Ford 'badged' vehicle built on Miata frame?

The Miata has stub frames and should be considered a "unibody" Even so, what you suggest is possible, but not probable. Interior room is too small for one thing. If you are saying that a rotary engine convertable sport car should be built using the Miata as a base, I could not agree more.

Oooh... Talk about breakin' out the "zoom-zoom"! :)

Let's see now. The 2.3L from the Mazdaspeed 6 puts out something over

270hp and from what I've seen it isn't all that large and is probably not prohibitively heavy and, given the cost of the the two vehicles utilizing it, it isn't all that expensive. Just a bit of work with the shoehorn in Hiroshima and you'd have some _serious_ Zoom-Zoom.

I would not be surprised if this is the next Mazdaspeed MX-5. This car would have a power-to-weight ratio rivaling some very serious, expensive sports cars. Should be interesting.

Thank you very much - my eyes are now bleeding.

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

I'm not saying it can't be done but you know, the MS 3 using that powerplant is FWD and in the MS 6 it's AWD so I'm not sure if it lends itself to RWD in a small package. I am in agreement that a rotary rocket Miata would be very "mazda" and I mean that in the best way. The Solstice / Sky have hi-po versions already and now I'm hearing that the Solstice's pretty much handed the Miata's their rear-ends at the SCCA autocross nationals. It's time to get serious MAZDA!

Chris

99BBB

Supposedly one of the best engine conversions was an aluminum small block V8 originally made by GM and then sold to Aston Martin. The Aston Martin version was a very good engine, and used for quite a few years. Since that engine is a bit long in the tooth these days, some of the small block engines can be used. Unfortunately, major surgery is involved. Not much will be left of the original drive train. (300+ HP does very nasty things to a stock Miata drive train.) In fact, I doubt that the stock Miata drive train would withstand the torque produced by the V-6 in our impala sedan. To meet the basic EPA requirements, the new engine must be no older than the Miata it's going into.

All that aside, a company > > Hi everyone,

...and was used in my beloved 1980 TR-8 ...

-- Larry

OMG, I always wanted a TR8. Tell me all about it please. I'll never forget the line from Car and Driver, "this is something that everybody in the Toyota generation should experience" Something to that effect anyway. I just wondered how well they would hold up. The C&D article said you could almost feel the twisting forces of the V8 an that body (you could probably remove the word 'almost').

Cool! I remember those horribly nasty plaid seats!

Chris

99BBB

I thought that too, but the 2.3 is taller, and may not clear the bonnet. It's also got the same bore with a longer stroke, meaning a bit more wieght, (up high) a bit more power and a less willingness to rev. A turbo might fix this, moving the power band up a bit higher in the rev range, but durability could be an issue. Probably would not thrive on a good hiding the way the old 1.6 & 1.8 do.

As I wrote, the engine, as used in the Mazdaspeed 6 puts out 270hp. I doubt that it needs any more "hiding", at least for a vehicle meant for street use rather than flight. If the engine is a bit taller, then there is always the possibility of a dry sump which is usually good for a couple of inches of extra clearance. As for durability, the Mazdaspeed vehicles have not had any extraordinary maintenance problems that I'm aware of. In fact Mazda has been pretty conservative with the power boosts they've settled for and many aftermarket tuners have achieved higher numbers.

Of course, for me this all academic. My 2006 will probably be driven until I'm too old to get in and out without help. I kept my 1991 for 15 years and if I do the same with my 2006 it won't be due for replacement until I'm 74...

Ford tried to do a similar car to the Miata, at least here in Australia. Same motor, small convertable. Sold here as a Ford Capri, I think Mercury sold them in the USA. Problem was, where Mazda got mostly eveything right, Ford made every mistake possible, and produced a real shitbox.

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You make some good points however, Ford seems to be bent on keeping it's head firmly planted up it's proverbial _ _ _ _ and crying only about worker pensions. Trying now to sell an outdated Focus as a 'new' focus and various other brilliant 'ideas'.

Chris

99BBB

That is not surprising. Producing real shitboxes is the only thing that Ford is good at doing anymore. We either have inept Americans working in design and/or production, or there is a complete lack of desire to build a quality vehicle for some reason.

They have not produced a single car that I would want in over 30 years. They deserve to go under now that they can't rape every fourth American driver with one of their awful, extremely high-profit SUV's.

The same goes for all other American automakers as well. There is not a single, currently produced American road vehicle that doesn't have a overseas counterpart that I want more, and cars are definitely an area where you really tend to get what you paid for, especially with domestic crap. I don't consider the lower price on shitbox American cars to be "savings".

Pat

How about naming a few of those overseas-built cars that you covet?

-- Larry

Hey, don't hold back man! Just kidding. I agree to a large extent.Whether it's the bean counters, the designers, the engineers, we could all argue from now till the cows come home but that doesn't change the facts as they stand today. I think typical corporate greed and shortsightedness is mainly to blame and I'd argue it's running thru American business like a cancer. Hope we can stomp it out and get it healthy but most people pretend the problem doesn't exist.

We'll see, Chris

99BBB

I rather like the Mazda 3 as well.

And maybe a Lotus or two.

You would just think I was telling a lie.... ;-)

Here are a few:

Already have 1991 Miata

1999-2005 Miata 2007 or 2008 Mazda MX-5 PRHT (maybe) Mazda M3 (practical, reliable & realistic for me) Toyota Camry (ditto) Honda Accord (ditto) Toyota Avalon (not quite so affordable) Lotus Elise (the toy, the dream of that much $ to spend on a toy) Subaru Outback (the closest I will ever come to a SUV) Infiniti G30 (nicely out of reach) BMW M5 (way out of reach) McLaren F1 (ha!) Aquada Car/Boat (it's just too cool)

The list would go on for a long time, and the Corvette was on there as the single American entry until I read Tom's one year review when he bought a brand new one. It was not pretty to read, the car spent at least one of the 12 months in the shop and had many problems that were unacceptable.

If any of these cars are built on this continent, please excuse my improper wording. I am comparing American cars to foreign cars, I know that automobiles are not always built in the country that the car manufacturer is located in.

Pat