2006 Mazda Miata

[BMWDave]

June 27, 2005
Link

First Drive:
2006 Mazda Miata
Review and photos by Laurance Yap

Kona, Hawaii - To get a sense of just how important the new MX-5 (Miata) is to Mazda, you have only to look at the business cards that all of the project team proffer when you meet them. Everybody's card not only has the usual details of name, phone number, and address, but also a full-colour photo of the car.


In comparison to volume leaders like the Mazda3 and Mazda6, the Miata's emotional appeal, both for customers and for people inside the company, goes much deeper than mere numbers. The Miata was the car that started Mazda's renaissance after its launch in 1989, and remains at the centre of the company's pitch at driving enthusiasts. Without the Miata, there would not only have been no RX-8, but the sportiness that's inherent in all of its products probably wouldn't have been there either.

So you can imagine the challenge that the new Miata's development team faced with redesigning such an icon: how to balance the seemingly conflicting demands of making a vehicle more modern and also retain some of the elemental retro appeal that made the original first-generation Miata such a hit? How to compete against an increasingly varied range of competitors - many of which wouldn't exist were it not for Mazda opening up the market for value-conscious convertibles - without alienating the core customer base for whom affordability was one of the original car's prime attributes? And how to simultaneously add the features and extra room that buyers today wish to have, while retaining the tight dimensions and instantaneous responsiveness that have defined the car since its introduction?

The answer to all those questions? Very carefully.

Yes, the new Miata is bigger. An all-new platform, which shares some engineering but little componentry with the RX-8, is longer and wider, with a lengthened wheelbase. Interior room is significantly improved over the old car's; the seats have a much longer range of travel, but remain low to the ground so that decent headroom can be achieved. The interior feels, and is, a lot wider - you no longer butt shoulders with your passenger, and there's enough elbow room for a decent padded armrest on the inside of the door. The footwells are expanded, and practical storage spaces are everywhere: there are bins and bottle holders in the doors, a lidded bin in the centre console with cupholders, a storage space between the seats on the rear "wall" that incorporates the latch for the soft top, and a laptop-sized bin behind each of the two seats.

More than anything, though, it's the car's overall architecture - the view out over the higher, wider hood (with its central power bulge), the higher window sills, the smaller side windows - that gives the impression of extra size and heft.

It's an extra size you feel, too, though only on the narrowest and windiest of roads. While the little Mazda's steering remains pure magic - it bends the cars into curves as if it can read your mind and remains sensitive to even the smallest changes in pavement surface - you notice that thanks to the car's extra width, you can't go quite as deep into those hairpins as you used to. Compensation comes, however, not only in extra stability thanks to a larger footprint, wider 205/45 R17 tires, and optional dynamic stability control, but also in improved ride comfort and general refinement when you're not in sports-car mode.

Some of that extra softness is, in fact, an illusion. Drive a bit harder, and you notice that the new Miata retains the immediate, faithful responses from all of the controls that defined the old car, just with a better-damped feel. In an age where most cars, even so-called sports cars, are prone to tire-grinding understeer, the new Miata also preserves a slight sense of tail-happiness that manifests itself when you're driving hard over bumpy roads, the rear end floating sideways just a bit under power before settling back into line. While the overall feel of the new car is less edgy than the last-generation Miata, which would snarl and squeal between corners, it flows a lot better, allows you to maintain more momentum thanks to its superior chassis balance, better brakes, bigger tires, and increased horsepower.



Those horses now number 160 and are pushed out by the largest engine yet fitted to a Miata, a 2.0-litre four-cylinder that is connected to a standard five-speed manual (on the base $28,000 GX model) or a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic in sporty GS ($30,000) and luxurious GT ($34,000) trim. The new engine is very smooth under all conditions, quiet when cruising on the highway, and pleasantly burbly when you're zipping around in the lower gears, but I would prefer a harder edge to the noise from it and its new twin exhausts to go with the extra performance it offers. The new manual transmissions are as good as ever, with shift feel that is the benchmark for the car industry, with the five-speed still my preferred choice: it's marginally slicker than the six-speed and its ratios are better-suited to everyday driving situations, if not aggressive canyon-carving. The biggest surprise is the automatic, which is now an alternative seriously worth considering; with six ratios, it's not much slower than the manual, and its paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel are a treat to use.



