Is Miata Still the Answer for Off-Roading, Too?

All-wheel drive? Check. Subaru power? Check. Off-road tires? Check. Miata? You heard us.

Thanks to our friends over at Moss Motors, we came across Caleb Sandlund's Subaru-powered, all-wheel-drive Miata.

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Sorry, I really despise these. It's taking a wonderful car that is affordable and destroying it. Some may say it's ok because it's a rotted car. Ok. I get that. But it's still a stupid exercise in my opinion.

With Subaru power and AWD and a good deal of aftermarket and/or custom parts is it really a Miata?

This is awesome, love seeing these lifted rally style Miatas.  If it was a rare car, I'd probably share DrBoost's opinion.

L5wolvesf said:

With Subaru power and AWD and a good deal of aftermarket and/or custom parts is it really a Miata?

Well, anyone who has seen a Miata will be able to identify it as one. But more importantly - does it matter what you call it?

Car guy having fun with his car. I like it.

I'd probably prefer the Jacco prerunner style for my off road Miata, but then I'd have to build what I want,

I'm still not sure why he did it, other than to say "look what I did". Would've been easier to chop up an Impreza and make a ghetto kart out of it. YouTube clicks from kids is all this ginger is fishing for. 

If you wanted a convertible awd offroader that isnt a Jeep, this how you do it, I suppose.

What is all that heat wrapped stuff hanging down in front?  
 

it's cool. But looks more like a show car( crappy Sema build) than something ing that can actually be used. 

Make sure to sharpie your bolt heads.  And use blue tooth drive shafts. 
https://speedsociety.com/vloggers-reveal-some-of-the-worst-fails-of-sema-2018/
 

That's the exhaust. Remember, it comes off the bottom of a Subaru engine.

Love the STi badge on the back. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Ahh ok.  That makes sense
 

atill looks vulnerable. 

When I clear out my current backlog of projects (...yeah, right.) I want to do something like this with a MK1 Audi TT Quattro.

I mean the miata was already supercharged and lifted. 

Before he did the sti swap. This is the Youtuber gingium.

Keith Tanner said:

L5wolvesf said:

With Subaru power and AWD and a good deal of aftermarket and/or custom parts is it really a Miata?

Well, anyone who has seen a Miata will be able to identify it as one. But more importantly - does it matter what you call it?

Nice Buick :) 

He's a kid having fun with a car and learning stuff as he goes. I know I've learned stuff over the last 68 years by making mistakes and he is ,too. This is a case of someone doing something that I might not do or even think of doing, but that just makes it different. His car, his choice of modifications. I have taken some time and watched his videos to see what he's doing. I found his videos by searching  "off road Miata" , so I'm more inclined to like what he did.

AAZCD (Forum Supporter) said:

When I clear out my current backlog of projects (...yeah, right.) I want to do something like this with a MK1 Audi TT Quattro.

That I'd like to see. The TT shape is one that we don't see enought. Bring it. 

DrBoost said:

Sorry, I really despise these. It's taking a wonderful car that is affordable and destroying it. Some may say it's ok because it's a rotted car. Ok. I get that. But it's still a stupid exercise in my opinion.

You know you are deep in boost territory when you get tire pressures and boost pressures confused

Agreed.  I just don't see the appeal.

Gingium was one of the first influencers we dealt with. We sent him a brake kit. He had problems and put them in a video instead of contacting us. We stopped dealing with influencers for a while. 

I like it, but not enough to join instagram.

He does some neat stuff. Hard not to respect.

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :

Absolutely. Why be a critical purist if the guy is having fun. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I worked for a major tire manufacturer and rode shotgun with some of these influencers at events, usually encouraging them to drive harder so they could actually experience a difference in ultimate grip. Didn't meet this guy in particular but you definitely get a wide variety of attitudes with social media influencers, humble to arrogant. Probably riskier for someone like FM where the experience depends a lot on the install and a lot can go wrong. Put one of these clowns in a new BMW on the best French tires money can buy? That's just cheap advertising. 

All that said, I approve of awd subiata.

In reply to morello159 :

I don't have a problem with stuff going wrong. I do have a problem with someone who doesn't contact us if something goes wrong with the free stuff we sent them. 

We get requests for free stuff constantly. Always have, but now that "influencer" is considered a career it's much worse.

I wouldn't build it, but I'm glad there are people out there building crazy things for me to look at.