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Am I the only one who really likes that new Miata cabriolet????? :wub:

No, you're not. I just look at it, and weep, knowing I'll never fit into it.

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Saw this at the local dealership last month. One of the few gems that won't hit Stateside.

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Curse the Levorg. It is exactly the car I have now, with modern Impreza styling. I need it in my life. But Subaru will not make it so.

As for the Miata, I have mixed feelings. The NC PRHT was great. The top took up no space, it retracted quickly, and it weighed less than 100lbs fully involved. While I'm sure the ND RF has pulled off similar feats, the PRHT was a full retracting top. This is just a Targa Miata. And the Miata is probably the only sporty car I don't like as a targa. It's already a roadster, why make it less top-off? And while I do like the fastback styling, they've only gone halfway with it. Those are flying buttresses back there, where I feel they should at least carry a raked rear window with them. If you're going to go for fastback styling, make it a fastback. They've kind of missed the mark for me.

In similar news, the Fiat 124 Elaborazione Abarth also makes a bit of a miss, using the same engine as the regular 124. You're really telling me you couldn't put the 1.7 from the 4C in there somehow? You had to stick to the 1.4 multiair?

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I'm kinda liking the targa Miata, yeah it's a shame its not a full hard top but it still looks great. If they release a mazdaspeed targa in the next few years then I may have to buy in.

I swear in that new GTR video they could have thrown in video of the old 08 model and I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. That burnt orange color is gorgeous though.

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I feel like the Miata is the one car that doesn't work as a targa. It's already a roadster. The roof comes all the way off, pillars, glass, and all. Having a targa top is great if the car is a Corvette or a 911 or a Supra, and you're trying as hard as you can to not sacrifice the structure when you take the roof out. But this is a car that never had a roof to begin with, and now we're stuck with flying buttresses, rear glass, and blind spots? Come ooooooooon Mazda, you had the PRHT so right on the NC. It was a work of art. And now this?

Could be worse. Could be 10 years of bloated GT-Rs. Ever seen one of those things in person? They are literally bigger than my Outback in every dimension, and don't even have Subaru wagon interior capacity. I mean sure, the Skylines were big too, but not this big, and they don't feel this fat.

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I've driven more Miatas than I care to count, and I've never bought one for a variety of reasons. They're either too expensive or too poorly maintained around here. One time I drove an NA that was being sold by a Chevy dealer who wanted $5,000 for it, and it had leaked so badly not only was the interior completely drenched, but the rocker panels had filled with gallons of water, which sloshed whenever the car came to a stop. It was pretty humorous. It also highlighted the problem I have with the NA in north Texas: you have to wait for it. Throttle response is immediate, but acceleration takes time. That's fine if you're at low speed tossing it about, but this is a flat land.

Which sucks because I do like Miatas. I've been nothing but impressed by the good-condition Miatas I've driven- and I've had seat time in all 4 generations. But it's really hard to justify one where I live. As a second car for sure, but I have 4 cars at the moment, and if I have to pare down to only two cars, a Miata is sadly not on the list.

In other news, I can't decide whether 4th-gen Legacy guys are dull and uncreative, or if the creative Legacy guys just stay away from the forums. All this talk about how [insert swap] can't be done. Still doing a bit of research, but I'm presently tempted to buy a wrecked Legacy GT 5MT and swap its guts into my Outback. Getting a bit tired of the lame duck 4EAT and 175hp just isn't enough for my big old wagon, especially not fed through that dumpy automatic. Also I have good reason to believe the 4EAT's front diff is on its way out and that's not gonna be fun. But I need to figure out whether it will be more practical to try and run the engine on a Haltech and pay the $2k to make that happen, or to just go ahead and pull the dashboards out of both cars when I have the swap going, because apparently the whole dash harness needs to be replaced when you swap engines, because while Subaru used mechanical commonality across the models and decades, they used different wiring harnesses for every revision of a given model.

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It's still apples to oranges.

indeed it is! funny that I just watched this comparison only a few hours ago!

They really struggled with the M4 and gave the Camaro a lot of credit and the overall win! Though I know the new model Camaro is a vast improvement over the previous Zeta platformed car.. I'll admit I was gunning for the German in this video but on a price basis and overall bang for the buck factor the Camaro convincingly kills it! As they so clearly make apparent in this clip.

^_^

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Tesla unveiled the new Model 3. It looks a tad off, but the older I get the less I care about looks and the more I care about how it handles and how comfortable a ride it is. It's starting at a reasonable $35,000. I'm thinking about putting down the grand to get on the list... they're so booked up on preorders already that by the time they get to mine it'll be close to 2020, when I planned on buying my next car anyway.

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Nope, don't like it. Love the S. This "looks like an electric car" if that makes any sense.

No, it makes sense. It's got that quasi-hatchback look. But like I said, I care less about how it looks on the outside and more about how it drives.

And sure, I'd love to have an S instead... but I can't justify the S's price tag. In my house (married, one kid, one income, still want money for savings/travel/toys/retirement/etc) $35,000 is already near the upper limit of my car budget.

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I had heard how bad the Model 3 looked before I saw it, still can't believe my eyes. It's unfinished, don't design a car to have a grill and just say screw it at the last minute. Why not go for something that looks a bit sleeker but doesn't look like it's missing parts, it baffles the mind. As far as putting a $1,000 preorder down, I wouldn't but that's just me. There are plenty of other electric and hybrid cars out there and by the time 2020 rolls around there are going to be plenty more to choose from.

Oh and April fools from porsche......right?

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Love the ride Agent! Any pix of the 4C??? And yes....if I gave up Macross toys my car budget would definitely be much better!

Wrong Agent. I am the one with the 4C.

I have not taken many pictures.

Here is a new one though:

Made a license plate with photoshop and it passes!

Also took one at muscle beach recently...

The picture of me is even more interesting. I am as veiny as my erection. A few years some chick on the board said I should be the next conan... I may actually be ready for that.

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Edited by Agent ONE
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I'll always be more of an AW11 guy but the SW20 is pretty sweet, maybe one day we will get another affordable MR car in the US. Time to bring Pontiac back with a new Fiero at the forefront :lol: .

Yup the FR-S or Toyota 86 (still surprised they changed the name) is probably what a new Celica would look like.

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Get an FR-S and put Celica badges on it. That's what that car is, really.

If Toyota introduces it to forced-induction, it might gain my interest. I'll take a new MX-5 over an FR-S/BRZ though.

For some snap-oversteer goodness.

Edited by Shadow
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The Celica was really ahead of its time back in 1990.

Loved the Celica's of the late 80's and early 90's! Especially this model pictured below..

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My girlfriend imported an earlier model. This was before I knew her and she said she wishes she never sold it.. not her exact car but but this very model.

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Mmm... SW20...

My cousin had one of these from new and back then I never really thought much of it at all then but in the last few years they have kinda grown on me. Probably not or ever enough for me to want to buy one but still the interest is there.

If Toyota introduces it to forced-induction, it might gain my interest. I'll take a new MX-5 over an FR-S/BRZ though.

For some snap-oversteer goodness.

And my father had an original shape MR2 for years! Best car he ever owned he says! He did a few things to it including suspension, bracing, engine mods with a 5valve head, race seat, cab cage to name a few but when he let it go it was getting long in the tooth with over 200,000 miles (UK car) and re-occurring rust issues. A care he sorely misses.

Edited by spanner76
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