John V
09-20-2006, 09:44 AM
A friend of mine recently picked up his MX-5. It's a nice dark maroon color with tan leather inside. It's got the sport package which gives you Bilstein shocks, 6-speed manual and a Torsen LSD out back.
First impressions, the car looks better in person than in pictures. The front end of the car is still sort of odd looking - it looks like GM's old EV1 electric car with its crossed-eyes headlights. Overall though the exterior is not bad.
The best feature of the MX-5 and the Miatas before it has been the non-power folding top. It's what GM should have copied for its Kappa twins. Release the latch and flip it back - it only takes a couple seconds and you don't have to leave your seat. Brilliant! No need for power motors here!
The interior is quite nice, but it's finished in loads of hard plastic as you'd expect at this price. The black-lacquered plastic trim bits add some class to the interior, which still manages to have a nicer feel than the BMW Z4's cheesy and cheap interior. Everything is well laid out. The stubby shifter falls perfectly to hand from the thick leather-wrapped steering wheel. The gauges are nice and clear, and the beltline is still low, if not as low as the earlier Miatas (blame ever-stricter crash safety requirements) so the view out is excellent. You can still throw your arm on the windowsill and comfortably cruise.
Firing up the engine, I notice it's much quieter than the old 1.6L Miatas from the early 90's. Those cars had a nice rasp to the exhaust, and some of that sweetness has been lost on this bigger motor. Nothing has been lost from the shifter, however, which should be identical to the RX-8 since the two cars share a transmission. In the MX-5, though, the gates were better defined and shift effort was slightly higher (not a bad thing). It had a great feel. Clutch takeup was light and smooth, again like an RX-8.
Compared to the previous-generation 1.8L Miata, this car feels quite a bit quicker. However, that quickness is achieved via the painfully short gearing. The car will only do around 48-50 MPH in second gear. Rowing the transmission is not a chore, but the engine feels like it wants to rev another 1,000 RPM by the time you're banging into the limiter. It makes me wonder why they didn't find a way to stuff the RX-8's smooth rotary into this car. In the 300-pound lighter MX-5 package, that motor would have been a perfect choice. Overall, the engine is slightly short of being completely satisfying. It has a smooth demeanor and makes good power but lacks the character of the early Miata engines.
Driving down a twisty road reveals the MX-5's shortcomings as compared to the earlier cars. Compared to a '99 Sport, or even compared to an '02 base, this car is floaty and very soft. The body is not well controlled in transitions. Bumps don't seem to unsettle the car too badly, but subtle steering angle changes mid-corner bring a feeling of being disconnected from the back of the car. The rear end floats and wanders and the front end rolls uncontrollably. It's actually frustrating to hustle this car through corners, because the body motions are so nautical in nature. On the plus side, the additional power means you can use the throttle to steer, and as with Miatas of old, dropping the power mid-corner will bring good rotation to the chassis. Still, the overall feeling is that the car needs MUCH stiffer springs and a lot more rebound damping so it handles more like a Miata and less like a Corolla.
Me, I'm waiting for the inevitable Mazdaspeed version, with stiffer suspension, more power, and (hopefully) revised gearing. Those changes would make this MX-5 a worthy successor to the Miata.
First impressions, the car looks better in person than in pictures. The front end of the car is still sort of odd looking - it looks like GM's old EV1 electric car with its crossed-eyes headlights. Overall though the exterior is not bad.
The best feature of the MX-5 and the Miatas before it has been the non-power folding top. It's what GM should have copied for its Kappa twins. Release the latch and flip it back - it only takes a couple seconds and you don't have to leave your seat. Brilliant! No need for power motors here!
The interior is quite nice, but it's finished in loads of hard plastic as you'd expect at this price. The black-lacquered plastic trim bits add some class to the interior, which still manages to have a nicer feel than the BMW Z4's cheesy and cheap interior. Everything is well laid out. The stubby shifter falls perfectly to hand from the thick leather-wrapped steering wheel. The gauges are nice and clear, and the beltline is still low, if not as low as the earlier Miatas (blame ever-stricter crash safety requirements) so the view out is excellent. You can still throw your arm on the windowsill and comfortably cruise.
Firing up the engine, I notice it's much quieter than the old 1.6L Miatas from the early 90's. Those cars had a nice rasp to the exhaust, and some of that sweetness has been lost on this bigger motor. Nothing has been lost from the shifter, however, which should be identical to the RX-8 since the two cars share a transmission. In the MX-5, though, the gates were better defined and shift effort was slightly higher (not a bad thing). It had a great feel. Clutch takeup was light and smooth, again like an RX-8.
Compared to the previous-generation 1.8L Miata, this car feels quite a bit quicker. However, that quickness is achieved via the painfully short gearing. The car will only do around 48-50 MPH in second gear. Rowing the transmission is not a chore, but the engine feels like it wants to rev another 1,000 RPM by the time you're banging into the limiter. It makes me wonder why they didn't find a way to stuff the RX-8's smooth rotary into this car. In the 300-pound lighter MX-5 package, that motor would have been a perfect choice. Overall, the engine is slightly short of being completely satisfying. It has a smooth demeanor and makes good power but lacks the character of the early Miata engines.
Driving down a twisty road reveals the MX-5's shortcomings as compared to the earlier cars. Compared to a '99 Sport, or even compared to an '02 base, this car is floaty and very soft. The body is not well controlled in transitions. Bumps don't seem to unsettle the car too badly, but subtle steering angle changes mid-corner bring a feeling of being disconnected from the back of the car. The rear end floats and wanders and the front end rolls uncontrollably. It's actually frustrating to hustle this car through corners, because the body motions are so nautical in nature. On the plus side, the additional power means you can use the throttle to steer, and as with Miatas of old, dropping the power mid-corner will bring good rotation to the chassis. Still, the overall feeling is that the car needs MUCH stiffer springs and a lot more rebound damping so it handles more like a Miata and less like a Corolla.
Me, I'm waiting for the inevitable Mazdaspeed version, with stiffer suspension, more power, and (hopefully) revised gearing. Those changes would make this MX-5 a worthy successor to the Miata.