OK, at DBR, my +1 had a huge time driving her CRV, and she did it pretty darned well - the AWD was a huge help in some of the corners, esp in the wet on Sunday morning.

Since she's gotten a little excited, I wanted to get her a 5 or 6 speed MT to learn on, as she's never driven a stick. I think the S is too easy to get into trouble with to be a learner's car. So far, I can find relatively late model, low mileage Miatas and Civic coupes for a decent price, but the Miatas seem even a bit less expensive - probably because all the kids buying the Civics.

Do you all think a Miata would be a decent car for learning how to drive a manual transmission before stepping up to an S? Or are there better alternatives?

thanks,
Dave

 

IMO, the miata would be a pretty good starter car since they are cheap, there are plenty of replacement parts, and they are pretty dependable... and s2k's get mistaken as miatas anyways.

 

S2000 is not the car to start learning how to drive a manual.

 

I've seen an '03 Miata, <50k miles locally for around 12k and an '03 S that goes for 23k. Miata is sounding better The local Miata club also does 3 Dragon runs a year.

Will also plan to send her to a driving school once she can get the car rolling

Dave

 

And a Miata is RWD so the future transition to the S2k will be that much easier. For the money, you can't beat a Miata.

 

Miatas are great cars and not only a great leaner RWD cars. The only thing they lack is a little power, but on the track it won't be missed until your very advanced and even then they are a blast.

 

I doubt she'll want to track it, but sh will definitely want to drive twisties like DBR with us.

 

Found her a 2004 with 33k miles and the factory warranty still in place for 14.5k. Black Cherry is the color, and it has all the bolt-on spoilers and ground effects cr*p that were available for it. Interior is cream leather, top is cream cloth, both in near new condition.

Needs a serious deswirling, but only two chips that need pro attention that I could find. Already gone over by Dent Wizard. I think this one is going to have to be Zaino's after I finish my batch of Klasse.

A few dealer pics:

Karen's New Miata


Dave

 

that looks really good

 

Thanks, I think is is a very pretty car- black with red metal flake. With two dark sports cars, I now have ample reason to spring for a Porter Cable - the Miata has a lot of swirls that need to go, and the S will benefit, in time, too.

Dave