Lots of MX-5s on the roads here.
A nice enough car, but I only buy cars made in the EU.

 

I've been tempted to try one a few times. I kinda like the idea of using the gears a bit more and having something that will slide when pushed at sensible speeds.

 

Definitely worth a try for a weekend. See if you can find one on Turo. Absolute hoot at legal speeds. It's a completely different experience than driving a 718 platform car.

 

Seems like the only negative is the stigma that follows them. They are like mopeds.....we all want to ride/drive them, but we don't want our friends to see us doing it.

I bet they are a ton of fun and heard/read (including from a Porsche PCA instructor) that they are wonderful track cars and tons of fun....so it's on the short list for a dedicated track car I'll own one day when I have time for track days!

Rajah, curious where you rented one? I'll be in Oahu for a few weeks in October. I'm solo so that would be a nice change vs the mini van I typically rent for the family.

 

100% on the stigma. You don't see too many around Toronto where I live. The most popular cheaper fun car I see is the Toyota/Subaru BRZ/GR86 followed by the Civic Type R.

I rented mine off of Turo. I found a company close to the Kuhului airport that rented them. I can see a similar model available for rent close to the HNL airport as well. Unfortunately, most of the larger companies (Avis, Hertz, Budget, ...) don't really have such cars on the lot. Typically you will find Mustangs or Jeep wranglers as a "fun" option if you don't want a minivan or sedan.

 

Prior to getting my Cayman, I did look explore the Miata. I didn't actually test drive it though. My heart was always set on getting the 718 and the Miata would've been largely a compromise on price and so on and knowing that it would not be as well put together as the 718, I stuck with my original plan.

I, however, would definitely not mind renting this car somewhere. Another reason to visit Hawaii. 😃

 

Great write up, and I too have often thought about getting one as a fun weekend runabout. SWMBO would not be impressed as we're long out of garage/drive space!

One question though: did the 718 pass the golf club test, and if so how do you get them in!? Asking for a friend ....

 

The 718 can actually fit two sets of golf clubs. I can put mine and my wife's or a friend's clubs in. I lay them both vertically over the engine with the club end sticking into the car and the base sticking into the trunk cavity. As long as the golf bags aren't one of those massive cart bags, you should be able to fit two with ease. You might need to take off the cloth privacy screen on the trunk glass in some cases. My bags are fairly compact that I don't even need to take those off.

 

I considered the Miata RF before I settled on getting a 718 Cayman. In my opinion, that RF is one of the best looking cars on the road today. Test drove one and while I loved the delicate feel of the car, I’m 6’3” and it was too much of a squeeze to be inside.
My ‘78 Triumph Spitfire was roomier (although it lacked any safety features, like crumple zones)

 

I have a 79 Spitfire 1500 in my garage right now.. Trying to find it a new home. Great car, great looks, fun, and easy to work on. Boxster just replaced any time i would have started it up for a drive.

 

I was really close to pulling the trigger on a ND2 RF Miata before I ended up going with my 24 Boxster. I'm 5' 8", so i fit in the driver's seat of both fine, but I will say the few times I rented the RF my passengers were less than thrilled. My wife ultimately talked me into spending more to get something more "practical". Fantastic cars though, and the RF looks so amazing with the roof up and down. I never really liked the look of a soft top Miata.

 

I fit perfectly in the Miata and I am 5'11", but anyone over 6' may find it a bit more difficult. I agree with you. I think the RF, especially the side profile, looks nicer than the soft top. The side profile of the RF has some Ferrari vibes .

 

Those who've said miata are hair dressers cars have never driven one. Tail of the Dragon was full of them. One of the best drivers cars

 

I bought a 2023 ND RF, coming from a 981 CS PDK, thinking I could embrace the "drive a slow car fast" thing.

Made it 3 weeks before trading it towards my current 718 6MT. Now embracing the "drive a not-so-slow-but-very-nice car fast" thing.

