+1 for the Miata. I agree with the s2000 feeling way more cramped. Its nice to drive once in a while but I would hate to daily it.

Also, lolnotorque, which sucks for a DD. I remember my megasquirted N/A Miata had better low end torque around town than the S2k. At least it felt like it.

 

I would get a Miata for a DD since the hardtop for an S2000 is like $2500.
Hardtop + AC + power windows/mirrors + headrest speakers = winner DD.

 

Can you describe your typical commute? For example: five miles of pot-holed city streets with a stop-light every 100'; 15 miles of quiet, two-lane black-top through twisty foothills; 40 miles of flat, straight freeway; etc.

 

If your keeping the A4, I agree with the Miata. Its cheap and a basic no frills car that's simple to work on. Did I mention it was also cheap?

I'd hate to drive a Miata as a year round DD. Last years 14 inches of snow basically covered the car in a snow drift before I was able to get it inside.

How many miles do you drive a week? At 100-150 miles, it made little sense for me not to get something larger and 4wd for the winter..... Hence the soccer mom Cherokee.

 

i'd go with the s2k

 

Scrappy, my daily work commute is .75 miles on a highway. Then 7 miles on the interstate. Work is directly off the interstate. Not bad at all, but too far to bicycle as I cannot get on the interstate with one...



With travelling now, I might put 150-200 miles a week as I do drive the interstate 25ish miles to another city to hang out a few days a week.

 

I vote miata.

On a side note, when I move back up to Chicago I'm buying a cheap 1.6 and winterizing it.

 

Scrappy, my daily work commute is .75 miles on a highway. Then 7 miles on the interstate. Work is directly off the interstate. Not bad at all, but too far to bicycle as I can't get on the interstate with one...

 

Hmm... My first instinct was to overweight the S2000 because driving a stock-powered Miata at proper interstate speeds is terrible. The Honda is just as loud and buzzy, but at least has decent on-ramping and passing power.

On the other hand, with such a relatively short commute, it might not be long enough to make you want to commit seppuku.


After giving it more thought, is the answer to buy Brain's well-sorted (?) turbo'd car at a significant discount to the time and parts required to replicate it?

 

I vote NB miata, my Mazdaspeed Miata and Jeep Cherokee have been my favorite DD's in my 15 year driving career. You can pick up a MSM for AP1 money. I have an AP2 fyi. Sports cars that I have owned ranked with DD status, best first.

04 MSM LS
12 Mustang BOSS 302
92 3000GT VR4
06 AP2 S2K
10 Hyundai Genesis Coupe Track
96 300zx
74 TR6
95 Miata
90 Miata
72 Spitfire

A MSM with GC coilovers, intake, and 15x8 wheels is my favorite DD yet. The leather seats of the LS are comfy and easy to slide in and out. The thicker tires of the 15" wheels combined with slightly stiffer rates rode like a Caddy. The car was fairly quick but very quite. I had a titanium car with matching hardtop and grey wheels, cops never even glanced in my direction. It was comfy and I could be a hooligan and never get noticed. I did a couple of 1300 mile rode trips in that car with no problems with comfort.

 

I dd'd my miata for damn, 7 or 8 years. **** i've had this car for a long time.

yeah. um just get a maita and be done. debt sucks

oh oh oh oh

dude just pick up a high mileage MSM. I've seen a few for 7k recently. MSM is THE nicest miata out of the NA and NB.

 

That's what I do.

Sunny Day ==> Turbo Miata
Otherwise ==> G8 GT

The drought has effectively kept the G8 low mileage. Problem is that my wife is starting to like driving it.

 

To be fair, I almost never have the passenger's seat installed in the car. It mostly sits in the garage, but with it out and the top down, it's truly amazing what you can haul around in a Miata.

The best part, honestly, is buying something large and heavy and having a store employee assist you in carrying it out to the car. I remember clearly the look on the guy's face at Harbor Freight when we rolled the dolly containing both an engine stand and a hydraulic engine hoist out to the Miata. It required one nylon ratcheting-strap to secure the load (I always have a few in the trunk) but everything fit nicely.

 

I can't find the pictures of the cherry picker dropping the green car's built 1.9 in the empty passenger side of the same car at the machine shop for transport home. That's how men do it.

 

There are a few reasons I still drive the *******, $1300 Miata known as "trash car". When you consider cost I'd the car, tires, brakes, insurance, lack of theft, fuel economy, salvage yard selection, electronic simplicity, and unbearable reliability it makes sense.

 

Split the difference and get a cheap MSM.

Edit:
E30 325is or ix is the answer, it is always the answer.

 

Imagine that! The Miata forum votes for the Miata!

The best daily I have ever had (still have) is a BMW. Perfect combination between fun and comfort. But I absolutly agree with you: No debt and reliability is clearly more important then fun in a DD, assuming one have a fun car for the weekend or for the track. Money and wrenching time should go to the fun car, not the DD.

 

Right now the only running car I have is the Audi (which is pissing coolant everywhere right now). My other Miata is in pieces in the process of being built, but the Audi keeps stealing all the funding to keep it going. Had the timing belt snap awhile back and destroy all of the cylinder head components. Wasn't cheap to fix, so I had to cancel a few orders of parts for the Miata and haven't been able to gain traction again on it. Thus the search for a new car to drive...

BTW, this is what happens when the timing belt goes BOOM on an A4 (valve was cleaned via sonication in acetone/methanol and then in a dilute nitric acid solution):

 

Hold up; help me understand. So you already have...

• A moneypit Audi A4 for a "bad weather" car?
• A moneypit project Miata (project cars are almost always moneypits by definition)?

And now you are looking to buy a third vehicle because the first two are too undriveable most of the time?

 

Been there, done that, got the debt to prove it. Dump that ******* Audi ASAP and get something that will get you to point B. I think that within the 18 months I had my $44k Audi it left me stranded about 10 times and I'm not exagerating. Coil packs on the VWs left me stranded at least three times and random electronic failure left me stranded more times that I can remember. By the end of that deal I had serious concerns every day over the 18-mile commute to work...and those were reasonable concerns considering the number of times all VWs I owned were towed.