Should I buy a convertible car?

Morse code is an alphabet. How you transmit it is a matter of convention.

The established way of knocking morse code is a double tap for a dash and a knock for a dot.

Reply to
Per K. Nielsen
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I've been fighting the urge to interject. I believe, most precisely, Morse is an encoding for a set of symbols including letters, numbers, punctuation and a number of procedural signs. It's usually sent as OOK AM, somewhat incorrectly referred to as CW inside amateur radio circles.

Dana K6JQ

Reply to
Dana Myers

My memory is hazy on the subject, but I believe they were common in Europe. In particular, I seem to have a memory that the Volkswagens and Citroens had them too. In any case, I do not remember them as something unusual.

Leon

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

Hehe. Well, I'm looking for a "sensible" car for a friend who's Mini Moke is on it's last legs, and we've arrived at the Miata/MX5 from the opposite direction. This is her mid life sensible responsible practical car with doors and a heater after 16 years of Mini Mokes.

We drove our first one today. She's sold. Now I have to find one.

Must be an American thing, we only get Camry Sedans in Australia, and they are widely considered to be a very vanilla, cardigan wearing sort of a car. The antithesis of an MX5/Miata.

So? What do you want with a back seat? Surely you've reached that stage of life where you friends have their own cars?

In rec.autos.makers.mazda.miata ? What do you think?

But then, you wouldn;t expect to find a Mini Moke owner here either I suppose.

More like strawberries and coconuts.

Reply to
Graham

I suspect once you've got a Miata you'll have access to lots of cars...

I doubt it.

Well....

First you round up a friend with a station wagon. Then you swap cars for a day! How do you think I got roped into find one for my friend?

I think as long as you have friends you'r prepared to let drive your car, you'll never have any trouble borrowing something more mundane whenever you need it.

Reply to
Graham

People actually buy Mokes? I thought they were strictly rentals for the backpackers. 1/2 ;)

And enough horsepower that your passenger doesn't have to get out and push when you try to go up a hill. Maybe I'm being too hard on Mokes and only the rental ones were bad.

[...]

Other than rental agencies, I didn't know there were too many anywhere.

:)

Reply to
Grant Edwards

Then why are they consistently listed in Consumer Reports and other similar sources as "best bets" for used vehicles? You either drove a lemon, or haven't actually driven one as it was intended to be driven...more on that later...

Not a copy, but it certainly resembles some of the 60's models - classic roadsters, in their own right.

It's a sports car, not a family sedan...

Agreed. Keep them down (and the top, too) and there's no problem 8:-)

Only if you shift too soon. Keep the revs up, and you'd be surprized how fast they really go. Not only that, but they're some of the most nimble cars on the road. Life's too short to stay on striaght roads!

The soft top stands up quite well to the elements, and requires very little care. The plastic window only cracks when it's not cared for appropriately.

It's a sports car, not a family sedan...

Bull! *Any* vehicle, RWD, FWD, or 4WD can be dangerous if you don't know how to handle it. Invest a little money and time in performance driving instruction, and you'll appreciate just how safe the Miata really is.

The short story - take one for a test drive, and be prepared to wear the SEG for a while!

Mike "Red '97" Verive

Reply to
Michael Verive

Troll grade of C-. You need to be a bit more subtle.

Reply to
Grant Edwards

Oh, look, a creative troll!!

Right. That's a real reason to dislike it.

Actually, they meant to do that.

When do you use yours?

Been there, done that. It's true. So? Add $3k to the price.

Yeah, well, if you have a plastic window. Despite the popularity of griping about the M2s among the True Believers, it's certainly true the *glass window* since 1999 doesn't crack any more easily than the windscreen.

Matter of opinion. If I want soft suspension, I drive the Trailblazer.

Dungenes is a crab or a place, right?

Mid-life crises call for Corvettes or, if you're a true redneck, a Trans-Am.

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers

Well, you apparently haven't tried a supercharged car. It doesn't ruin a Miata to have half-again more power! The odd thing is, it's still a superb-handling car even when with a supercharger.

Try it. Try not shifting too soon with a supercharger. You'll be surprised how much faster they really go. It's great to drive a stock Miata like you stole it. It's that much better to drive a supercharged Miata like you stole it.

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers

Yes, I have. And yes, it makes a world of difference, but that doesn't mean the Miata isn't already a fast car.

Agreed!

I've often wondered if the supercharger's weight makes any significant difference in the Miata's handling, since it *will* throw off the 50:50 weight distribution.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Verive

Well, it won't help. But I wonder about the 50:50 thang. First, is the Miata really 50:50, or 51:49 or 52:48, or 48:52, or ... you get the idea.

Second, I imagine the driver & passenger don't exactly sit above the Cg. What's the effect of adding 200 lbs of american lard. Or of removing the spare & jack from the trunk? Or a shock change (or wear) or a few psi in front or rear tires?

Third, how important is it really? Afterall, F1 cars are more like 45:55 - 40:60 as are most any other mid-engine car. Yes, I suppose they play by different balance rules. 911's are worse than 40:60 and overcome it with giant rear tires. They are usually reviewed as great handlers and we all know their race record. Can anyone point to a credited article that says why

50:50 is "perfect"? Not just some ad hoc reasoning that we get on the net (and that I can supply for myself :-)). I'd really be interested in a solid, peer reviewed article on this. Methinks it a bit of hype.
Reply to
Dave

Please don't feed the trolls.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

I don't think it can be that critical. The difference betweem a full and half-full gas tank is over 35lbs, around the same as the M45 supercharger by itself.

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers

I guess you're American? Mokes (and Minis) were once relatively common in Australia, though they're thinning out a lot nowdays.

A standard Moke weighs 640kg and has a 998cc motor. Thats 1559cc/tonne. A standard NA 1.6 MX5 weighs 980kg and has a 1597cc motor. Thats

1630cc/tonne.

The 1275 motor commonly used in a Moke (and in the Cooper S, remember them?) produces about 60kw, or 89kW/tonne. The 1.6 MX5 is what, 92kW and 980kg?

I think you've driven tired 998 rental Mokes. A Moke with a healthy 1275 is comparable with an early MX5. Since a Moke is just a more interesting way of joining the mechanical parts of a Mini/Cooper together, the handling of a good Moke is not far off a Cooper S either. And if you think about it, in many ways the Cooper S was the affordable serious sports car of the masses, the MX5 of the 1960s.

I don't think the Moke was exported to the US. There was a special model developed in 1972, with various features to meet the US FMVSS rules, but they don't seem to have actually exported any of them.

Strawberries have a place. So do coconuts.

Mokes and MX5s are for fun. Camrys are for families.

To quote from an Australian Ford (Mercury) Capri billboard ad,

"Sell the kids!"

Reply to
Graham

Yup.

Yea, I remember seeing them as rentals, but I don't remember seeing any that looked like they were privately owned.

That's certainly not too bad.

I wasn't driving them, I was driving past them. ;)

I've certainly never seen any here in the US.

Or at least rent the out for a while...

Reply to
Grant Edwards

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