Should I buy a Miata NA with 90 hp?

Updated: 09 Dec 2024

Hey guys,
I´m still looking for my first car and due to circium stances it has to be something cheap and it has to be good on MPG.
So I thought about a Miata NA with the 1.8 Liter engine but they just got so expensive here in germany :(
So I was looking at the 1.6 Liter Miatas and in my price range there are most likely only the 90 hp ones.

I want a funny car which I can use as a daily driver, it has to be RWD and sporty so I´ve end up with a Miata but I´m scared of it to be too slow and not funny enough due to its power output, whats your experiences about it?

Comments

i have a 1.6 90 hp Miata for about 2 months. If i recommend the 1.6? it depends.
if you want to brake speed records or smoke everyone at the stoplight, this is not the car.
If you want a fun car, to have a reasonable fuel consumption, fun to drive on twisty roads and cruising at a medium speed, Yes. Especially for the fun.
Regarding the power i’m not the best person to tell you, I’ve been driving daily for the last 3 year a 325i Bmw e36 (192 hp), so for me is slow.

Get a 1.6 with 114hp, one that’s pre-1994

But that’s the cat-less version, so it’s worse on emissions and therefore taxes.

e36 328i or 325i
you’re welcome
(youre in germany, shouldnt be hard to find a cheap one)

318is would be fine too.

I´d love to get a pre ‘92 with the old M50 engine, but they got expensive asf
And they´re most likely not so cheap when it comes to gas mileage, I wouldnt mind that but its most likely possible that I will have to drive like 1000km in a Week when the summer ends

it isnt about power, it’s about handling. is it slow? yes. But it is about momentum driving and once you do eventually get up to speed, it will perform quite well. Plus you could always add a turbo later or do an engine swap.

(cred: I drove a crx/del sol through the twistys at 70 and it felt more exciting than a car that had 270hp on the same road)

Yeah that was what my question was about, but I´m a bit scared that I maybe regret not buying the 1.8 version

Miatas are terrible for MPG considering the amount of power that they make.

No it’s a miata

It may be slow now but if you tune it a little bit you wont be sorry 👍🏼 Miatas are fun!

Dude as a first car every thing will feel fast

Nope

Btw I´m not about the speed, sure the Miata isnt the fastest car for that ammount of money but its mostlikely the funniest one

It is more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. Something people really are not mentioning is that the Miata will make you a better driver. It will demand skill in order to be driven fast, so when you get a fast car you’ll be able to drive it better than if you started with a fast car. Übung macht den Meister