a Miata? damn. So you would go from a subaru impreza to a small, tiny, Miata? well like they say different strokes for different folks so I can't knock you for that.

Think I might go for a red 2001 RHD s15 Silvia

 

Light and small is good. For a car with a usable back seat, the Impreza is pretty small itself. Besides, I want something RWD with decent build quality and fuel economy (read: not an F-body or mustang) and not $30k (read: not an S2000 or Z3). Plus, there's a big difference between a fully warranted, never previously owned roadster and an illegal RHD sport coupe.

 

WHat makes the s15 illegal in the states?Im thinking about importing one and would like to know.

 

About a hundred different things. A car has to meet thousands and thousands of federally determined specifications before it can be sold here. Japan's build criterias only match up to about 90% of those things. That's not to say it can't be done, but it's expensive and a pain in the ***. The easier route would be to find a clean bodied S14 here in the states and import all the parts for conversion.

 

the existence of S15 is illegal, unless its gone thru proper importation process.
and legality of S15 running on public streets are close to zero.
The only way i can think of is.. non-resident bringing the car over here.. in this case, you cant have US citizenship and you need to own the car outside US. You also need to deport the car after one year.

Im sure there are few ways to smuggle one in though

like BANSUV says, so much easier to get S14 and transform it
but it wont be warrantied like miata turbo would

 

Yeah, the coupe does look sweet.

 

I'm actually going to keep the 'Sti as a daily driver and begin saving up to get a Mazdaspeed Miata by end of summer...has anyone done any long distance driving in the Miata? how's the ride if one was to take it cross country?

Ghost

 

If your STi is your daily driver, why would you take the Miata across country?

 

it would just be a one time thing for vacation...a long road trip while enjoying the beautiful American landscape. what better way then in a convertible! besides, in a year i've only put on 8,000 miles on the STi as a weekend car...so i know i can afford the miles with my new weekender.

Ghost

 

If you do get that Miata be sure to stop by Racing Beat for some suspension bits

I had a Miata and did a lot of roadtrips, sometimes with couple of snowboards strapped to the trunk bike rack (cool JDM STi wing look) I would recommend everyone to take a Miata from Santa Barbara along the PCH(hwy1) at least to Oregon, then return thru Lake Tahoe during a snowstorm always with the top down - one of my trips

 

Racing Beat would definitely be the first place I'd look for suspension stuff, but it would take a while before I decided to change it. Coming from my RS it will feel almost tail-happy, so I won't have any issues with how it rotates. And since it's my daily driver and not a track star, I don't want to stiffen the springs much and start shaking things loose when what's already there is good for backroads. First mod would be a 4 point roll bar and maybe some wheels. I'll probably sell the stock 17s (easy enough, old school Miata guys will be drooling over them like we did for STi BBS) and get some Superleggeras or something. Also, I would not make any changes that made it obvious that it was faster than a standard Miata. Nice and stealthy that way.

 

FYI, those stock Miata wheels are VERY light. good match for the car.

i'm sure you've been there... www.miata.net great people, a lot of good info!

 

OMG is this a mazdaspeed thread!? i love the miata... but i think if subaru banned me(believe me they would get a nice gift from me if they ever did) and i know i might get burned for this...

but i think---> mitsubishi EVO VIII
why? because every magazine i've read has rated it higher than the sti plus i like driving it....just hate the hood though.

 

If I couldn't have a Subaru, I would get some other AWD car. Maybe an Audi or a Volvo.