I don't have a need for speed, that's why I bought a Miata. :)

Just kidding; like I said, I love my car. It's as close to perfect for me as I could get. I have no interest whatsoever in drag racing, or in outrageous HP numbers. Finding the twisties in the mountains just west of town is my idea of a good time.

You bring up a good point though. I'm 26, so I haven't been driving all that long and I'm used to driving cars that have way more power than a Miata. That certainly colors my perception of what good performance is. I've been fortunate enough to have been able to drive a good number of high HP cars, but it does spoil you in some ways. That's one of them. I think it also has helped me realize that HP isn't nearly as important to me as it is to many people.

The thing is, that will be the case in any car. Even in my Pontiac Grand Pig GTP, which was a torque-monster, and weighed in at some 3500 lbs, a second passenger made a noticable difference in off-the-line acceleration, needless to say two or three. Yeah, you almost have to "live" with both types of cars to appreciate the benefits of the other (something along the lines of "You don't know what you've got until it's gone", or "the grass is always greener on the other side").

"For me, the thrill is not taking a car around the corner at 90 miles per hour. It's taking a car capable of going around a corner at 30 miles per hour, and taking it around the corner at 29.99 miles per hour." -James Garner

---jps

Yes hp/acceleration numbers change but we can't be comparing 20 yr old numbers to 2002. I also think that Miata doesn't have enough hp to be considered a sports car. Sporty yes. Sports car handling yes. But not sports car performance overall.

Ooooh lets not get into "What defines a sports car" thread here, or else we'll get a 5 page long flame war before long. :D Lets try to be a "definitions free" forum. After all, the RX-8 itself defies definition, doesn't it?
If power defines a sports car, then I guess most vintage Porsche's were not.

Once again, performance is relative to the cars available at that particular time/era. I don't think you can dispute hp as a big part of the definition of a sports car, what ever that might be. IE, if a minivan can outdrag you, there is something wrong. :D
0-60 in 7.7 is not too shabby.. sporty.. but in my humble opinion a sports car should be in the 6 sec and below range. Flame suit on. :D

What about "balance", as Bob Hall, the Miata's creator, puts it? I was out with my Miata today and I wasn't wishing for more power, except for one on-ramp. It's just pure fun to drive around in, plenty responsive, and a great feel as you accelerate through the gears. If my Miata was paacking 200hp it would drive a lot differently. Years ago another enthusiast friend and I discussed that it is nice to have a car you can wind out without exceeding the speed limit by 30mph!

Anyway, if you don't think the Miata is a sports car for WHATEVER reason, almost the entire world at large, and 100% of the automotive press, is not going to agree with you. It is a sports car in its purest form- an intimate, two seat convertible. Many would argue the 350Z is not a sports car, but a GT. And many more would not consider the RX-8 a sports car at all... it is a four door with a sizeable back seat! Perhaps "performance car" is the euphanism we need here. While I would call a Miata a sports car, I would not call it a performance car. Personally, I long ago separted sports and body configuration. For instance, I would consider a bona-fide sports sedan as more of a "sports" car than a Mercury Capri convertible.

I don't think this will ever degenerate into flaming. If you want to see flames, see the BMW guys who hang out at the G35 message board trying to defend it because it lost 2 out of 3 comparison tests vs. the G35. Sheesh, I don't go to BMW boards... why do they hang out on ours? It would be like a couple or 35Z0 owners hanging out on here and telling us why the RX-8 is inferior.

All semantics, but again... 60mph is 60 mph today as well as 20 years ago, and there is no cutoff in 0-60 times to denote classes of cars.