2011 10:40 p.m. forzav12 Reader

  Oh Christ, another Miata circle jerk

  Some Ferraris,Musclecars and other junk.

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  Jan. 1, 2011 10:41 p.m. pres589 HalfDork

  Electrical gremlins in a Miata would be a very surprising turn of events. What's he drive?

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  Jan. 1, 2011 11:15 p.m. grimmelshanks HalfDork

  my dads a bimmer nut, he has an e28. hes been a mechanic since forever and has actually driven a few and somehow feels the way he does. ive driven two, one of which was bone stock, the other lightly built and lowered with sways and such. i already know that i want one because i loved the way it went and turned (even stock). it would be my money and my piercings and tattoos are testament to fact that im really not too worried about what he thinks, i just wanna prove him wrong so hell shut his big mouth. its really not so much that he doesnt want me driving, as that he just reeeeaaaalllyy wants his boy in an e30 (which i am open to, i just wanna prove him wrong about miatas). oh and yes he thinks theyre phanny-bandit-mobiles

  pinion shaft? uh-oh

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  Jan. 1, 2011 11:29 p.m. madpanda New Reader

  grimmelshanks wrote: oh and yes he thinks theyre phanny-bandit-mobiles

  It's been mentioned here before but the gay community tends to prefer macho mobiles like Mustangs and such. After all, they are into manly stuff, it's us straight guys that are into girly stuff like girls and Miatas. That's not to say no gay guys drive Miatas but if you are trying to pick up men you are probably better off in a Mustang or an M3
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  Jan. 1, 2011 11:30 p.m. nderwater HalfDork

  After three E30's, I moved on to Miatas and was happier for it. Nowadays I also own an E36 M3, but my turbo Miata gets the love - it's faster, more fun to drive and less expensive to maintain.

  Auto photo blog: http://motomania.tumblr.com

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  Jan. 1, 2011 11:36 p.m. HiTempguy HalfDork

  forzav12 wrote: Oh Christ, another Miata circle jerk

  Fap fap fap fap

  Rallying; It's like skydiving, except you have to dodge trees on your way down!

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  Jan. 2, 2011 12:27 a.m. grimmelshanks HalfDork

  HiTempguy wrote:

  forzav12 wrote: Oh Christ, another Miata circle jerk

  Fap fap fap fap

  im lost and intrigued simultaneously

  pinion shaft? uh-oh

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  Jan. 2, 2011 1:30 a.m. Derick Freese Dork

  I've driven 2 Miatas in my time, one across the parking lot at the Challenge, one a few miles from the LKQ in Daytona to GRM HQ. Both were NAs, but I seriously want one. Neither of the ones I drove were stock, but neither would one I'd own be.

  In the winter time, they hit stupid cheap prices in a lot of places, including here in FL. I'm looking to trade an RX7 for one as soon as I get it running.

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  Jan. 2, 2011 7:22 a.m. Woody SuperDork

  Is your dad the answer?

  I didn't think so.

  Police often question him, just because they find him interesting.

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  Jan. 2, 2011 8:32 a.m. ZOO Dork

  I've stopped talking to people who have never driven one about how great they are. Too many people know already, and it is gettng harder and harder to find inexpensive ones as my son approaches the driving age

  Their loss, not mine, if they don't get it.

  1990 Miata, 1998 M3, Locost in progress

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  Jan. 2, 2011 10:03 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork

  grimmelshanks: Dad? Dad: yeah? G.S.: your a douche! (kicks him in the shins) D.: ow ow ow! Buy your dang Miata, your right!

  Joey

  Oh yes use the longest screwdriver in the toolbox,use my shop voice and wing the rest!

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  Jan. 2, 2011 10:51 a.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork

  Well, you could do worse than an E30... its the Miata for people who need to take some E36 M3 with them when they go to the track.

  Lord of drivel and harbinger of Floundering

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  Jan. 2, 2011 11:02 a.m. Slyp_Dawg Reader

  do your best to find a nice 1.8 NA, just don't make the same mistake I did and go look at it in the relative dark. inspect the front of the rear fenders and the pinch rails, both of my fenders have paint bubbling and the rear 8" of my right side pinch rail has returned to the earth.

  other than that, buy what you want and to hell with what he thinks, if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to drive it. (I would make it a point to tell him that last bit, by the way) if he won't stop running his mouth, take him out to the next autoX, find someone with a well sorted CSP or ST/STS Miata and have him ride along with them, hell even an E/C Stock car on R-comps would be a fun enough ride to cure his hatred of them

  "We are on the cutting edge of cocking about" Richard Hammond

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  Jan. 2, 2011 5:29 p.m. Salanis SuperDork

  I've been kicking around the idea of unloading mine. PM sent.

  Watching videos of sportscar racing does not fully convey the experience. It's more like playing a three-way game of Speed-Chess while strapped to a chair... inside a giant beehive.

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  Jan. 2, 2011 6:32 p.m. Greg Voth HalfDork

  From the sound of it your Dad knows what hes talking about.

  They really are nice cars if not down on power. I do like them and have driven about every iteration you can think of but I just don't understand the big deal. I do however also tend to like cars a little more on the fringe. I don't want to go to an autocross or track day and be one of the other 104 Miatas there that day.

  Bottom line is get what you like. Don't get it just to prove him wrong. He probably wont change his mind. My first drive in an NA didn't convert me, neither did driving a turbo 1.8, a V8 one, or an NC. Nice cars but its not like seeing Mother Mary in your grilled cheese.

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  Jan. 2, 2011 6:49 p.m. pres589 HalfDork

  Do what you want and respect yourself.

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