Very nice, love that Mazda Red.
Yep, stock. I factory ordered it in March, chose the alloy pedals but the factory screwed up and didn’t install them and the dealership didn’t have any. But other than that everything was standard.
Very nice!
I miss mine. Bought a red one in 91 and had it for 20 years, should have kept it too. Drove it like a rental and only ever changed the oil and it never missed a beat.
I plan to buy one again.
Edit: these are still standard transmission right?
I was thinking the same thing.
And yeah, I think Soul Crystal Red is likely the most beautiful red in the industry. If you have never seen it up close, that picture doesn’t do it justice.
Yes, you can (and should) get it with the manual. I do think they offer an automatic though; at least, I think I saw one.
Very cool. I can’t imagine buying a Miata that’s not manual.
It’s a manual. I told the salesman that it’s morally wrong to make these with auto. I’ve never owned an auto in fact. The wife’s van is, but that’s her car.
This is why the entire US Marketing department for Mazda should be canned. They have a stunning car, and people don’t even know what it is.
Mazda’s engineers, and their designers, are very good. Their sales and marketing long agon gave up on trying to sell anything other than SUVs, and those in the most generic and unspecific way possible.
Really, once they killed off Mazdaspeed and the RX-7/8, the whole “Zoom Zoom” vibe vanished as well.
It vanished from everyone. Now that 200+hp turbo engines are common as dirt, and electrics with fantastic acceleration are increasingly common, nobody is marketing on performance as a differentiator between brands. Americans finally found a point where they are happy their vehicles are fast enough.
It makes me sad because I’m a go-fast kind of guy who likes coupes and sport sedans, but drivers like us are a small minority and not worth marketing to.
Thing is, performance isn’t just speed, and definitely isn’t just acceleration. Where most electrics, and many high-powered ICE cars as well, fall short is in handling and dynamics. Weight matters–heavier cars are simply not as fun to fling around as lighter cars, and feel very different when you push them. My Audi S5, for instance, was a freakin’ rocket sled, and with Quattro and all the computer-controlled wizardry keeping it tame it was technically a great handling car too. It felt boring, though; it was so heavy and planted due to its tech that there was little feel of actually driving, at least until you got into speed territory that was definitely “lose your license, go to jail” land.
I’m one of those drivers! However I remember getting into a Miata twenty years ago and had a hard time making my big dumb American feet be able to hit only one pedal at a time. I’m honestly a bit intrigued because I know there’s a silly amount of aftermarket stuff you can do to this car to make it a sleeper, plus convertible of course. And manual.
The thing is, though, Mazda still focuses more on handling than most mid-range lines. My CX-50 handles about as well as my Mazda 6 did, which is impressive for an AWD crossover SUV. And when I rent Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, etc. when traveling, it’s amazing how sluggish/sloppy they feel when maneuvering compared to the Mazdas I’ve driven.
Toyota sedans/SUVs feel like they’re tuned to keep 75 year olds from doing anything abrupt on the road.
True dat. My Mazda 3 handles quite well, especially for a car with an old-school non-independent rear suspension. Corners pretty flat, and tracks well, with good steering feel. Not quite as sharp as a GTI or especially my old Type R, which had supernaturally good handling, but a hell of a lot better than most things out there.
Agreed, I’ve always felt that my Mazda3 handled well. Taught my son how to drive a stick today, amidst some frustratons and gnashing of teeth. Got his 6’3" butt literally in the backseat at one point leaning forward and looking over my shoulder so he could see how I worked the pedals to start the car moving after he’d stalled it about a dozen times and was yelling in frustration. And of course we’d already gone over the basics and for weeks I’ve been talking to him about how it all works. I told him I’ve stalled the Miata a few times since Sat since every car is different and you just have to get used to its feel and how it handles.
Good point about the feel. While the principles are similar in any car, there’s no substitute for getting a sense of how the specific vehicle responds. Clutch engagement, shift throws, stuff like that. It’s one of the reasons I love manuals.
Though one manual I absolutely hated was the Camaro with a three-on-the-tree. Yep, a manual transmission shifted by a steering-wheel mounted stalk, like the old American automatic transmission cars of yore. A friend had one too many one night and I had to drive us home. That car…shudder.
Just spent two hours this Sat morning washing (2nd time) and waxing (first time) the new Miata. Wish I would’ve started around 7, because by 11:30 it was hot out there. Even with waxing it in the garage out of the sun. Wish I would’ve waxed it a week ago, but the wife kept insisting that the dealership already waxed it, but I could tell just by touching the paint that it didn’t have a good layer of wax on it. Had some bug guts areas I had to really scrub before waxing it, getting to work is mostly highway so it’s going to get splattered.
My favorite review car couple just enjoyed your car!
That was fun watch. Love the car and love the place. Went there couple years ago on the black ball ferry.
Thanks, man, watching it now. Oh, look, they can fit with those cupholders between the seats. Little people are so cute.