Elan vs Miata

[ryecatcher]

Howdy all,<br>I'm thinking of trading in my 1992 Miata to an Elan, and am wondering if anyone here has experience with the two cars.  How do they compare?  The Miata is a blast to drive, but I've been craving a mustard elan for a while, and I think it is time . . . .<br>thanks,<br>luis

[cjay]

Hi Luis<br><br>I had a 2002 Miata or MX 5 as they are called here. I only had it 6 weeks, well I really only had it 3 weeks. The dealer had it for 3 weeks trying to get the gearbox to go into and stay in 3rd gear... After I drove an Elan and I sold the Mazda 2 days later. If you think the Miata is a blast to drive you are in for a real treat when you get into Elan. The Elan is faster, smoother, more solid looks better, less common and has more room inside. Not to mention a real motoring history unlike the Mazda <br><br>One of my mates summed it up by describing the MX5 as a ride on lawnmower compared to the Elan<br><br>And most of all the people on this forum are much nicer than your average Miata/MX5 forum  ;D <br><br>cjay.

[Michael]

Hi luis,<br><br>I suggest you surf to my website http://www.lotuselan.nl and check under 'comparisons'.<br><br>There you'll find a write up between both cars I made more then a year ago. Since then I've even become more enthousiastic about the Elan I guess.<br><br>When your Miata is a 1992 model then that must be a 1,6i. I had that one to before changing to the 1,8i 1994 and later to the anniversary model. <br>The 1.8i Miata was allready much better (i.e. quicker, better roadholding) then the original 1,6 ever was.<br><br>Therefore, when experiencing a good Elan SE (turbo) you will be in for a big surprise  <br><br>On my first out lap in my Elan ever on the famous Nürburgring I was a full minute faster then I ever was on a flying lap in my 1,8i MX-5.<br>I do need to add that I just found out that my Elan is upgraded with a BBR Kit for extra boost.<br><br>Allthough I enjoyed my MX-5's /Miata's very, very much, over a pariod of 12 years I will never change back because of the Lotus Elan kick.<br>

[Steve_P]

Agree with the comments above - hired an MX5 1.8i while in the US a few years ago, and was disappointed with how little power it had compared to the Elan, road holding did not inspire the confidence you have with the Elan either, although I have to admit that it was fun getting the back end to step out!  ;D From a technical stand point the Elan is at a higher level but not quite as well sorted when it comes to items like the soft top and gearshift quality.<br><br>I’m a fan of Mazda cars and recently tried the RX8 and have to say it’s FAB to drive. Shame about the 13 mpg though.  :o<br>

[Michael]

I support Rob-C's general comment about the reliability and the financial part of Miata/Elan ownership.<br>Even without major problems the running cost of an Elan is higher then that of the Miata/MX-5.<br><br>Having said that one has to take into consideration the original price levels of both cars in the nineties. The Elan was allmost 2.5 to 3 times more expensive, at least overhere in Holland.<br><br>Apart from that owning, maintaining and enjoying  a quite rare sportscar like our Lotus is bound to cost more then the +800.000 produced Mazda's that  you see twice around every corner these days.<br>

[ryecatcher]

Thank you all for your informative responses.  It is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.  I will be using the Elan as a daily driver, as I do the Miata.  I love my Miata, but I know I can always buy another well cared for example later if I start "jonesing" it again.  The Elan is a turning point, I think, in its development here in the US, where well cared for examples are being sold off to get the newer model Elise and the badly cared for ones will just keep trickling down to drivers who don't care or have the $$ to maintain.  One will soon grace my garage, God willing. A yellow one!<br>

[Jeff]

>> where well cared for examples are being sold off to get the newer model Elise<br><br>And they are making a big mistake in doing so

[Hinch]

<br> Can you even imagine James Bond driving a MAZDA??<br><br>No, of course you cant.<br><br>Can you imagine Tracy the hair dresser driving a Mazda?<br><br>Oh Yes!!<br><br>Life is too short for Mazda's<br><br>Enough said!<br><br>I feel Im being too polite.<br><br>The best thing about Mazda's is that they are Grreeaaat to park your Lotus next to.<br><br>If anything could make the Elan look better, its a Mazda.<br><br>Well apart from all the drop dead gorgious girls who,ll be crawling naked across your bonnet that is. <br><br>Ill try to attach photos to my next post. If that doesnt help you make your mind up nothing will.<br><br>Hinch<br><br>

