2004 Mazdaspeed Miata or keep my 10 Series?
 

hey all

I'm an old NB Miata owner who has moved on to other cars and right now I'm in a limited edition Scion FRS. I love the FRS, but I have the opportunity to get into a 2004 MSM in pretty good condition. It's been resprayed to take care of some rust, but otherwise seems to be in excellent condition.

Can anyone here provide any insight to my situation? Thanks!

Unless you really want a convertible or really want Miata-style handling (body roll and "playfulness" vs 86 handling (flatter cornering and communicativeness) there's really nothing a Mazdaspeed Miata can do that an 86 can't do just as well (if not better). The blown Mazda will feel mid-range torquier but has boost lag. Your FR-S revs higher and more smoothly and can easily have the torque improved with a tune and header without losing its' superior redline and that rev happy nature. The Miata's top comes down. The 86 has an emergency back seat and decent cargo carrying capacity. You choose but to me a 10 year old MSM is pretty much a downgrade every way you look at it.

2014 FR-S vs 2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5
BHP: 200 @ 7000 RPM vs 178 @ 6000 RPM
Torque: 151 @ 6400 RPM vs 168 @ 4500 RPM
Curb Weight: 2750 lbs vs 2529 lbs
Redline 7200 vs 6500
MPG: 22/30 vs 23/28
0-60: 6.2 vs 6.7
1/4 mi: 14.8 @ 94.3 MPH vs 15.3 @ 89MPH

Link for reference
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...iata-road-test

Why would you buy basically an older car with more miles that does almost the same thing?

more torque.

Lol my torque wrench produces more torque then both these cars... combined!

You cheeky bastard

you need to mention prices because thats a big deal. i think as far as fun, the cars are almost the same. the miata is more fun because if you wreck it, it doesnt hurt your soul as bad

Makes no sense losing a new car to get an old car but I've seen a lot of stuff that makes no sense. I guess do what makes ya happy

From an autocross perspective, the gearing is uselessly short on the Mazdaspeed. It has the 4.10 rear gear, 6,500 RPM redline, and close-ratio six-speed. You can adjust things with your checkbook wrench, but they are very shift happy out of the box. That might be an annoyance to you on the street, or it might not. Drive one before you consider it.

I would keep the FRS. But......

You sell the FRS (assuming its paid off), purchase MS miata, purchase Exocet kit (with money left over from the FRS sale) then remove everything from the Miata and insert into the Exocet. Win.

Miata!! Way more cheap and reliable.

If it was resprayed to take care of rust, there is probably rust under the paint somewhere.

New ND will be faster 0-60 due to torque and gearing. It's also lighter and has a lot of modern features. And like murdoc said, if rust is a concern, get the newer a Mazda. Later Mazda frame has better anti-corrosion paint. If you're on a certain budget, keep the car, otherwise get a '16 ND Club.

https://media.giphy.com/media/dzXbLFzftyqek/giphy.gif


You nailed it

I personally think the FRS is a better daily driver, as it has a hard roof and rear seats. I used to daily a BMW Z3 convertible which I loved, but the top would leak in rainstorms. I also find myself using the FRS's rear seats and fold down trunk/cabin divider pretty often, so it's nice to have the extra room.

You used to own an NB Miata so you would know best if it works for your car needs. Still, I wouldn't personally choose a miata as my only car/DD.

Definitely keep your FR-S.

Unless your in love with the chassis I wouldn't make the jump. As many people have stated prior: its just not an amazing car to down grade to. Also, how extensive was that rust? surface rust? All cars rust and its certainly blown out of proportion how big of a deal a tiny bit of rust can be but its blown out of proportion for a reason, it can kill your car if not handled properly.

If you make a switch why not find a rust free example?

Sell it get the Miata, this will help lower my insurance premiums.
Kindly gtfo.

thanks for responses all (except for the one unhelpful tool).

It was a $7000 nice looking example on the outside, but needed more work than I would care to put into it. MS Miatas are hard enough to find, especially in Hawaii, so that's why I was initially interested.

I do like the NB chassis, and it was a fun test drive, but it wasn't clean enough of an example that I want to make the jump. If I do go this route, I would buy another car for my daily, since I've been looking for another car to take for surfing anyway; my FRS only can carry my 8'6" and I want to surf my 9'3" more. Can you believe I actually had my 8'6" carved specifically to fit into my car? lol

Get the Mazda. If the thought crossed your mind its obviously what you crave.

you're in hawaii..get the S2000 and call it a day.
but serious note, I considered miata, s2000 but as weird as it may sound fr-s is considerably more practical in carrying those odd passengers twice a year and moving tires once year.

so yeah convertible in hawaii ftmfw

If you dont keep your 10 series can I have ur badges?

Now that Scion is no more, I'm gonna keep my 10 Series, and it will become a collectors item. lol

If only there was a way to transport outdoor sporting goods with an FR-S....

https://d59g647ccmdae.cloudfront.net...29.620x372.jpg

I want to keep my board IN my car, not on top. Various reasons for me - security, protect board from UV, convenience, etc. Besides, I wouldn't want to put racks on my FRS.

Buy a used small truck then.
Buyer remorse annoys the fuck out people on these forums.

