Criminal?
 

I see that most posters have added turbo (and more) to base model or A or B package Miatas, so I've been considering buying one of those instead of modifying my all original '97 STO (only 1500 made) with only 59k miles.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
James

No, not criminal. I understand maybe the want to keep it "original". If you want some extra power no point in keeping it stock, throw a turbo on it.

Ive never even heard of the STO edition until now.

Do you have any reason to think that it will really be worth any serious money in the future?

Same here: never heard of em.

Even still: its a MIATA for pete's sake, its not a damn porsche or some other "collectors" car. Unless you're the most broke ass, ghetto fabulous collector no point in keeping it stock

Just looked up "STO miata". Pathetic. Sounds like it's just wheels, paint, and leather, all of which you'll be keeping when you go turbo, so might as well. Then your car will be even rarer.

C'mon man, it might drop its value from 3 grand to 2999

I often wonder about what a clean stock '99 will fetch in 20 years. My guess is that they will be a lot like Mustangs from 64-69. Definitely collectable, but basically on the bottom rung. Unless its very special, old Mustangs are well under 50K even when they get lucky at auction. There are not Miatas that are the collectable equivalent of say a true Shelby GT350 or a Boss 302/fastback. Except (sorta) the MSMs. Very good car overall (despite the weak-nut turbo system with its issues) and relatively low production numbers.

I have been watching for a good deal for a long time now, and I remember one guy in particular who wanted 4K for an R package with 205,000 miles on it that had been tracked and had minor dings, paint issues, etc. LOL.

Long story short: Mod it and dont look back.

That car is worth more to you than anybody else, which is a very good reason to keep it... and enjoy it.

Go for it and don't look back James... you'll be in good company ( I have STO #514).

the STO is a horrible package anyways.

they all had open diffs anyway...

Or just the "I want to feel special" edition. Either way, needz moar boostz.

Best color ever sprayed on an NA from the factory IMHO... the only thing that sucked about STO's was the lack of a torsen, and putting in a torsen is a ton cheaper than repainting a car.

Dude its a slow stock NA miata. Boost that pos already!

STO

Stuff
Taken
Off

As far as a collectible, it's the least collectible special edition so boost away.

There is a guy on m.net trying to sell a STO with 83 miles on it. He will be sitting on it for a while.

Sorry, couldn't help it.
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/stdEdition.jpg

Turbo it!

Its much easier to "hack" a junker miata. I started with a heap of shit so things only got better. If I had a miata in the pristine condition yours is in, I'd keep it bone stock and commute in it and rack-up miles. Actually, on second thought...hack it and make it a racecar. Now, if I had a perfect LE, I couldn't bring myself to modify it. I think the LE might be worth something one day, but its so fucking perfect that I couldn't bring myself to corrupt it like I have my car.

The STO package is totally fucking retarded, btw. Now, if it had a Torsen, it would have been near perfect.

ALL the "special" edition except the "R" and 93 LE were retarded... and even those weren't all that great. None of them offered huge performance gains. None of them don't need to have lots of stuff done to keep up with the power levels most people are trying for here. None of them are worth shit from a collectors standpoint.

As for the Torsen in an STO, spend a few hundred and two hours and that's fixed. Been there, done that. Every pre-94 car needs to have the diff taken out and tossed, at least with an STO it's a bolt-in.

I have a TURBO 2000SE and love the fact that I have the sweet looking car, with a Turbo!!!