Zhanna32,
<My question is how realistic would a convertible
be in the summer heat (or does the rest of the year make it worth it anyway)>
Convertibles
here are great outside of the summer. But it depends on where in Arizona| Arizona | (air-i'-ZON-u') | The State of Arizona comprises the extreme south-western portion of the United States. It is bounded on the north by Utah, on the east by New Mexico, on the south by Mexico, and on the west by California and Nevada. |
you plan
on living. If you're going to be in the desert (which is much of the state)
like Phoenix or Tucson, you have to realize that summer is about 6 months
long.. not 3 months like it is everywhere else :-).
I've ridden
in convertibles many times, but I've never owned one, so I wouldn't know
what the disadvantages would be. For instance, would it be impractical
to simply put the top up and run the A/C when it's hot out? Do these vehicles
not come with an automatic top?
<and a second one for any
miata owners in AZ, how well does the 4 cyl engine cope with the A/C use?>
That
also depends on where in Arizona| Arizona | (air-i'-ZON-u') | The State of Arizona comprises the extreme south-western portion of the United States. It is bounded on the north by Utah, on the east by New Mexico, on the south by Mexico, and on the west by California and Nevada. |
you live. If you're living in the mountains, running
the air conditioner in the summer is hard on a 4-cylinder, and can cause
it to easily overheat. Where it's flat (like the Phoenix metro area), then
there're no real worries there. You might have a little more difficulty
accelerating as quickly as you might like. A common practice is to simply
turn the A/C off until you get up to speed.. :-). Well, I don't know how
common that *really* is.
If you've got a 4-cylinder Miata right
now, you could always drive it with the A/C on where you live now and see
how it accelerates. My experience with it, however, is that it's difficult
to climb mountains. One of my vehicles is a Saturn, probably only slightly
heavier than your Mazda, and it has this problem in the mountains with
the A/C on.
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