Miata as a Winter Beater?

[Nightrage]

I don't think I can make it through another winter with the Trans Am, so I'm trying to decide on what I want next. I want something economical, but fun. I've been thinking about getting a first- gen Miata. They're almost perfectly balanced and they're a little light on torque, so spinning hopefully wouldn't be an issue. Also, they use a somewhat narrow tire. I'm not 100% certain, but I've heard that a narrower gives better traction in the snow, due to the weight and pressure being divided along a smaller area. I figure that if I put some seasonal tires on a Miata, I should be fine. I figured it would be best to get some input from those more knowledgeable than myself.

Thanks guys!

[Trash man]

they are rear wheel drive and very light cars. i have a z24 cav, its sporty and with some snow tires, it does pretty darn good. if you use the miata, id throw some weight in the ass end to help it a little bit

[Black97]

As a winter beater I would use a front wheel drive. You have the weight of the engine. Even low powered rear wheel drives with good tires can have problems in snow.

[Wild Willy]

Yes, FWD is good in the snow, but you can't do fish-tails and power slides at 10 MPH with them- Good snow tires are a must, and extra weight in the trunk helps- get a 50-lb bag of gravel or kitty litter, and, if you get stuck, you will have a little grit to throw under the spinning wheel. I doubt if the Miata came with posi as an option, not enough power to worry about spinning both wheels-

I drove an MGB for a couple winters, not a very good heater, but fun to drive- and easy to push out of a snowbank if I got a little too frisky. +1 on the narrow tire, and tall, also- cut through the snow better.

[Nightrage]

Have any of you ever driven a Miata? I've only felt the shifter in one. It was the smoothest shifter I've ever felt. I'd imagine they handle far better than my car does. If not, I may as well just get a Civic.

[Z Ya Later]

Just get one of these and be done with it. lol

[Blazer]

Sure glad I live in the south where you drive a nice car all year long. But the Miata isn't that like a sissy girl car. It is down here, Unless the guy is, well you know.

[Nightrage]

Saying that a Miata is a woman's car is like saying Vette's are for guys compensating for their small...you know

Yeah, it's a little weird to see a guy driving a tiny car like that, but when it outhandle my car, gets better gas mileage than my car and can run pretty a pretty similar 1/4 mile time with a turbo (on a stock block), who cares?

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

+1 for snow tires.

I've said it before, but it was the best purchase I made for my Z28. I didn't have traction control and it was an auto, so I couldn't start out in 2nd gear, but driving was fine in the worst weather.

We had 3" of slush pile up in a few hours and I had no problem making the 17 mile drive back home from work. Plows were struggling to keep up. It came in really fast. I just drove slow and careful and never once lost traction on hills or overpasses. They got me through 3 winters with plenty of snow fall.

Rear wheel drive isn't a deal breaker for winter driving. Just make sure you have dedicated snow tires and drive slow when the road conditions aren't ideal.

Some weight in the trunk will help too of course. I used to save up my newspapers, bag them, and pile them in the trunk. Also keep your gas tank full.

[formula_gramps]

Nightrage, and Joe K......

Some of the folks here have never experienced the metamorphosis that our F-Body cars go through during snowy weather. (and I'm jealous of every one of them!) Being outside of Boston up here, I've had about 15 years of it with my Formula.

Instantly, our cars go from being one of the most sure-footed passenger cars on the road to a barely guided kinetic object with all of the lateral adhesion of a frozen hockey puck. It's pretty startling when you first experience it....lol.

Comes the first snowfall, you either hop into a different ride, or you adopt a completely different mindset about driving, and as it turns out, you apply much of the same techniques as if you were driving at high speed on a road course:

1) Your focus cannot lapse for even a fraction of a second. (Turn the stereo off! Tell any passengers in the car to be quiet and not distract you).

2) Brake way early for any turns, and as gently as you can.

3) Widen any turn out by turning into it way wide, go across the turn and hit the apex, and ease it out wide of the turn (as oncoming traffic would permit). Our cars don't do sharp turns in the snow, unless you count 360 degree spins, which they can do with ease.

4)Short shift whenever possible to be in lower revs than normally, and to reduce rear wheel spin.

5) When approaching a steep hill, while following someone, anticipate that he may be one of those jackasses that likes to slow down just as he reaches the top. Start to build up some distance between you and him in advance, so you have some space to climb the hill at a more constant pace or constant rate of acceleration, that you control. If you rapidly decelerate or accelerate, for any reason on a hill-- you're done!

In other words, absolutely nothing of the fun that we associate with driving our cars, is in play when driving under these extremely low traction conditions.

Come to think of it.....why the heck do I live here anyway?

[ReBop]

I think Miata was voted "the most gay car, ever"... But that's besides the point.

My brother had one and I got to drive it. It was very light in the rear and had a tendency to break loose. Not a good winter car.

My brother actually did a 360 by mistake while going around a sharp bend.

Be careful.

[formula_gramps]

I'll second that Rebop........

I've only driven one once briefly, and noticed that with not even really aggressive turns, it has a tendency to want to step out. Hell of a lot of fun though.......

In low traction conditions like the kind we have up here in winter, I imagine it would be trying to swap ends on you fairly often.

You'd be better off in an F-Body. At least you can't get killed in a collision with a mailbox, like you could with the Miata.

[Nightrage]

I think I'm going to get a low- mileage '93+ Civic. I'm debating whether to sell or keep my car. I've decided to become an x- ray tech, so that's 2 years of school with no real break anywhere in between. I'm going to have to drop down to part- time, so I could use the money. The problem is that the heat doesn't work well, the nose and rear bumper are faded, my clutch pedal squeaks and groans (WD- 40 didn't even take the edge off of it), the power locks work selectively and the A/C compressor is blown, plus it needs tires and brakes. I'm thinking of holding on to it and turning it into a monster when I get the money. Maybe an LQ4 or LQ9 swap with some engine work. I'm also considering saving for a C5 a few years from now, but I'm at the age where I need to start saving for a house and a future. Growing up sucks.