Experience in colder climates?

I have a 93 purchased new in August, 1993. For the first 3-4 years it was my only car and driven in Ohio and Indiana all year round.

The heater is more than adequate. Unless you have an older miata, you don't have the plastic rear window issues (tended to shatter in cold temps when scraping - based on stories I heard). The first winter I didn't have snow tires - big mistake. The OEM tires had no grip in snow. After that I purchased snow tires and mounted them on a set of steel wheels. They served me well for the remaining years I drove in the winter. Starting in 97/98 I had another vehicle and put the miata in the garage for the winter.

You're welcome, Jim

Snow tires. That's a really helpful tip!!! Having driven only FWD cars with all-seasons for the last 20+ years, that could have led to an expensive reminder as I would not have thought of it right off the bat. You're a Good Guy Jim!

Don

Temperature last night -18c or close to Zero F So cold that the lawyers put their hands in their own pockets.

Plenty of snow. 4 feet wall just outside my driveway.

The law requires that every car must have snow tires by Dec 15 Without them forget it.

I have 2 cars. The other is a Mercedes 500SL in the garage . $500 per snow tire. No Winter driving.

I installed the snow tires in the 2006 Miata and the dealer told me that I am one of the rare people that drive the Miata on the Winter.

Since I don't have the hard top, I find it convenient to have a hat on my head. It's cold on the top.

Driving the car (with snow tires) was difficult but after I squeezed an extra wheel on the trunk, there is no problem.

I am going to replace the wheel with a couple of sand bags for more weight that the wheel and I believe everything will be fine. The extra weight on the rear is absolutely essential

John

I hear you about weight and traction! Also, bags of salt weigh less than sand but can do double duty in a fix.

I'm just a wuss when it comes to cold since you are effectively motionless and unable to get any kind of blood circulation going. Back when I had the MGB I ended up buying a snowmonbile suit as the heater would not put out anything worth mentioning for the first 20-25 minutes. Maybe I should make sure I get one with a hard top.

Don

I hesitated between salt and sand and actually purchased 60 kg of sand I should purchased 2 bags of 30 kg because provides a better distribution and would be easier to remove. Salt in the trunk eventually leeks and promotes rust. The dealer suggested that I look for a used hard top. A new one will set you back close to $500.00.

John

Bought my 1999 NB a little over 7 years ago and it's been my daily drive here ever since, which means 4-5 months per year on winter tires. Now much of the Winter here in Denmark may be more about wet roads with temperatures just around the freezing point, but in many ways it's a tougher climate on cars than constant freezing.

Yes. Some winters I have been using a hard top, but the vinyl soft top works well and if one is a little gentle it can be put up and down even when it is freezing. In the winter months we don't have much daylight and even less sun, we had just 14 hours in January, so being able to make to most of it is great. The heaters in the car are powerful enough that top down driving in the Winter can be done without going to extremes clothing wise.

Nothing special. Just as with other cars cold starts calls for a battery in good condition and it's a good idea to lube the locks and rubber door seals.

Unfortunately yes. I'd say having the car given a good rust protection is mandatory and even so there will likely be problems over time. Weak points is is the area in front of the rear wheels, the frame around the wind screen and the rear edge of the trunk lid.

Overall I find the car to be working well winter time and driving in snow and ice can be a lot of fun. It's so well balanced that while FWD is perhaps less demanding using it has not been an issue for me and I have not felt the need to lug around extra weight to add rear grip. But winter tires is a must and it is not just about snow, it is also about grip when in near freezing conditions as the rubber on most sportier tires doesn't work well in the cold.

Greeting from Denmark Bruno

Place a 60Kg bag of sand in the trunk . It makes a big difference. Otherwise the trunk wntes to run faster than the engine I should have purchased 2 bags of 30Kg .Easier to remove and to fit.

The dealer tells me that I am an odd ball . One of the rare people that drive a Miata in the Winter. Drive a MB 500SL in the Summer.

Greetings from Canada

John

I'm also quite late - in my defense, I just subscribed to the group today. :)

I drove a '96 NA as my only vehicle for four years in Minnesota. The old hard tires it came with were awful, almost zero traction, but I still made it thru the first year. (Earlier I'd driven an '86 Corvette thru a winter, much the same.) The next spring I bought a new set of decent tires (not snows) and they were much much better in the winter. Still a light rear-drive car, but perfectly workable most of the time.

Heater, starting, and everything else, no problem at all. Mine was garaged so I seldom dealt with scraping snow off, can't speak to the rear window durability.

Just bought a 2003 NB last fall, but it's a play car and won't be doing winters.

miker

I bought my Miata when I lived in Edmonton and used it every day until I left two years later.

The heater was adequate even at temps down around -30C.

The only concession to the climate was that the car had a block heater, and I kept it plugged in both overnight and while at work.