 

Fellow Miata lover and former owner here. I had an '06 NC that I tracked and autocrossed for 10 years - and even taught both my daughters how to drive in it (doing my duty as a car-obsessed father). All Miatas are a blast to drive on the street - mostly because you can drive them safely at 9/10ths without going insane speeds. They are certainly much more toy-like and low-rent than our beloved P-cars, but that doesn't take away from their charm. They are terrible on long highway drives - I always wore noise cancelling headphones on my drives to the track (anywhere from 1.5 to 4.5 hours away from home). But dollar for dollar, you really can't beat them for the smiles they deliver. My neighbor caught me sliding sideways into our development with a big grin on my face back when I owned the NC. That same trick would be a lot faster and riskier in the Cayman, imho...not going to happen.

Given my current fun-car use case (some track, some autoX, lots of back-road drives with my P-car friends), it would probably take a Mazdaspeed version of the current Miata to lure me back. For my tastes/uses, I could never drive a stock Miata again. I'm tired of doing my own suspension swaps, but I don't trust any local shops or dealers enough to turn the job over to them. So I wait on the sidelines for Mazda to re-introduce another Mazdaspeed version of their beloved roadster. Then, maybe I'd consider it - but it would be really hard to give up that 4-liter song and the cachet of the Porsche brand.

 

Agree 100%. My first ride was a 79 RX7 manual. You could toss that car around, too, and drive pretty much to its limits without going to jail or the morgue.

Definitely can't drive the 718 to its limits on the street, but I prefer that I set the limits, not my car.

 

Pound for pound the Mitata is one of the best sports cars available in the past 20 years. It's loads of fun even at lower speeds which is probably the best design for a road going sports car. I love my Boxster and it's on a different level, but no reason not to love the Miata as well.

 

Around 2000, my wife and had looked at buying a used Miata and thoroughly enjoyed driving it through the Malibu hills, a bit of sliding around corners, the freedom of driving in a 360 degree panorama of hills and ocean but....we were planning a family and decided we need a more practical car and ended up with an Acura Integra GSR (followed by an RSX Type S, then TL Type S) that took us through the early stages of our family.

After countless SUVs, during the midst of Covid 2020, we Turo'd a ND1 and had a blast going up and down the coast of Ventura County. Nothing like the feeling of freedom of being roofless and no pillars behind you, just mountains and the ocean. Being free with our kids in college, we finally took the the plunge to get a Miata and bought the ND2 in February of 2021. We thought about getting the various generations of the Miata but ultimately the safety, reliability, power and revving of the ND2 was compelling.

What an amazing car to drive in the hills of Palos Verdes! There is nothing like quickly getting the top down, feeling the sights and sounds around you. The Miata is perfect for the street and tight peninsula drives and the best way I can describe it is that it’s the safest go-kart with its light tossable weight.

We always drive the ND2 with the top down and music beating, freeway or anywhere, hot or cold. One time in Ojai, it was over 100 degrees and we had to put the top up since the AC couldn't keep up. One thing that is great about the Miata is that it’s never too cold outside to put the top down in LA. It's not drafty inside, the wind doesn't hit below your shoulders and the heated seats can go from warm to pretty hot to toasty. With its small interior and heated seats, you can have the top down in any temperature you'd find in LA...40 degrees is no problem. It's a great advantage for the Miata to be comfortable with the top down at any speed and temperature.

My only two complaints are the steering was super light compared to my preference and the back-end was a bit snappy and not as progressive as I would like. But this is minor, taking the car through hills, corners, hearing the engine rev and being in a convertible is the best. I added a Goodwin SSST exhaust which was awesome in making the car roar to a nice tune and was easy to put in. Such an easy and cost-effective modification for a little extra HP but primarily the sound is awesome. Flexible too....when we take very long trips (6 hours to Yosemite, 14 hours to Arches), Awesome to see nature from the Miata, smell the scent of the forest, drive through the landscape of Utah. We were suprisingly comfortable enough and there is just enough space in the trunk to make these trips work.

I modified the stereo and eventually to improve the stability, a new alignment from Brian Goodwin and better tires (Continental ECS II). The ND steering lost its twitchiness with more grip and a more confidence inspiring stability.

