It is hard to describe just how satisfied I am with the design compromises that were made on the Miata in the name of lightness, simplicity, reliability and performance.

I think the rest of you must have bought the wrong car. Or maybe you lack the availability of other rides for those days when your pu$$y hurts.

 

i just wish i bought a 1.8L

 

like you couldn't just install one...

 

Take that back, Brain

 

It's not like you couldn't get one installed in a day. Max.

 

^ This.

More interior room, a quieter interior, a larger trunk, fancy computer-controlled suspension, and a larger engine are precisely the opposite of what I want in a car. If I wanted these things, I'd be driving a 3-series BMW instead of a Miata.

If anything, the next-generation Miata could have less interior space, a smaller trunk, less sound-deadening, a non-powered top, etc., and I'd consider it an improvement over the NC.


However,

The title of this thread is not "things I wish Mazda would have done differently when they designed the NA 24 years ago", it's "features I wish I could add to my (existing) miata"

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/auto...,6016774.story

Here's a modern feature I do not have, and for that matter, DO NOT WANT on any of my vehicles.

 

Agree with Hornetball and Sir Joe. If anything, I want smaller and lighter. MG Midget sized, with the underhood area wide open for boosting. Oh, and no polution control crap to have to mess with.

 

+100. This Big-Brother safety stuff should maybe be optional for the terminally frightened, but it can utterly kill driving fun. Imagine heel-and-toeing if the brakes kill the throttle.

My old GTI had a pretty intrusive stability system that stuffed me every time I tried to really hurry if I forgot to turn it off, especially in the snow.

 

Unless I mis-read the article, the system as described inhibits the throttle only if the brakes are applied while the throttle is active. It does not inhibit the throttle if the throttle is applied while the brakes are active.

Personally, I tend to downshift by removing my foot from the throttle, placing it on the brake, and then rolling it over to re-apply the throttle a second or two later.

 

what if drive by wire was actually a second throttle butterfly and you still had drive by cable?

 

Then it would be a Suzuki SV650 from eight years ago.

 

yeah it would be easy and cheap. the problem would be bolting on my manifold/turbo...

 

So get a new manifold and sell your old one bro.

Hell, go Artech pimpishness.

 

You're right - I should have read rather than skimmed. However, I have faith that our gummint protectors will find a way to screw it up - especially after another epidemic of "unintended acceleration" cases. Maybe have a speed threshold or something.

I remember the first go-round with the Audi 5000 in the 80's. The monster 130-hp 5-banger overpowered the brakes, leading to mass chaos and destruction.

As a test, Car and Driver got a 5000, sped up to 60 or 70, and simultaneously stomped on the throttle and the brakes. The car stopped - just not as quickly as with a shut throttle. Wish I could find the article on line.

 

Yeah, this is the one thing which most bothers me, both about the whole concept of "unintended acceleration" and about the idea of incorporating new technological fixes to "solve" it.

I've seen this test performed several times on different cars by different testers. In every case, the end result is the same: if you step on the brakes, even with the throttle wide open, the car stops. (Everyone try this test yourself. Even a 250HP turbo Miata will stop on its own stock brakes at WOT.)

Unfortunately, it's easier (and more politically advantageous) for politicians to sympathize with "victims" of negligent automakers than it is to say "No, you're just an idiot who doesn't know how to drive a car."

The march of progress vis-a-vis techno-nannying is, unfortunately, unstoppable.

 

please give me the time and money.

 

Are there electronics involved with the MR shocks? Assuming they were not electronically adjustable, that would seem like a great addition that wouldn't vie with the "spirit" of simplicity of the Miata.

 

So, you want a 1.8, you even say that you wished you installed one, that it would be easy and cheap, and would take you less than a day....

And then admit the only thing stopping you is the manifold?!? Braaaiiinnyyyy....

 

I knew a) it was going to already have been done and b) posted by you of all people.

so what do you think? let off gas, throttle closes like normal.

standard mode allows drive-by-wire to override your jackassery for economy and

awesome mode (TM) simply duplicates the movement of the first butterfly aside from optimizing air fuel delivery for performance reasons.