The various safety threads have been weighing on my mind for a while now. Got a wife and kid, life is different now and I've already had enough close calls with serious accidents and injuries that it gets harder and harder to be quite so cavalier about risk assessment. I know when my time is up, it's up, but I figure if I can mitigate some risk without too much financial outlay, I may as well do it, right?

So, with that out of the way, I'm thinking of selling the 1994 R-pkg stinky project car and looking for a decent stock NB. The 1994 has a nonfunctional airbag system, and having tried once before on a previous NA to piece together an original working airbag system, I'm not really interested in trying that again. Nor, for that matter, am I all that confident in the safety of the original NA airbag and belt system, even in working condition. I know the NB is still a roadster with small crush zones, but it does seems like the overall safety level of a good condition NB has be significantly higher than an NA with no airbag. As I said, it's no guarantee, but at least some of the risk is mitigated.

And, if I'm going to make the switch, it seems like now is the time. I've got a good bit of the 1994 cleaned up, and I'm just about ready to pull the dash and then install the replacement carpet and put the interior back together. I haven't installed any other non-original parts so there's nothing else to remove or swap out before selling, other than putting a decent set of tires on the original wheels and putting them back on so I can keep my RPF1's.

I'd like feedback on a couple questions --

1. Does this switch make sense, or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill? Keep in mind I have no plans to track the car, and probably FI is out of the question for several years as well. I'm just looking for a fun street car, something to use as a daily during the nice weather months. I know a decent NB would cost a bit more than a ratty 1994 R-pkg, but I've got some parts that would no longer be necessary (Nardi wheel, steering wheel hub, some NA-specific stuff) that I could sell as well for a few hundred dollars.

2. If making the switch does make sense, should I (A) sell it as a complete R-pkg car intact with Bilsteins, Torsen, etc. and hope that some autocrosser doesn't care that it's not in excellent cosmetic condition, or (B) sell the Bilsteins and Torsen separately, throw some cheapo suspension and an open diff on it and just sell it as a decent regular Miata? If I did (B), what else besides the Bilsteins and Torsen have any individual value? Do people care about the hollow-spoke wheels?


tldr -- I am being wishy-washy but mostly just feel uneasy about keeping an unsafe NA and want to sell it for a slightly safer NB.

 

That drunk 18 year old in Daddy's F450 4x4 Penismobile will turn you into just as much of a pancake. Keep the NA for fun, DD something safe. I just picked up an 08 CVPI for said purpose. No one cuts me off or speeds ever, I feel much safer.

 

Get an NC if you want safer. The chassis isn't a wet noodle and it has side airbags. I have had multiple NB's and NC's, so my observations are direct ones. I currently DD my 01 and have my 06 as a track car though, lol.

 

Unlikely that an NC would fall into my budget. Just more money than I want to spend on a sunny day car.

 

The NB is the same tub as the NA, nothing really improved on the safety front outside of grabbing a passenger side airbag.

 

What is your budget? First year NC's are popping up everywhere well below 10k.

 

$5k or under. I'm seeing a fair number of NB2's for $3500-4500.

 

Quit your job, buy them, drive them to CA, and sell them for $6500-7500

 

And buy their $1500 rust freen NAs and drive them up here to sell for $3500, and buy our $6k NC1s to sell where you live.

 

You have absolutely nothing to gain with only 5k to spend. I have never driven an NA, but I have had 3 NB's and I would never buy an NA lol.

 

What?

 

You have nothing to gain over your NA by buying an NB for under 5k. Spend that money on your NA instead.

The second part of the comment is saying that I would never spend money on an NA, but I have bought multiple NB's.

 

I have no clue what your argument is. Why?

 

Yo genius, the Miata is the SAME ******' CAR from 1990 to 2005. It got a passenger side airbag in 1994 and the engine changed a few times. That's it.

From a chassis perspective, changing the stamping dies and a few body work changes aren't significant. There is a reason why everything bolts up to each other across 15 different model years: IT'S THE SAME ******' CAR.

 

What is your problem?

It isn't the same car. The safety equipment changed. And notably, we're talking about going from a non-working/nonexistent airbag system in my 1994 to a working dual-stage airbag in an NB.

Stop ethugging, make a cogent argument, or go away.

 

I don't think you're going to make a useful WORTH IT improvement by going to an NB. An NC, sure. But not an NB. Is it better? Sure, and if you like the NB better, by all means go for it. But I don't think it's worth the swap just for safety.

My opinion.

 

You're trying to justify the purchase of an NB under the guise of safety. That's dumb.

Buy an NB if you want it, but the NBs aren't significantly different, or safer, than your current NA.

 

I just don't want to eat a Momo because someone strayed into my lane. If selling my NA and spending another $1000-2000 on an NB with a modern, working airbag system accomplishes this, I'm not sure why it's dumb.

 

I re-read the whole thread and I don't get what your hang-ups are. You want a street only car. You want SAFER. The NB gains you a functioning air bag on both sides and newer generation air bags at that. Ok. That is the only meaningful difference. If you truly want to do a parts shuffle to sell your NA and buy an NB2, then go for it. Just realize you are gaining some airbags and a slightly less shitty engine. That is it. If the money works out for you, then great.

 

It comes down to wanting an NB that is relatively safer than your NA. If you want it, go for it. Personally, I'd prefer to pick up side curtain airbags and 10+ years of materials engineering with an NC since it's only a small premium above most NB2 prices.