brillo

So I had a chance to kick the tires and sit in the new 2006 Miata (I’m still calling it that, I don’t care what Mazda says) here in Houston as part of the Mazda Hot Streak Tour which is touring around the country with the car on a firetruck to promote fire safety and awareness. (see gulf section for pics of the event thanks to Drkilljoy)

Seeing the car in person in the same beautiful red as my car was a real sight, it looks better than the pics, well proportioned, the curves are defined, it’s a clean and simple look, much like the original. The beltline is up to about my shoulder when seated in the car, and the nose looks more menacing in person. The car was 0000 out of 3500 of a limited run of the first 3rd gen Miata, so it was the autoshow prototype that has been seen around.

The nicest feature of the car was that I can finally fit in it well and I don’t look right at the top of the windscreen bar, its still small and cosy, but feels more like S2000 interior space. The steering wheel tilts which is also good. The transmission felt much like ours even though its brand new, short crisp throws. The interior materials in the car were very nice, it has a red leather interior that looked great on the car. The key for the car is really cool, Its looks like a credit card that’s 4 credit cards thick (see pics) you just car around and it acts as a radio transmitter, you can start the car with it in your pocket.

Looking the engine bay you can see how much our cars have in common. The I4 sits just as far back as our cars rotary, so in other words no part of the engine hangs over the front axle line. Airbox and battery layout is the same, although their airbox is smaller. Suspension in the rear looks identical, the marketing rep their swears they don’t share common components, but I know that there is a lot of “shared” parts. I figure all Mazda has to do is stamp a logo on a RX8 piece and then technically its not the same part as ours. Decent trunk space, no spare like our cars, the top, while not power, is easy to get up and down with one hand.

I think Mazda has a winner with this one, all the updates and changes the car needed, and nothing you don’t. Not going to sell my 8 and time soon, but as I told a Miata club member at the event, I think we’re family now

DreRX8

Also--I'd like to add--the Mazda rep said that particular car will be crushed after the tour. Quite a nice car--I'd like to have one to play with.

Tirminyl

Well it sucks that they are going to crush it isntead of store it away in a "museum".

Magic8

Wonder how the Miata will stack against the new arrivals like the Solstice

Speed-ER doc

Nice review. I'm still tempted to get an older Miata and mod it up just for fun.

RX-Hachi

Pics please!

brillo

hopefully Keith will post them soon. I'll link them once I see them.

downshift

Here are some pics from the NY Auto Show showing how everything is squeezed in between the wheel axles:

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...2&postcount=27

Reactionary

Of course it's a winner. It's an extremely well done car. The Solstice will sell but the new Miata will outsell it by a large margin. Magazine comparos will come out quickly after the two cars are on the market, and if you can imagine, the new Miata will beat the Solstice in just about every category. Once a bunch of magazines show the same results- and they will- the Miata won't look back as far as sales.

Any bets?

NAVILESRX8

iTrader: (1)

Oh god, I know it will never happen from Mazda but man, I'd love a rotary Miata...of any generation .

brillo

Pics
http://www.houstonrx7club.com/mx5/

thanks again to Drkilljoy for these.

therm8

I think you may be underestimating the Kappa cars' capabilities. I imagine the Miata will outpace (some, but not by any extreme margin) it in every category, except power, acceleration, looks (subjective, but new is always cooler than 15 years old)), and price (all things extremely important to the average American car buyer). However that $5000 price tag difference, tells me that the magazines might be a little harder on the Miata than they would if the others didn't exist.

The core Miata fanbase will never be swayed by anything, short of Lotus dropping the price on the Elise to $25k. The rest who want a capable, sporty, inexpensive (which the Miata is no longer) convertible however can easily be swayed.

And if anyone hasn't noticed :D, i'm fairly excited about the Solstice. It won't replace the 8, but it may make an appearance as a second vehicle.

RX-Hachi

In looking at those pics, it occurred to me how easy it should be if Mazda wants to do a 4th gen RX-7. With the new Miata & RX-8, 80% of the R&D work is already done. All they need to do is slap in a more powerful RENESIS and design another drop dead gorgeous body and they are done. The real question is if the Mazda top brass would approve of having 3 sports cars in their line up.