HA! I got another one!
Did you read? I never said that there is anything wrong with Vettes or Vipers. They are obviously great cars. But I did say that they aren't SPORTS cars, and they're not; they are more properly GT cars.
Sports cars are by definition lighter, less complicated cars that put a premium on handling rather than power, not to say that they can't have power (witness Lotus).
Anyone who says that a Miata isn't a GREAT sports car doesn't know anything about cars. That person has never driven a Miata. A STOCK Miata, not a modified Miata, is a great sports car. A modified Miata is that much better. And, it's a better car with suspension improvements than it is with power improvements; one should remember that it's better to make strengths stronger.
I know Vettes and Miatas very well. I sold Porsches for 2 years, and I have been a manager in a Chevrolet dealership since 1989. I was on the Valley Chevrolet team that won the Corvette Challenge in 1989 (unfortunately it was in an administrative way but I did get the jacket). I have driven Callaways and LT1s. I once met Reeves Callaway when he helicoptered into our dealership parking lot, in 1991. I have driven Z06s (as recently as last month). I've never driven a Lingenfelter. I've never driven a Viper, but hey, count me in with most of the rest of the world on that one; it's a lot rarer than a Vette, to be sure, especially around Chevy dealerships. I've driven race prepped Camaros on the Pocono North course. Those SOBs are impressive as h***.
All that said, I prefer my Miata. It doesn't accelerate like a Vette, but 100 mph in a Miata is the same as 100 mph in a Vette; it's all about STAYING there, not GETTING there. It handles like a half-pint C5, all the grip without any of the size. IT'S ALL ABOUT NOT HAVING TO HIT THE BRAKES. I spent all day Sunday running full tilt through the Poconos, through descending hairpins and reverse camber humpbacks in a perfectly balanced lightweight convertible. Under those conditions, the Miata has it all over the Vette and the Viper; there's no room to use the power of the larger cars. All that you have time to do is shift and turn, and modulate the go pedal.
So; I'm not attacking the Vette/Viper/big powerful cars, get it? Those cars are awesome; they are some of the finest machines in the world, for what they do.
And I'm not defending the Miata, because it doesn't care, it's just a car, get it? But, as a machine BUILT TO IT'S PURPOSE, it is ALSO one of the finest cars in the world (and you obviously have never driven one).
I'm attacking YOUR IGNORANCE at saying that a Miata's just a chick car. YOU DON'T KNOW NOTHIN'.
I once spent some time talking to a couple of Air Force pilots about their plane, a T-37B "Tweetybird". (link to a great story about Tweets,
http://members.aol.com/aeronuta2afoto/tweety.html ). At one point I asked the pilot how he compared his ride to the F15s and F16s that got all the glory. He proceeded to tell me that in his opinion, he had the best ride in the entire Air Force, that there wasn't a plane in the sky that was more responsive, or more fun to fly. Then he stopped and thought for a second, and said, "it's like having the Miata of the Air Force."
Well, then, the Miata is like the T-37B of the road.
Mosca
And you're a sucker if you keep answering this.
