Small Cars, miatas and safety: Reassure a first time car buyer?

Our rating for the MX-5.

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/mazda_mx_5_2002/120.aspx

wot it says:
Comments
The MX-5 has had a recent facelift but the body and chassis remains much as it was when introduced in 1989. That being so, the car still proved safe enough to gain four stars, giving a well balanced performance in the frontal and side impact. The passenger safety cell was challenged by the frontal impact, however, and was found to be unstable, post-impact. In the frontal crash, the car was tested with its roof down to give worst-case results. For the side crash, though the top was left up to check for any risk of head injury that the driver might be exposed to. As a two-seater, the car could not be tested with child restraints fitted. While no crash tests were run to assess the safety performance of a child restraint, its fitting and labelling were checked. Finally, protection offered to pedestrians was poor.

Front impact
The airbag protected the driver's head. However, loads on his chest were relatively high. The car is designed so that impact forces are transferred underneath, through the sills and other structures. The doors are not designed to take any great load, front to back. Euro NCAP criticised this approach because there are accidents where the doors should help 'spread' the loads. The driver's and passenger's knees could cause suffer serious damage if they struck unforgiving components around the steering column and glove locker support.

Side impact
Loads on the driver's chest were relatively high (increasing injury risks) but were well distributed. Loads on his abdomen were also relatively high but the MX-5's overall performance was thought to be reasonable for a car without side airbags fitted as standard.

Child occupant
A system recognises when a Mazda-branded restraint is fitted to the passenger seat, disarms the airbag and switches on a warning. However this system will not accept non-Mazda restraints, which is hazardous if the driver is unaware of this. Warnings on the driver's sun visor were inadequate.

Pedestrian
This is a poor performance despite the MX5 benefiting from not having to have the leading edge of its bonnet tested because of its low profile.
 
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equiraptor said:
Heh. Wide isn't really what a Miata needs. Lightweight is. The car would have had a 16x6.5 wheel that weighed 15.5 pounds. The car needs a 4x100 bolt pattern. I'm not sure which offsets will work on an NB, but there's a list of workable wheels (including weights) here. I'm sure there are many more options than that - the page doesn't even list my favorite aftermarket wheel (RP-F1 - they come in anything from NA CSP sizes to NC SSM sizes). But it will give an idea of what sizes and offsets work. :)
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It works well on small cars.

An acquaintance of mine put four Diamond wheels on his Mk1 GTI. He was in Eurotuner as reader's ride of the month

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_sotelo/sets/72157622813282618/
 
Atlantian said:
It works well on small cars.

An acquaintance of mine put four Diamond wheels on his Mk1 GTI. He was in Eurotuner as reader's ride of the month

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_sotelo/sets/72157622813282618/
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Your friend using them on his GTI doesn't make them the right wheels for a Miata. Congrats to your friend. It's always great to get recognition for a car well loved.

I wasn't saying none of the wheels on that website would work. I did notice that they do offer some wheels in the proper bolt pattern for an NB. But, say, the 18 lb 15x7 Pro series would have a negative impact on both ride quality and handling of an NB. The 14lb offering would be better, but the same 15x7 size is only 9.8 pounds in an Enkei RP-F1. They also, apparently, charge more for the Miata's "non-standard" bolt pattern.

There's a good range of cheap to lightweight available here, all already in Miata friendly bolt patterns and offsets, and that's just one of many Miata focused vendors online.
 
Well for anyone who cares, we went out and bought that 2003 6 speed with 43 thousand miles on it, 7500 bucks. The interweb says its worth at least a grand more than that, much more with a low miles example. Think we got yanked?

But jesus, this car cant cruise for shit, at 60 mph in 6th gear (an OPTIONAL gear, remember.) you're turning over a 3000 rpms. Its wrong.....ITS WRONG! [/Used to V8]

But jesus, what a sahwEEEET car. Every bit as much fun as the BMW Z4 i had a month or two back for a quarter of the price. And from inside the hood curves make it look and feel like i'm in a (mini) jaguar XK, i swear to you. Pictures to follow sometime this weekend.
 
MattD1zzl3 said:
But jesus, this car cant cruise for shit, at 60 mph in 6th gear (an OPTIONAL gear, remember.) you're turning over a 3000 rpms. Its wrong.....ITS WRONG! [/Used to V8]
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:blink: An MR2 Spyder cruises at that same RPM in its top gear (5th). And critics said the Miata is the one that's easier to live with??
 
MattD1zzl3 said:
Well for anyone who cares, we went out and bought that 2003 6 speed with 43 thousand miles on it, 7500 bucks. The interweb says its worth at least a grand more than that, much more with a low miles example. Think we got yanked?

But jesus, this car cant cruise for shit, at 60 mph in 6th gear (an OPTIONAL gear, remember.) you're turning over a 3000 rpms. Its wrong.....ITS WRONG! [/Used to V8]

But jesus, what a sahwEEEET car. Every bit as much fun as the BMW Z4 i had a month or two back for a quarter of the price. And from inside the hood curves make it look and feel like i'm in a (mini) jaguar XK, i swear to you. Pictures to follow sometime this weekend.
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3000rpm in a 6-speed? Is it the 1.6?
 
1.6 was the early mk1s.

And if I had a Miata, I would rev it hard all the time.

