Call it 'Miatatude'
Like most Miata fans, I watched the endless stream of spy photos
in car magazines with bated breath. The Miata was, after all, almost
sacred to me, a car that I'd started loving even before I'd learned
to drive. Getting into one simply confirmed my suspicions&emdash;it
was quick, responsive, nimble and sounded wonderful; best of all, its
fun was available at speeds that wouldn't lose you your license.
I shouldn't have worried. The new Miata is everything the old one
was, and more. The 1.8-litre engine has received another horsepower
boost and pumps out 140 compared to the 1990's 116. Its suspension
has been revised, significantly improving high-speed stability
without sacrificing any of the point-and-shoot fun of the old car.
Best of all, the five-speed shifter, already one of the best units on
any car, has shorter throws, feels better, and vibrates less. The
only downside to all this newfound performance is that at least some
of the car's fun now comes at extralegal speeds.
Thankfully, Mazda's resisted the temptation to make the car grow.
It's actually shorter and lower than the old car, though front and
rear track have been increased. Its styling, though completely
revised, is still free of excess adornment. The exposed front
headlights, M2's biggest visual change, improve the car's
aerodynamics and also its cuteness quotient.
Though most bystanders will notice the changes to the exterior
first&emdash;along with the new front lights, there's a glass rear
window, more sculpted side sills, an RX-7 like curved door opening,
and a more peaky rear end sporting new tail lights, it's the interior
that truly sets the new Miata apart from the previous generation.
For one thing, it's larger&emdash;though it's still tight,
six-footers can at least fit inside the new cockpit. The facia and
center console are more smoothly integrated, and all of the controls
are more easily accessible. The stereo, an optional Bose system in my
optioned up tester, is excellent, producing a huge sound seemingly
bigger than the car itself.
As good as it is, Mazda's messed with some items that I loved on
the old car. The chrome bezels surrounding the gauges are gone, as
are the jewel-like finger-pull door handles. Moreover, the $4700
leather package fitted to my test car included a set of 15 inch
Michelin Pilot tires that were too grippy; you couldn't slide around
like you could in the old car with its fourteen-inchers. (They're
still standard on the base model, though you'll have to live without
ABS, a limited-slip differential, wind blocker, and a wonderful
three-spoke Nardi steering wheel.)
More than any other sports car in my abbreviated recent memory,
the Miata has spawned amazing club and aftermarket activity, and
Mazda has always paid attention to what the car's fans have said. It
shows, too: all of the people from the Trillium Miata Club that I
spoke to&emdash;with over 280 members, it's one of Canada's largest
car clubs&emdash;had nothing but praise for the new car; a few of
them have already bought one or are waiting for theirs to arrive.
"It's just better in every way," says Tom Witty, who ordered his
blue '99 before he'd even found out how much it would cost. The new
car's low-end torque (a small-but useful 119 lb-ft at 5500 rpm) saves
him from having to downshift from third to second on most steep
hills.
Club president Dave Lean, who drives a supercharged 1991
Miata&emdash;he traded in an Acura NSX for it&emdash;praises the new
model's more-solid structure and stability, and also notes that many
aftermarket parts that fit the old car will also fit the new
one&emdash;the old hardtop, for instance, will fit without
modification.
The Trillium Club's membership spans a wide range of ages and
backgrounds; it's hard not to fit in to such a diverse group. From
flat-broke students driving bone-stock models to people whose
modifications to the car have cost more than the car itself, they all
love their cars, love to talk about them even more.
They've got a huge number of activities to indulge themselves in,
from car-care clinics during monthly meetings to parking-lot
autocross events. Several of its members just returned from a
three-day weekend road trip to the Pocono mountains, joining in a
Miata Club of America event which drew almost three hundred cars.
That the new Miata is a great car is something that I took almost
as a given. What surprised me was the sense of community that the
Miata and its club activity engendered, and the unfailingly
enthusiastic response of the public at large as I tooled around in my
green-on-tan tester. Not a day went by when I didn't have another
Miata owner wink their car's headlights at me, and not a day went by
when I wasn't stopped, interrogated, then complimented, by some
Miata-crazed bystander.
No other car I've yet driven home has garnered this kind of
reaction. At $26,025, the Miata's not the bargain it once was, but
it's still the most fun you can have at the price&emdash;and probably
twice the price as well.
Pricing information
Mazda MX-5 Miata $26,025
Leather package $4,700
¥ limited slip differential
¥ tan leather seats
¥ Nardi steering wheel
¥ power mirrors and windows
¥ cruise control
¥ Bose AM/FM/CD/cassette stereo&emdash;4 speakers
¥ wind blocker
¥ 15-inch alloy wheels and P195/50 R15 tires
Price as tested $30,725
Trillium Miata Club
c/o Dave Lean 905-472-6211
5 Hallam Road www.trilliummiata.com
Markham ON L3P 5Y4