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Coupes & Convertibles Mazda Miata Mazda MX-5 Miata (2005 and earlier)
4340 messages, Last post on Aug 25, 2009 at 9:51 AM
You are in the Mazda Miata Forum. Your Host is claires
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Replying to: ryanrec (Sep 09, 2005 11:35 am)
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| The miata is not a comfortable freeway car. I'd suggest the Civic, Corolla, or Mazda3. All get good gas mileage and have decent comfort. | |
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Actually, it first appeared in the 1990 Mazda Protoge. The '91 Ford Escort GT borrowed that platform, so that car ended up getting the same engine, which was a gem by the way. I owned one and drove it for 107k miles. The powertrain was great, but the body fell apart around it. The engine was also used in the Mercury Tracer LTS. Later on, the '94 Miata got the 1.8l engine, but it was tuned differently and laid out longitudinally. It made 128hp from the start, 125hp in the Pro and 127hp in the Escort. But the layout, trans, and drivetrain were all so different, it really only shared an engine block. After that, Kia did make use of some of the Mazda engine designs because they didn't have the resources to build the engines by themselves. The Miata's 1.8l evolved, well beyond any of the others. Pro went to a 2.0l and Kia started using the Alpha engines made by Hyundai. So that's like saying the '05 SSR was a Corvette because it used the same block. Clearly it's not a Corvette, even with the extra power it gets for '06. -juice |
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Replying to: audia8q (Sep 10, 2005 6:11 am) In fact, the Kappa frame is a ground up Roadster frame. It's built with whatever spare parts GM had laying around. Almost all manufacturers share components among the cars they make. It has a GMC truck transmission with the same gear ratios Wrong. It uses an Aisin sport 5 speed manual that is not used on other GM vehicles. The Solstice does share the round back up lights with the Trailblazer. |
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This is from the Pontiac Soltice forum...not from me. shared parts Front fog lamps: Grand Prix Rear Back-up Lamps: Envoy/Trailblazer Seats: Shared with Opel (maybe just the frame?) Outside Rear View Mirrors: Fiat Barchetta? Interior AC vents: 156/Fiat Brakes/Rotors: ION or Malibu Maxx? Engine: Chevy Cobalt (2.4l), Uplevel F/I unknown, Cobalt S/C possible Transmission: Aisin 5 spd manual, adapted from Chevy Colorado Differential: Cadillac CTS (from cars.com overview) Door Handles: Unknown but mentioned as shared Gage Cluster: Chevy Cobalt HVAC controls: Hummer H3 they had additional lists but I didn't have time to read thru the entire forum.... Despite this....why would somebody buy a Soltice over the proven Miata??
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Replying to: davidg3 (Sep 11, 2005 6:40 pm) |
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Replying to: audia8q (Sep 12, 2005 10:43 am) Aisin engineered the Solstice transmission for the 2.4 litre engine. The Colorado uses a completely different engine, and the gearing ratios on the Colorado is different from the Solstice. Aisin, by the way, makes the manuals for Honda and Mazda. The rest means nothing for the Solstice's right to claim to be a Roadster. If you look at the Miata, you will find that it too shares many components with other Mazdas and probably vehicles manufactured by other companies in the Ford family as well. Some of the list are so meaningless as to garner a big so what. For instance, is there something about air conditioning vents or controls that are Roadster specific? Or gauge clusters? Are brakes any less brakes because they are shared with another vehicle? So, the fog lamps and brake lights are shared. They sure look pretty sharp on the Solstice. They certainly do not look forced or out of place. The 2.4 litre is shared with other GM vehicles. The version in the Solstice has a different torque and hp curve. Many manufacturers share engines. The question should be is whether the engine is right for the car and transmission. The answer to both appear to be yes with the Solstice. What makes the Solstice a Roadster is its Kappa frame, which was built from the scratch to base a convertible automobile. Given that every review of the Solstice praises the solid ride and immediate steering responsiveness of the car, it sounds as though the Kappa is a Roadster, through and true. |
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ok...maybe the folks at the Pontiac Solstice forum are wrong, but I don't think so...but the real question is Why would somebody buy the unproven Solstice over the proven Miata? why take a gamble on an unproven car with GM's historical track record when something as proven and successful as the Miata is available??
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Replying to: audia8q (Sep 12, 2005 11:07 am) I sort of want a new roadster. The Solstice appears to address some of the things I did not like in the Miata. Now the NC Mia... I mean MX-5 is much changed from the NB Miata. But that suggests a lot of unprovens as well. In any event, of the three major components for the Solstice, the engine, the transmission, the platform, the first is already on the market and proven, the second is from a well regarded company that makes many sporty manuals, and the third borrows many of its engineering cues from the very proven Corvette. I do not really see the Solstice as being a problem, except that I might have to wait a while to get one. |
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That's the main answer, Solistice does look good, and let's face it, American consumers are extremely superficial. Besides that, there's always the home team advantage, often people will opt for the domestic vs. the import if they like both. Recycling parts is fine, it's not a bad idea actually to keep costs down. And it doesn't take away from the car at all. Though I wonder if that's partially to blame for the relatively high weight of the Solistice. -juice |
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