[Doug]

[quote author=Hinch link=board=techgen;num=1113039509;start=0#9 date=04/13/05 at 14:46:54]<br> Can you even imagine James Bond driving a MAZDA??<br><br>No, of course you cant.<br><br>Can you imagine Tracy the hair dresser driving a Mazda?<br><br>Oh Yes!!<br><br>Life is too short for Mazda's<br><br>Enough said!<br><br>I feel Im being too polite.<br><br>The best thing about Mazda's is that they are Grreeaaat to park your Lotus next to.<br><br>If anything could make the Elan look better, its a Mazda.<br><br>Well apart from all the drop dead gorgious girls who,ll be crawling naked across your bonnet that is. <br><br>Ill try to attach photos to my next post. If that doesnt help you make your mind up nothing will.<br><br>Hinch<br><br>[/quote]<br> [smiley=yes.gif]

[Fubar1764]

[quote author=Hinch link=board=techgen;num=1113039509;start=0#9 date=04/13/05 at 14:46:54]<br> Well apart from all the drop dead gorgious girls who,ll be crawling naked across your bonnet that is. <br><br>Ill try to attach photos to my next post. If that doesnt help you make your mind up nothing will.<br><br>Hinch<br><br>[/quote]<br>Oh goodie! Photos of naked drop dead gorgeous girls sprawled over a familiar bonnie in the next post!<br>Rambo, you've got competition!  ;)<br>

[Hinch]

Are photos of naked women wrapping themselves around my Elan allowed on this site?<br><br>Just checking before I post, wouldnt want to upset anyone.<br><br>Hinch<br><br>PS> Does anyone know how the Elan compares to a three wheeled roller skate. (unmodified)

[Mike]

From Keith Martin, owner of "Sports Car Market", writing on the new MX-5 he was invited to drive before the press relase last month:<br><br>" The first generation Mazda, with its 1.6-liter twin cam motor, and slick shifting five speed gearbox, was the Lotus Elan that should have been. In fact, SCM noted at the time that Lotus, rather than build the widly expensive, Isuzu engined , front wheel drive  M100 Elan, should simply have bought every Miata built, put a Lotus name badge on the car, marked the car up $5,000 and been done with it."<br><br>Ironically, Keith purchased a M100 at auction a couple years ago and spoke highly of it.

[Fubar1764]

Just my 2 cents since I've driven both, as many have. The Miata's a lot of fun - especially when you're coming from a Honda Accord. Similarly, the M100's a lot of fun - especially when you're coming from a Mazda Miata.<br>I won't take anything from the Miata as it's a great car for what it is, but knife-carver it's not. The only true knife-carver of the type would be the Honda S2000. IMO, the only fair comparison for the M100 might be the S2000. Consider also that the S2000 is 10 years newer.<br>Back to comparisons, there's nothing quite like throwing a car like a Lotus. As my wife put it, "Our Lexus swerves, a Lotus glides." What I have also noticed is that I drive the Lexus much harder immediately after I get from behind the wheel of any Lotus. Your expectations of what a car can and cannot do is higher. However, the Miata doesn't inspire such confidence (indignation?). A Miata's a fine car for those who want more of an appliance that's reasonable and trouble free. A Lotus is the car for those who don't mind a headache (and my what a headache they can be!) but want passion in their driving experience. And what is passion without some pain? How can one truly understand and appreciate good without knowing how to be evil?<br>IMO, our kind is a dying breed whose hope is in today's boy-racer crowd. Many of us old enough to drive by 1990, sold our souls for a Mazda Miata. Cheap, reliable, and fun, but not a sports car. She didn't handle like one, she didn't move like one. She brought you smiles, but never demanded anything back, neither sweat under the hood nor sweat on the road. The Miata was docile and compliant and the perfect appliance. She's was perfect in every way except one: she wasn't rewarding. Cars, like women, are best when just a bit more and a bit less than expected. The perfect ones, the ones that never ask for anything in return, aren't rewarding. The best ones require work, hard work; and with more work, there's the very real possibility that she will funfill with sublime brilliance! Only on occasion will a car or a woman reward with brilliance. It's the chase of the reward that's a reward in itself. The Quest for the Grail is its own reward.<br>Ok, enough of that. Back to boogers and fart jokes. . .