Top down, exhaust note buzzing in my ear all day long.

Oh wait, I already do it with my car. Lol.
 
MattD1zzl3 said:
Well for anyone who cares, we went out and bought that 2003 6 speed with 43 thousand miles on it, 7500 bucks. The interweb says its worth at least a grand more than that, much more with a low miles example. Think we got yanked?

But jesus, this car cant cruise for shit, at 60 mph in 6th gear (an OPTIONAL gear, remember.) you're turning over a 3000 rpms. Its wrong.....ITS WRONG! [/Used to V8]

But jesus, what a sahwEEEET car. Every bit as much fun as the BMW Z4 i had a month or two back for a quarter of the price. And from inside the hood curves make it look and feel like i'm in a (mini) jaguar XK, i swear to you. Pictures to follow sometime this weekend.
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Congrats. :D

Miatas rev high on the freeway. That's just how it is. The 6-speeds (at least the '06 through '08) actually rev higher than the 5-speeds. If going along the freeway at 4,000 rpm bugs you, spend some time at a track. I've actually tried to drive home on the freeway in 4th, at 80mph, after a track day. :)
 
Your highway rev's are fine. The engine's meant to be there (or higher), and you'll suffer no ills for it. As you've already deduced, it's not a lumping V8 (though, that can be done...as seen here: http://www.flyinmiata.com/V8/index.php), and as such, it's doing at least double the work you're used to...thus a V8's 1,500rpm is an I4's 3,000rpm.

You can change the 3.909:1 rear final drive ratio to the Aussie 3.616:1 ring & pinion gear for about a 5% reduction in revs at any speed, though your 1st gear acceleration will be impacted...best not considered unless you go with a turbo (as seen here: http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?dept=35).

Enjoy your Miata. Join your local Miata club, as can be found here: http://www.miata.net/clubs/ and the large Miata forum here: http://forum.miata.net/vb/ and the wealth of knowledge stored here: http://www.miata.net/
 
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The Miata is not a cruiser, but it will do 3,000rpm quite happily for hours on end.
The general consensus in the Miata community is that the 6-speed is inferior to the 5-speed. I have a 6-speed, but I don't mind it so much.

And you're right, from some angles it really does look like a mini Jag. Enjoy!
 
Great, have fun, drive safe, and let your girlfriend drive sometimes.
 
ChaoZ said:
The Miata is not a cruiser, but it will do 3,000rpm quite happily for hours on end.
The general consensus in the Miata community is that the 6-speed is inferior to the 5-speed. I have a 6-speed, but I don't mind it so much.
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Don't know why you say that...I've enjoyed 8,000km (5,000 mile) road trips in mine with no complaint.

As to the 5-spd / 6-spd debate, yes, you're entirely correct...on the NB (2nd gen) car. In the NC (3rd gen) car, it's the opposite.

Whereas the NB 6-spd (reverse to the right of 6th gear) was out-sourced to Aisin, Mazda built the NC 6-spd (reverse to the left of 1st gear) and it's much better than the 5-spd.
 
Maybe it's just me. I undertook a 5,000km road trip this summer with my NB. It's kinda buzzy (especially when I had to go top-up for several rain storms), but I enjoyed most of it as well. The NC is probably totally different in terms of refinement.

I'm not to familiar with the NC myself, but it's good to know if I ever decide to upgrade.
 
MXV said:
Don't know why you say that...I've enjoyed 8,000km (5,000 mile) road trips in mine with no complaint.

As to the 5-spd / 6-spd debate, yes, you're entirely correct...on the NB (2nd gen) car. In the NC (3rd gen) car, it's the opposite.

Whereas the NB 6-spd (reverse to the right of 6th gear) was out-sourced to Aisin, Mazda built the NC 6-spd (reverse to the left of 1st gear) and it's much better than the 5-spd.
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It depends on what you're looking for and which NC you're talking about. If you want a robust transmission in your NC, you want the 6-speed and you want to make sure it has the stronger 3/4 shifter fork. The early 6-speeds had a weak 3/4 shifter that could fall out of alignment or even bend under aggressive shifting. However, once that weak shifter fork is fixed (or if the car is built in 2006 or later) the transmission is more robust than the 5-speed.

If what you're looking for is lower freeway RPM in your manual, you want first the '09+ 6-speed. If you can't or don't want the '09+ NC, then you want the '06-'08 5-speed. Unless, that is, you're happy with an automatic. The 6AT turns the lowest freeway revs of any NC.

<-- knows too much about NCs.
 
Big benefit, and something Mazda ignored during their initial launch of the NC in which they stated that other than nuts, bolts, and some fasteners, the only part of the NC that was previously used on the NB was the European-market fender-mounted repeater lens. This is not true, as the same 7" ring & pinion gear are used in the differential (the RX-8 uses an 8" set, and it was thought that that was retained in the NC chassis, which is heavily based on the RX-8).

Thankfully, a few brilliant souls have discovered that the 3.909 or 3.616 R&P gears can be transplanted into the NC, which will drop the revs of a 6-spd or 5-spd manual down to that of a 6-spd AT.

The only unique part required is a longer crush washer, which Puddy Mod Racing in Florida has worked around by using a bespoke billet collar, far superior to the oem part.

http://www.myspace.com/puddydad
 
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