We love the ND so much, that we even sold our 2019 Civic Type R to get our next car. The Type R is fast, great brakes, fairly good ride for a track oriented car, great utility being a hatchback but....its just not as fun as street car and its no competition for the feeling of a convertible, especially one that is so quick and easy to put up and down and fun with some intentional sliding of the ND….the joy of rear wheel drive. I never would have guessed that we would sell the Type R since it was a dream car of mine and I had chosen it over buying a used 1st generation NSX (just don't want to deal with the maintenance of an older car while I'm hard at work).

Speaking of the NSX, I've always loved the mid-engine feeling and balance, with the revving engine. We took two trips in Boxsters last year, one in a 2015 to Morro Bay/Hearst Castle and a second trip to Monterrey and up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. The Boxster has a similar feeling of balance to the old NSX. In fact, it's the same width, the same length, similar weight and, of course, the same mid-engine placement. We loved the Boxster with better canyon handing balance, fun power and stability on the longer roads though the wind management is not as good. We decided to buy a newer 718 Boxster and went to the dealership to just try the 4.0 liter 6 cylinder engine. We just get out of the dealership for a test drive and the stop light a guy yells "you have to buy that car...it's amazing and my dream car". Warmed up the car and wow, the engine sound was just amazing! The surround sound of the engine induction noise was intoxicating as it revs to nearly 8,000. So, despite it making no value sense to buy a new 4.0 compared to a used turbo 2.5 liter, I ordered my new GTS.

Took 4 months to get it and it’s amazing. Where its really amazing is in the long sweeping canyon curves of the Angeles Forest. You'll see every sports car and motorcycle up there. You can use much of the power and handling up there and it's amazing. I picked the Boxster over getting a 911...too big for my driving preference and the Boxster looks better to me than the 911 convertible. The leather interior is super nice and I love the Burmester stereo. It's a special car and even driving at 6/10s you can feel the specialness of the mid-engine design. The top goes up and down in 9 seconds upto 30 mph....super convenient. I love the Spyder design but the convertible top is a non-starter for me and I do put the top up more in the Boxster because the wind management isn't as good as a Miata….gets quite a bit colder than in the 718 cabin due to the wind.

I’ve had the GTS for five thousand miles now and it’s always a special ride with amazing quality. The ride is exceptional, so much better than the Type R which could be bumpier/stiff at times. The combination of light weight, special engine, mid engine handling, great suspension and great quality always make me happy to drive the Boxster (but I still enjoy choosing the Miata to drive at times).

 

...My only two complaints are the steering was super light compared to my preference and the back-end was a bit snappy and not as progressive as I would like. But this is minor, taking the car through hills, corners, hearing the engine rev and being in a convertible is the best. I added a Goodwin SSST exhaust which was awesome in making the car roar to a nice tune and was easy to put in. Such an easy and cost-effective modification for a little extra HP but primarily the sound is awesome. Flexible too....when we take very long trips (6 hours to Yosemite, 14 hours to Arches), Awesome to see nature from the Miata, smell the scent of the forest, drive through the landscape of Utah. We were suprisingly comfortable enough and there is just enough space in the trunk to make these trips work.

Thanks for sharing your tale! Props for taking the Miata on long trips with your wife! One other complaint I forgot to mention -- because I was never in the passenger seat of mine -- is how little passenger legroom there is in the Miata. For the driver, legroom is totally fine. Mazda puts some extra crash-absorbing plastic right where the passenger's feet want to be. On the NC (possibly other generations too), you could remove this plastic footrest - but then the carpet in the passenger footwell didn't quite fit right - so I ended up leaving it in place since I rarely had a passenger.

 

Agree that the Miata feels faster at the same speed and allows more thrills at a lower speed which is fun around town. My wife is a saint because she’s 5’ 8” and never complains about the limited legroom on the passenger side. I thought about removing the subwoofer on the passenger side but …I don’t think it’s easy to replace that bottom end elsewhere in the Miata (even though I have a 10” kicker powered subwoofer behind the drivers seat, it’s still not enough for me).