[Houdini]

I owned a '66 Elan at the same time I owned a '92 Miata. The Elan was totaled in an accident but for the brief time I owned both I loved both. I can tell you that the Miata is indeed a sports car and in many respects better than an M100. It handles great and with very little money handles beter (yes better) than our M100's. It also has a much better shifter, better brakes, and is reliable as hell, and the best part is it's rear wheel drive. For about $3500-7000 you can add a CARB legal Turbo (Garrett of course) and kick some M100 ass all day long. I left the Miata crowd because the car was too small for me, I didn't want to spend the money for the Turbo installation and still have car worth very little, everyone owns one or has owned one, and the real reason is I love my Lotus with all it's quirks and faults. Buy the M100 and don't look back, it's truely a unique, true, rare sports car, that turns head's like a Miata never will, and you can buy one for Miata type money ;D.

[Fubar1764]

BLASPHEMER! How dare you bring up the subject of inferior front brakes?! Know you not this is a house of worship?!  >:( (In my best Southern preacher accent) Hell! Yer goin' ta hell unless ya repent yer sins rightly and give yerself! Show yer devotion and give in the collection plate! <br>A friend of mine tracks a Miata and loves it! There are certain things I really like about the Miata - reliability being only one of them. However, I think the M100 travels much better at higher speeds. There's just an ineffable quality in the drive that I don't get from the Miata. Also as far as I can tell, there's not nearly as much body roll in an M100 as there is in a Miata. I agree that rwd is preferrable, but I just can't get over what a technical and engineering achievement the M100 is! The M100 should have been a technological breakthrough by which all others would have been judged - the assumption being that in the future, nearly all cars would be fwd. Unfortunately, GM and Lotus miscalculated the power of ABS technology and derivative applications which would make many of the advantages of fwd irrelevant, e.g. traction control, viscous 4wd, etc.<br>And is it ok to admit that part of the attraction to the M100 is just that it's so different from everything else?  :o Ok, I admit it, I love the lines and that it's rare.  ::)<br>In my own defense (oh man, did I open that can of whoop ass on myself! ), I picked a really poor comparison between the M100 and the S2000. Apples to apples would be another fwd with the M100. But alas, there is no equal in the fwd world to the M100! (Did I save myself? Did I? Huh? Huh?)  ;)<br>Finally, sorry to hear about your '66 S1. Wow. Beautiful car. A fellow LOST member here has a gorgeous white S3.  She has a pearl white finish which just makes her radiant in the sun!

[Michael]

today I've out driving together with a friend of mine who ownes a 1991 1,6 MX-5/Miata.<br>I found out that, because of his rear wheel drive package, the MX-5 is quicker through 'stop and go' 90 degree corners. He could step on the gas fracionally earlier than I can in the Elan. But as soon as my front tires could cope with the traction again the Elan accelerates MUCH faster.<br>

[ryecatcher]

Good discussion and comments here.  Thanks all!<br>One of the reasons I like the Miata so is the web community, which I found very helpful, specially when something breaks.  It's good to see the Elan has the same (if not more, given the number of cars) following.<br><br>One of the things I love about the Miata so much is the ability to drive the hell out of it on public roads and still stay within spitting distance of the speed limit.  I've had a discussion with some Elise owners on this subject (as I was also considering that, but it just got too pricey for now), and they agree that a car can be too capable to the point of needing a racetrack to wring out the fun.  It looks like the Elan would be as much fun on the street, given the comments here.  And I agree, the looks and rare nature of the car are part of its charm.  BTW, stock Miata brakes aren't taht good (to me, anyway).  I've had two Miatas and the first thing I did was swap out the brakes for some Brembo rotors and Porterfield brake pads.  Good stopping power with that combo.<br>