driving across the US in a Miata

It has been nearly ten years since I moved out to California, but it certainly wasn't a problem then. I suspect that it would not be problem now, either, as long as the car can pass the smog test.

Silicon Valley is a great place to have a Miata -- it doesn't rain for eight months of the year, and the temperatures are moderate enough that you can have the top down nearly every day. The mountains (and the twisties) are just a half an hour away.

California is the promised land for Miata drivers. There's nothing like zipping down a twisty mountain road, top down, looking up a couple hundred feet to the tops of the redwoods! Don't give up that Miata!

Kevin snipped-for-privacy@bayarea.net

I meant when you're in space where there's no air for the sound to be transmitted -through - hello?

No, I am not trading the Miata in, period. Not until I figure out for myself what's in it what drives you all.

Ah, grasshopper, the thing about Miatas is not that they drive you, it's that you drive them... when you can snatch this voodoo shift knob from my hand, then you will be ready to drive to California.

This is a complicated tangle you've stepped into - I'll give you my $0.02. First, function vs appearance. There's a very large population of auto owners who make modifications that are, on the surface, similar to modifications made to performance cars - lowering the car by cutting the springs, putting in a "fartcan" on the end of the exhaust to make it louder, dressing it up with spoilers and fins and dams and skirts and scoops. To me, this makes as much sense as going and buying a trailer hitch to give the appearance of owning a boat. Sports cars don't -have- to be loud, but high-performance exhausts frequently are loud. We'll get to the why in a minute. So for the time being, just realize that the Accord with the 18" wheels and the exhaust tip you could hide a Big Gulp in is NOT a sports car, it's just trying to look and sound like one.

Having said that, on to "why do they need to be loud". As someone else said, quietness and comfort come at the price of performance. There's an exception... There's a car that will tie a Corvette to 60, beat it to 80, and keep up with it in the slalom. The occupants sit in soft, supple leather. I'd be very surprised if you could hear the engine at all in the cabin. It's the $300,000 Maybach, and if you're wondering how to make a comfy slipper out of the running shoe that is the Miata.... I'm guessing you don't have 300 grand tucked under the bed :-D. Point is, gasoline engines are fairly inefficient. Something like 60% (someone correct me?) of the energy generated by burning the fuel is lost to the friction and heat loss of making the engine turn over. So anything you can do to lessen that effort makes the engine more powerful. The muffler works (in a simplified sense) by slowing down and diffusing the exhaust. If you're talking, and you put your hand over your mouth, your voice is quieter, but it takes more effort to speak. Same deal with a muffler. The exhaust noise is less, but the engine has to work harder. This is why sporty cars often have louder, more free-flowing exhausts.

Luxury cars also have sound-dampening material in them. This is material in the doors, floors, firewalls, etc. that deadens noise from the outside world. In a luxury car, it's a good thing, because it quietens the ride. In a sports car, it's just extra weight to lug around.

Then there's the issue of tires and handling. Stiff tires and a stiff suspension will allow you to corner better (generally), because they can "push back" against the lateral forces you incur when, say, you're coming around an on-ramp at 60. They also are more responsive to changes in the road surface- if there's a bump in the road, a stiffer suspension will snap the wheel back to the road faster, where a softer suspension will let gravity and momentum take the tire back. We're talking hundredths of a second, but those hundredths of a second are a time when there is no traction at that corner of a car - a bad thing for a performance driver.

Sport and luxury are generally at opposite ends of a scale; car-makers tend to either make a car luxurious or sporty. There are some exceptions, and there are some vehicles where there is more than a subtle nod made at luxury in a sports car, or at sportiness in a luxury car. There's a Cadillac...the STS I think - the engine's basically a 32-valve V8 from a Corvette, and the suspension is this high-tech design that allows for both ride comfort and performance. A little lower down the scale, something like a BMW 3-series or a Lexus IS-300 or an Acura RSX will give you quite a bit of performance, without that "glorified go-kart" feeling.

Good luck, and if you decide to fly and want someone to drive your Miata cross-country, just post here. I'm sure there are quite a few folks who wouldn't mind making a cross-country run in a Miata....

FrinkLemur

ps- that cadillac suspension is actually incredibly cool - the shock absorber fluid is full of tiny iron-compound particles, and there's a series of magnets around the shocks. Hundreds of times a second, the car is calculating loads at each wheel and adjusting the viscosity of the shock fluid. How cool is that??

not necessarily. installing a wind-blocker

makes the ride quite reasonable - i can still hear the stock stereo at

70-80mph (whereas before it disappeared at 55mph).

barry '90 sky blue "marvin"

180k & climbing...

Stolen on March 27/2004 from a Walmart parking lot, within 15 minutes. Probably in little silver pieces by now.

Replacement under consideration will be a 2001+ Miata, possibly silver, possibly crystal blue, hopefully with hard top. Second hand as I can't afford a new one and the insurance will only cover the value of a good condition 1999 with 152,000km on the odo.

Dammit. I miss my baby *snif*

Thank you very much all for the great feedback. I am especially thankful to those who, instead of saying "you wimp don't deserve a Miata go get a Civic", encouaraged me to hold on to to the car.

I am not selling the Miata. It either goes to CA with me, on a trailer, or stays in NY and gets a pair of snow tires and a hardtop.

Also, the car just got a bike rack and a luggage rack, so that we could use it regularly for daytrips to upstate NY - so that we could learn how to appreciate the car.

Peace,

runnerXCskier

Good attitude! Don't forget the sunscreen.

minutes.

Oh, geez, Nora - that really sucks. Had that happen to my '68 MGB - ended up getting it back about 2 weeks later, repainted. Hope your baby doesn't (or didn't) suffer.

silver,

I can't

a good

Good luck on finding another Miata.

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

^^^^^^^^^

That should be "a set of four".

I drove my '93 for 5 years in the snow before I was able to garage it for the winter. You want snow tires at all the corners. I tried the first winter w/out snow tires, but didn't like the complete lack of traction.

Enjoy the Miata.

Sorry to hear it, Nora. Maybe you are in an area where an alarm would make sense for the new one. A Wal-Mart parking lot seems a very public place to steal a car from.

Crystal blue is good, but white is best. ;)

Leon