 

When on Oahu I rented a Harley fat boy for our trip around the Island. Pretty cheap. Around $165 for 8 hours. When on Maui we rented a Mustang convertible for the road to Hana and went all

the way around the island. We visited the grave site of Lindbergh so we decided to just go the rest of the way instead of turning around. So glad we did. It was the most scenic part of the trip. Both were awesome trips.

 

The ND2 Miata and the 718 GTS 4.0 compliment each other very well. I love driving both cars.

They're both so similar and so different at the same time, it's difficult to describe. Either way, both cars are absolutely fantastic.

 

Wish I had space in the garage for a ND2/3 to go with my 718. I'd take the Miata for the hops around town and use the 718 for the higher speed stuff and track days.

 

Mazda's Soul Red Crystal is the best red ever.

 

I have to be careful when I am driving near my friend's (as pictured) because that red is SO gorgeous I stare at it instead of focus on the road

It's such a deep, complex red. Mazda really did nail it. Here are a few more pictures of his car. It's even better to drive than it is to look at!

 

Porsche doesn't seem to have any metallic reds like that even on PTS. Would have to go to PTS Plus to get something similar

 

I had a 2000 Miata SE in a limited edition color they called Mahogany Mica. It was gorgeous. I'm currently shopping for a 1-2 year old ND2 in Soul Red Crystal. I normally don't like red sports cars, but that Mazda red is stunning.

 

I couldn't wait to unload my 2023 RF. I've raced spec miata before and always wanted one, but the amount of friday-afternoon engineering the car possessed was frightening. Add to that some of the worst suspension tuning that I've seen in a modern vehicle and you understand why so many owners swap out the springs and shocks as soon as they get home from the dealership. There were only a few bright spots in my 18 months of ownership: 1) the headlights. Can't figure out why, but mazda made some crazy-good ones here 2) the stereo. The Bose was better than I expected 3) the shifter. It was exactly as I recall from my spec miata days. The dark spots: 1) lousy driving position. Too high and no leg room. 2) the oddity of having no front grip at low speeds and then thinking you have grip at higher speeds, only to find that your car is neutral because the rear has no grip at high speeds. This is a 1970's trademark. Off to think that a 72 chevy nova was their target. 3) all of the cabin electronics, from the always crashing infotainment, to the mushy buttons on the steering wheel, to the rear-view mirror they took from the 1996 MPV mini-van. 4) no storage in the car. They said they took out all the storage to save weight...yeah, sure. Saved money...5) completely forgetable engine. I grew up on 1990 VTECs. This ain't one of those. I'll stop here, but truth is, Mazda needs to start clean-sheet on these.

 

You seem to have a very unique experience and perspective. Just sounds like it wasn't a great match for you, meanwhile everyone else loves them for what they are.

 

odd, or ironic, that all of the "weight savings" also happened to be "cost savings". Probably just a coincidence.

And even more odd is that adding back normal storage pockets and such, would add what? 6 ounces? Do you think you can even measure that in any definable sense?

The miatas that litter the miata-enthusiast-kingdom, which have coilovers, exhausts, adjustable seats, roll cages, aftermarket phone mounts, added padding on interior surfaces, and the other 100 mods needed to cover the flaws....do they weigh "200lbs" more as you claim? We know the answer to that.

To an extent, I do agree with some of what Mark said in that review. He said the handling falls apart on track. That is true. But the mistake you will probably make is that you believe that road manner and track manners cannot co-exist. I had a BRZ for a while that somehow felt great on both track and road. Mazda seems to disagree here. My GT3 performs well on both, as does my 718, as did many of my other cars. The truth is that we laud the miata because it is now in a class of one. It has no competition. We forget that it was mediocre even back when it was being compared to late 1990 vehicles.

Fact is: 100% redesign is needed.

 

odd, or ironic, that all of the "weight savings" also happened to be "cost savings". Probably just a coincidence.

And even more odd is that adding back normal storage pockets and such, would add what? 6 ounces? Do you think you can even measure that in any definable sense?

