Ask Bob!

September '99

I am member of the central Scotland chapter of the Mazda UK Club. I have a recently imported 94 Eunos Roadster which is excellent and makes me wish I had bought one 2 years ago when I first thought about it. Having read quite a lot about the development of the car, I appreciate the effort that went in to building a real sports car as opposed to a parts-bin special. However, you have made the point in other discussions that the car still had to be a usable every-day car. Again, something I totally agree with. The puzzle for me is - how did Mazda get through all of the design, development, trials, clinics, pre-production etc, without somebody noticing that the spare wheel and battery were slung in the boot as an afterthought? A quick look under the car shows that there is ample room for the spare and the battery - as has been proven with the MK2 MX5. What went wrong? (With a well equipped workshop I am currently considering the effort involved in doing a MK2 type conversion. Moving the battery into a box below the level of the floor is easy, the spare wheel is a little more difficult.)

Stephen Alexander, Glasgow, Scotland

Stephen, I hate to disappoint you, but to a large degree the Miata/MX-5 is a parts bin car. Mazda wouldn't have okayed the tooling if it hadn't been, since much (dare I say most) of management was initially highly skeptical as to the car's chances. If we hadn't dipped into the bit box of car bits, they never would have approved the thing.

I'm also sorry to say that we wanted the battery in the boot from Day One, but making available the real estate for US-compliant bumper systems while making sure there was sufficient space for a rear exhaust resonator that would meet the EC drive-by rules prevented the battery from being recessed into the boot floor. It wouldn't be cost-effective to do a different rear clip for the floor pan without room for the US legal bumper enersorbers since the US was expected to absorb at least 70% of the production.

Mazda also has an internal design rule that states the spare tyre/tire must fit within the luggage compartment on all passenger cars. In the 1960s the company stowed spares below the luggage compartment floor on some models, with a device to crank the thing down for changing a wheel. But buyers in Japan complained about it so vociferously (one suspects after having to change a wheel in the rain, snow or mud) it was dumped and the spare moved 'inside'.

These things were better handled in the M2 since the development team had the benefit of using much of the primary layout and architecture of the M1. Therefore the guys had the time to finesse aspects to the original car's layout that the original time schedule didn't allow the M1 team to address. Remember, the first car was started on a clean sheet of paper, and the M2 used much (most?) of the groundwork done back in 1985-9.

You also have to remember that there are a ton of things that can be done by an individual that might not be possible on the production line. Since the Miata's built on the same production line as other Mazdas, it has to go together in a way that's compatible with the other cars built on that line. The person on the assembly line may only have 90 seconds to do their task. It might be easy for someone to do with hours to work the logistics out, but that's not an option in the mass production processes. If it were a Miata would probably cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars.

The development effort was focused more on getting the driving aspects right that finessing some of the packaging details. I'll admit I'm biased, but I think the development priorities were handled awfully well.

bwob

Bob, my good friend and I just bought new cars. I bought a '99 BMW M3 Convertible, and he bought a '99 Miata (dark green w/ black top).

I (the BMW owner) consider BMW owners to be 'arrogant pricks' trying to compensate for their lackings in other areas. Now that I own a BMW, I do what I can to fill the part.

Question is: What attitude should a Miata owner have?

PS. Please don't flame me about the BMW . . . I'm not knocking your Miata. :)

Eric Ridge, Winston-Salem/NC/USA

No, I'm not into flaming people, but then again I'm not into attitude either. Why does a Miata owner (or a Z3 owner) have to have an attitude in the first place? If somebody feels as though the car they have should affect their attitude, I suspect they ought to be pedestrians.

bwob

On my 90 "A", is there a fix for the power steering problem in hard cornering?

Vince Russell, Auburn, CA

I don't think so. But then I didn't know there was a power steering problem in cornering hard or soft.

bwob

Have you heard much about the ford 5.0 kit for Miatas? If so where would I go about finding one? How much would it cost? Will the stock tranny still work w/ it? And how much labor is it to install? Thanx.

Nick, ND

I've driven one. But after that I really didn't need (or want) to know any more about it.

bwob

One problem I have with the new glass rear window:it does not zip down! My favorite driving config when it is sunny and hot is windows down, top up, and rear window unzipped! Any chance of adding that feature to the new glass window?

Alan Murray, Frederick, MD USA

Perhaps an aftermarket top would allow that. But It's not an option with the factory top on the new car. I suspect that Mazda felt the glass rear window was more important. And the real reason for the zip-out rear window on the first car was because it was expected that the plastic window would go long before the top, and that way you wouldn't have to replace the whole top when the window "browned-out".

bwob

Hi Bob:
I have a 91 Miata and I love it more than any other kind of car. It fits me perfect. I just don't like how it doesn't have much power. Do you think Mazda will ever upgrade there engines to a V6 or factory turbo?

Matt Gould, Bedford, IN USA

Cripes, I sure hope not.

bwob

Hey Bob, I don't have a Miata yet but will soon.I've been getting a lot of flak from people (rubes, in my opinion) who keep saying the Del Sol is a better car. I think they're crappy toys even though I haven't done any research on them. What is your take on them?  Give me some ammo to fight back with. Thanks.

S. Nate Faulkner, Columbus, Ohio

Ammunition against the likes of Del Sol fans? I'm sorry, but I cannot (actually will not) help, and you really ought to rethink this policy. After all what's to be gained from you entering into a war of wits against an unarmed opponent? Buy the car and let them suffer - with envy. The Del Sol was so good a car Honda stopped building it. The same fate which befell the equally well conceived Chevrolet Vega.

bwob

Bob,
I am glad that I found you. Greetings from Portland the rainy city. Yes this did not stop me from buying my 1990 Miata and Guess what. I love it. One problem. Winter is coming up and it will be wet. I noticed that although I have a new top. my Miata leaks on me due to the slope of the top when I open the door.

Any recommendations

Ashraf, Portland,Oregon, USA

Yes. Carry a towel with you. And when it's not raining you can use it to protect the rear window.

bwob