I had 2 1997 Miata's. A few years ago took a friends salvaged Miata for a project and daily beat around the neighborhood car. Ended up completely and slowly restoring 95 percent of it. It's relatively easy to work on, inexpensive to drive and maintain. With the right suspension up grades and tires, this is absolutely a blast to drive. The two vehicles, other than have 4 wheels to ride on and one to steer with, are not really in the same class for all the reasons stated in this thread. I sold the Miata for the Z, only because I craved power. The Miata is not a speed demon, and not designed to be. It corners fantastic, loves country roads, loves to be driven hard. I'm a big guy at 5'10 225 lbs and it was very comfortable for me to drive, even for long distance travels. I would not hesitate to p/u another gen 1 or 2 to wrench on. The cost of a new one is not worth it, but if Mazda bumped up the HP to 190/200. It would be so much better.
__________________
2010 Touring Roadster - Z1 Intake and Oil Cooler, GarageLine exhaust
|