The miatas that litter the miata-enthusiast-kingdom, which have coilovers, exhausts, adjustable seats, roll cages, aftermarket phone mounts, added padding on interior surfaces, and the other 100 mods needed to cover the flaws....do they weigh "200lbs" more as you claim? We know the answer to that.

To an extent, I do agree with some of what Mark said in that review. He said the handling falls apart on track. That is true. But the mistake you will probably make is that you believe that road manner and track manners cannot co-exist. I had a BRZ for a while that somehow felt great on both track and road. Mazda seems to disagree here. My GT3 performs well on both, as does my 718, as did many of my other cars. The truth is that we laud the miata because it is now in a class of one. It has no competition. We forget that it was mediocre even back when it was being compared to late 1990 vehicles.

Fact is: 100% redesign is needed.

So making components lighter is cost cutting? And again not meant to be a track car to set lap times meant to be fun car that's why it has the body motions it has. An actual racing driver thinks a unmodified MX5 is good on track anyway. But again if that's what you think sure...

 

Miatas are so good. They're not a 718 to be sure, but a 718, particularly a GTS 4.0, is a serious piece of kit. It wants to be out there on the road, but I can be a little precious about it, and it is very easy to break laws (if not exceed the car's limits).

The nice thing about a Miata is you can go through a lot of the same motions as you do in a Cayman, feel almost as good, but not be breaking laws and speed limits. I rev my Cayman up to 7K RPM in 2nd and I'm already at 70mph. Forget redlining into 3rd... In a Miata though? Shift, rev, shift, rev, over and over again. Plus, I really like the tiny size of the car and the sol red crystal color! I may have to get one just for the fun of it, stigma be damned!

 

I couldn't get past the cheapness of the materials, inside and out. I had the RF version, which is the hard top convertible. The blacked out sections of the roof were gloss black plastic and were a web of scratches after one wash. The interior materials are terrible, and the layout of buttons and controls isn't intuitive or comfortable to use. For instance, to adjust the volume of the radio, you can either push the volume buttons on the steering wheel about 30 times to get any significant change in volume, or you can lift up your elbow and slide your hand to the rear of the center console to the physical volume knob. The ND1 disabled the infotainment touch screen if the vehicle was moving at any speed, forcing you to use knobs and buttons to manipulate the screen like a laptop. The roof can't be raised or lowered at anything over 7 mph. There is a digital readout of which gear you're in on the dash, but not your speed. You can turn off the half dozen safety nannies, some permanently, but then you're treated to a Christmas tree of warning lights on the dash every time you drive.

Yes, the Porsche is more expensive and you can expect better materials, but the differences aren't relative to the price differential. The Miata is much cheaper than it's price. They are fun to drive, but you can get the exact same thrill at a go-kart park, and not have to drive it home. Or to work. Or in public.

 

The interior materials aren't Porsche grade but I don't think the Miata interior, particularly in the latest iteration, is that bad. There are some nice premium details like the overflow of the exterior paint into the interior door panels. And the fit and finish (at least on the 2023 models I've test driven) are no worse than what I see in an Acura or middle-range Toyota.

And in all candor, I wasn't even all that impressed with the base Cayman interior, even in the GTS. I spent a good bit of cash in options to raise the quality out of the realm of plastic-fantastic. Some things that come standard in a Cayman, like the horrendous plastic-silver trim, those awful metal-look plastic seatbacks, and that nasty plastic steering column, are just asking to be covered in leather. And speaking from experience, that costs a lot. I don't regret it one bit as I love the look and premium feel of my Cayman interior, but by the time I was done, it was 3X the cost of a Miata.

 

Miata's chassis design is well beyond its price and that's what the car is about

 

Agreed. Indeed, isn't it the case that Porsche referenced the original Miata when it designed the original Boxster?

 

I have a base 2016 Mazda CX-5. Honestly, the door materials and dash and things of my Cayman T aren't any nicer than our Mazda. But I didn't buy the T because of how the door feels.