Originally Posted by tuj

Last weekend I drove the regular 2005 Miata and the MS Miata back to back helping my gf shop for a new ride. The regular 05 Miata is without a doubt the best N/A Miata I have ever driven. The exhaust note is superb, and the handling and ride are the best combo the car's ever had stock. I wish they would go back to Toyo's or something really sticky stock, but the OEM's aren't too bad. I really enjoyed the car.

But the MS Miata was a total dissapointment. The turbo lag was terrible and somewhat baffling coming from the small turbo its got. The peak power production was really quite lackluster aside from the rapid kick that a turbo gives. It felt like it didn't start making power until almost 5.5k and with a 7.5k redline, that's not much to work with. Throttle-response suffered noticably and the retuned suspension feels amost identical to stock with perhaps a bit more rebound dampening in the rear shocks.

The 8 is peaky, but its no where near as peaky as the MS Miata. The rush from the rotary sweeping from 5 to 9k at WOT is so superior and thrilling that it makes me appreciate the 8 even more. The regular miata is a joy because the car is SO easy to drive at 8/10ths. I had the thing sliding around corners within 3 minutes with no drama. Its a wonderful, predictable car. The 8 is harder to drive like that, but it is its own special kind of joy in being genuinely faster and more dynamic. It responds better in every way.