Passed the 2002 in danbury yesterday. It's about 2 minutes from my house. Looks pretty good, if u want anymore pics of it, lemme know. Ill be over that way around 1pm

 

Regarding TORSEN in snow, I believe there are two schools.

If you're an idiot driver, a TORSEN will kill you. You'll be on the freeway, and you'll want to accelerate in the snow, you'll punch the throttle, both wheels will break traction, the car will start spinning, you'll careen off of the road and into a frozen lake or river, the medics will come to pull you out of the water, hypothermia will start to set in on your way to the hospital, and then the driver of the ambulance will hit a bump and a large heavy object will fall on your head in the ambulance, killing you instantly.

If you're a good driver, a TORSEN will be a dream come true. First off, you won't punch it on the freeway during a heavy snow, because you're not a bumbling idiot. Anytime you come to a stop sign or a stop light or in a traffic jam, or whatever, and the road has any sort of an uphill grade to it, you'll just drive away like the road is dry. I've got a RWD "SUV" (Mitsubishi Montero Sport) with an open diff in it. I've even got a full set of snow tires and wheels for it. If there's snow on the ground, I'm only driving it if my Miata doesn't have the required utility for the trip (cargo/personnel/towing capacity). If I'm in the SUV and there's snow on the ground, I get anxiety when coming to a stop at the exit of my subdivision. It's not plowed or salted, and there's an uphill grade equivalent to that of a garage apron.

If you're an idiot and you don't want to die, get an open.

If you're not an idiot, and you want confidence that you're not going to slide into the car behind you at an uphill stop, get the TORSEN.


02+ doesn't exactly have a TORSEN, but it's close enough.

 

I daily my NA in the snow even though there is a 4x4 Toyota parked right next to it. With summer tires, it is white knuckle even at low speed. With studded snow tires, it is a blast.
Find an empty parking lot and hoon the **** out of it when the first snow hits.
My vote is for the black one because it seems more inline with what you want, and you seem like the type that would keep it meticulously clean regardless of color.
Down the road when slap a turbo on it upgrade to a torsen.
All that being said, those both seem overpriced.

 

Visited the blue car today.










Going top see the black one tomorrow, along with another '04 that Nicole spotted.

 

As the owner of a black miata, it's not that hard to keep it a ten foot car. Five foot usually require a weekly wash.

 

I've a feeling most of them will look like that in your neck of the woods.

Another reason to fly to CA and drive one back

 

Burn it...burn it with fire!

How cheap are flights to Charlotte or SC. So many clean cars down here...

 

I may have overpaid for my 1-owner 99 from Atlanta, but the only rust was on the exhaust shielding bolts. Such a joy to be able to take any bolt/nut loose with no problems.

I also have almost was many $$ in the suspension and turbo items as I paid for the car, and have no feeling of throwing good money after bad.

One the other hand, there are open tops up north that are only driven in summer, or so the adds say.

 

I wouldn't believe any of them. Not one.

 

fiberglass over rust? Run away. quickly.

 

Yep, fly south and drive one back.

Rust = scrap value for me.

Then again, I hate working on things and I'm likely to buy 4th new car in the last few years next week. So I'm not a good example.

 

Joe, you need to look south of the rust belt. For example, I have a 99 that's nicer than the cars you posted (though also has a ratty driver's seat), that I'll be asking $4500 for next when ready to sell it next month.

 

^ dibs

HA!

 

For the type of snow we get in our area (meaning it gets plowed quickly and rarely gets very deep), Miata with snow tires is better than subarus with all seasons. By a noticeable margin.

 

I've got to try a miata with snow tires in the snow. My brain can't even comprehend that statement.

 

snow tires make a HUGE difference on any car.

 

General Altimax FTW
Tire Details - Discount Tire Direct
Edit: This looks fun.

 

I wouldn't even know what snow is if I didn't drive up to Reno once every couple years

 

it's overrated.

 

That's pretty much what I had in mind.

When I lived in Cincinnati, I had non-studded snow tires (Blizzaks, I believe) on my Integra. They were ok, but not mind-blowing. I think I shall be running studs this time around.