Learn me towing a miata

My brother's short automotive attention span (and desire for POWAAAAAR) led him to buy one of these:

Now, he has no need for his one of these:

so my parents bought it (their first non-gigantic engine/turbo car in many, many years- the desire for horsepower is genetic), and want to tow it behind one of these:

Those aren't the actual vehicles (i don't have pics of those) but similar. They do not have a car trailer/towing equipment. What do you suggest? My dad mentioned seeing lots of motor homers using something that isn't even a trailer, just hooks the front of their car with the back of the motor home, leaving all 4 car tires on the ground. Does that work? Other suggestions? Is a car trailer (front or all 4 wheels) just so amazingly superior that the other crap isn't worth looking at? They don't really want to have to store another big trailer, so the most compact set up would be appreciated.

That other things is called a tow bar, and whether or not you can use one depends on if the transmission can handle being flat towed and how well it will follow. Having never seen one towed that way I suspect it is not a good choice.

Is the miata a manual or automatic?

Manual. An automatic miata is not a miata, it is an abomination.

In reply to Rufledt:

Abomiataion

What year Miata is it? For NA and NB Miatas, Mazda does not recommend flat-towing them (i.e., all four wheels on the ground, using a tow bar) because the rear wheels will turn the transmission output shaft and it is not being properly lubricated without the input shaft also turning. Many people have done it for at least short distances, and I don't know of anyone who's reported a grenaded transmission as a result, but that's the recommendation. I don't know what they have to say about the NC (the one in the picture), but I suspect it's probably the same.

A tow dolly (a little tiny trailer that just holds the front wheels) doesn't really help this, because the rears are still turning. Putting the rears on the dolly and the fronts on the ground is theoretically possible, but you need a way to lock the steering (the key is generally not thought to be very reliable at this) or else it will swing around.

Towing with the drive wheels on the ground will also turn the odometer on some cars, which is generally undesirable.

The right way to tow it is with all four wheels up on a flatbed trailer. Trailers have brakes that can be controlled from the drive vehicle, they have lights that are visible to other traffic, and they can be steered backwards fairly easily with some practice (flat towing, or towing with a dolly it's somewhere between very hard and impossible to back up). Being a small and light car, a Miata will fit on a fairly small and light trailer.

Check your owners manual.

I'm not sure about the NC miata in particular, but the owners manual for my RX8 says to only tow with all four wheels off the ground (flatbed) and I think the 8 and the nc share transmissions.

Put a roof rack on the RV...problem solved.

Flat towing is one of those things you're not supposed to do, but I've never actually heard of any problems arising from it. There certainly are a number of motorhomes running around the country with Miatas as dinghies. So I guess it's an "at your own risk" deal.

Most of the ones that show up here have the Miata on a trailer, but our customers are not necessarily typical.

Thanks for the info everyone. The car in question is indeed an NC Miata. I'll relay the info to my dad. My parents are flying in today to visit with us over Easter and they're bringing the manual so we can see what it says, but I suspect you guys are right about the transmission. It is the same as the RX8 I believe.

Codrus said: Putting the rears on the dolly and the fronts on the ground is theoretically possible, but you need a way to lock the steering (the key is generally not thought to be very reliable at this) or else it will swing around.

I remember seeing a thing about people stealing cars where the steering wheel locks could be broken with a sufficient yank on the wheel

I wouldn't trust it holding the wheels over potholes at speed...

They want this.