Yeah - a small SUV/wagon would be a great compliment to my FRS. Been looking for a Forester or something like that. I could use a Miata too, I just need a bigger garage, and wallet. :p

i think if youre going to buy another car in conjunction the frs, the miata is better in most regards. id probably buy a regular miata before a mazdaspeed though because turbo cars arent as simple and i think simple is a critical part of the fun. you cant replace the feel of a newer more buttoned down car and you cant replace being 600 lbs lighter. you have to figure out what is more important to you.

Miata. Buy a FR-S in 2yrs for 8k

It isn't hard to buy a car from the mainland and ship it over, it just adds to the total cost. I would never buy a rusted out island car even if it was resprayed unless it was exceedingly rare. You are just asking for rust bubbles in a year or two. Obviously if it started rusting the owner probably didn't take good care of other areas of the car.

Errrrr............................No

If you are buying the new alfa 124 spyder abarth that's coming out in a year. Yes. That would be ND + power bump!

that must be why you bought the frs...for the power

Well 124 is 100lb more than Miata with better material everywhere inside. Abarth 124 and regular 124 with 190-200hp@2450lb and 160hp@2400lb, respectively, will be faster than Twins. FR-S/BRZ will not because NO BOOST :bellyroll::bellyroll::bellyroll:

Hey he was asking? I don't know why people need to ask when their heart is already set. I just simply rephrase what his heart is saying.

Man, u are no fun AT ALL.

*To me, what he asked is no different from someone asking if they should wear condom or not.... :D

he he wasnt asking about an alfa or even an nd. he was asking about a decade old nb. the car youre suggesting is like five times more expensive so it just doesnt make a whole lot of sense is all

That's not the point, point is he need someone to help him to decide what he is gonna do? No~ ok? Think about it for a second, it doesn't matter what YOU tell him. He has his heart set on something already & it's not about what you or me said.

If it's just all about saving some $$ then it's pretty fuked up you have to ask something like that on "internet" instead of family & close friends... don't you agree?


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I'm sorry, I just don't get it - if you want to have your board inside your car for security reasons that would mean having the top up in a convertible. That seems impossible to fit a board in a miata with the top up. I would just get the roof rails for the FRS and be done and get back to enjoying the car. Besides its safer to have it outside the car if you were ever to get in a road accident.

I think we all have the "grass is greener" thoughts at different stages of owning these cars. If you want to trade for a much older car because you have a thing for the Mazdaspeed Miata then just do it, its your choice you don't have to rationalize it to us. However the people here are just pointing out that your rational (save money, more practical, bump in torque you will notice) isn't exactly true, so if your expectations are really for improvements in those areas you'll likely be disappointed. And possibly end up thinking the grass was greener with the FRS...

Well, there ya have it, SurfAndSand, now ..... just go ahead and do what you were gonna do anyway .....:)


humfrz

No - I just don't think some people understand what I'm trying to say. I don't care about a huge budget or whatever. I didn't say anything about wanting torque or whatever. I simply asked what you guys thought about my situation about having a chance at a seemingly nice MSM available, and how it would compare against the FRS. I got a bunch of people trying to be helpful, and then without fail, there's always *those* people on the forums who have other intents than sharing information. To help clear things up, here's a little more to the story:

My plan is to eventually have 2 cars. One of them will be my fun-mobile (FRS Miata whatever) and the other will be my surf runabout (keep board in car). Currently, my FRS is my do-it-all car. I had a custom 8'6" shaped just to fit inside my car. But I don't like the compromise since my favorite board is a 9'3". I actually bought a used truck to go surfing and I put some racks on it and everything, but I didn't like the workflow of the board on the outside, moving it to someplace secure when I wanted to go eat after surfing, blah blah blah. Wasn't for me; ditched the truck. Been looking at surf-mobiles ever since.

So I'm strictly asking about the NB Mazdaspeed and the FRS because I had a chance at a used MSM I saw on Craigslist. I test drove it, and it was awesome, but just not in that great of a shape. Moot point - I'm not interested in rebuilding an old car - I'm waiting on a nice turn-key car that I can pick up when it shows up. In an ideal situation, I'll likely have 3 cars - my fun car, my surf car, and my Miata (or S2000 - I want a convertible again at some point).

It's really interesting to see how many people project their thoughts onto a somewhat ambiguous situation.

For anyone that cares - I ended up keeping my FRS. The MSM just wan't in that great shape, and I didn't want to juggle the Miata and the FRS at the same time since I don't have my second car in place now. I can always use my wife's car for surfing for now, but until I have my own personal 2nd vehicle, my FRS will continue to play do-it-all.

Thanks humfrz :) It really was nice to read what some people had to say when they have actual experience in both cars. It helped me to look at my choice more objectively.

I'm not sure if it was here or another forum where I posed this exact same question, and that was the answer that helped me the most:

they told me to not buy an imperfect car if it was sprayed over. MSMs are not so rare that I couldn't get a nice example elsewhere and then ship it in to Hawaii.

So yeah, the price and mileage were right, but I could tell that it wasn't taken care of as nicely as I would have wanted for me to pick it up with.

So the folks who took the time to put in a thought-out response actually did help!