Brian, your buddy's wrong on 2 counts. As others have indicated, the miata
engine will not do itself damage (unlike most Hondas for example) and he's
got his terms wrong. It's interference vs non-interference engines (on
interference engines tolerances are in the negative I guess you'd have to
say, not zero ;-)

Chris
99BBB

"Brian" > wrote in message
news:L0_Og.7555$4a3.3469@trnddc07...
> Is a 1996 Mazda Miata one of those zero clearance cars where if the timing
> belt breaks it will do damage to the rods / pistons? Is anyone aware of
> that? I was told by a friend that certain cars (and he called them zero
> clearance) will do damage to the rods / cylinders if you don't change the
> timing belt and it breaks. Thanks for any help.
>
> Brian
>
>