With Mazda holding the line on pricing, this is a seriously value-packed car. The 2006 Miatas are much better equipped than their similarly-priced predecessors, with larger wheels, tilt steering, remote audio controls, and other goodies (the GS package adds bigger wheels, a limited-slip differential, and strut tower bar while the GT adds leather, a cloth top, and xenon headlights), but also just feel more expensive than they used to. The new styling is exceptionally clean, with high-tech details and nearly-invisible shutlines that give it a really upscale feel. The interior is not only more comfortable, with wider, deeper bucket seats and extra equipment, but is also constructed of high-quality materials (save the cheap plastic on the lower parts of the dash) that include swaths of body-colour plastic, real aluminum, and really nice leathers and fabrics. Simply put, it looks and feels like a much more expensive car than it actually is.



While $30,000 or so might, in rational terms, seem like a lot for what remains a small, two-seat sports car, the Miata remains a sports-car bargain - not only because it offers a driving experience that's hard to match for any price, such is its friendliness, immediacy, and fun factor, but also because there's just something special in the whole car adds up to something that's so much more than the sum of its vastly-improved parts. The new Miata may be a bigger, broader car with a slightly broader appeal - it's now a comfortable highway cruiser and a great urban commuter car - but it also remains perhaps the best car in the world for connecting, maybe reconnecting, with the road so many other cars have tried to disassociate us from.

[Catman]

Yeah, I'd like one of those.  Silver would be good, very good. B)  

[BMWDave]

Yeah, I'd like one of those.  Silver would be good, very good. B)

I like its styling a lot better than the Solstice's.

[Raza]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.  Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

[footoflead]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.  Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

[Raza]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.  Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

If road carving is your thing, I'm sure you can find a first gen Miata for 5 grand.  You won't be stoplight racing for pink slips, but you'll have a great time.

[footoflead]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.? Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

If road carving is your thing, I'm sure you can find a first gen Miata for 5 grand.  You won't be stoplight racing for pink slips, but you'll have a great time.

true...but again...Money is an issue...i should have applied around here sooner

[Raza]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.  Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

If road carving is your thing, I'm sure you can find a first gen Miata for 5 grand.  You won't be stoplight racing for pink slips, but you'll have a great time.

true...but again...Money is an issue...i should have applied around here sooner

There's a bank of Mom and Dad that can loan you some cash...you can pay them back without interest.

[TBR]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.  Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

If road carving is your thing, I'm sure you can find a first gen Miata for 5 grand.  You won't be stoplight racing for pink slips, but you'll have a great time.

true...but again...Money is an issue...i should have applied around here sooner

There's a bank of Mom and Dad that can loan you some cash...you can pay them back without interest.

Your bank must have different terms than mine does .  

[footoflead]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.? Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

If road carving is your thing, I'm sure you can find a first gen Miata for 5 grand.  You won't be stoplight racing for pink slips, but you'll have a great time.

true...but again...Money is an issue...i should have applied around here sooner

There's a bank of Mom and Dad that can loan you some cash...you can pay them back without interest.

my bro maxed them out...they bought him TWO cars and he hasnt payed them back for either...he's gone through 6 T-5 trannys in his mustang and was suppose to pay them for at least 3 of them....so the bank of mom & dad is goin out of the loaning business

[Raza]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.  Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

If road carving is your thing, I'm sure you can find a first gen Miata for 5 grand.  You won't be stoplight racing for pink slips, but you'll have a great time.

true...but again...Money is an issue...i should have applied around here sooner

There's a bank of Mom and Dad that can loan you some cash...you can pay them back without interest.

my bro maxed them out...they bought him TWO cars and he hasnt payed them back for either...he's gone through 6 T-5 trannys in his mustang and was suppose to pay them for at least 3 of them....so the bank of mom & dad is goin out of the loaning business

Weak, man, weak.  Sorry.

[footoflead]

I'd have to drive it back to back with the Solstice to make a real decision, but right now, the MR-2 tops my list of roadsters under 30 grand.? Spend a few bucks and do what Toyota should have done a long time ago while they were hocking new Highblanders and give it some more power!

Man i wish i had the cash to get that car...i've always wanted a miata...great little car to carve up the backroads...that can be great at autocrossing...add a supercharger and its a dream to drive...

If road carving is your thing, I'm sure you can find a first gen Miata for 5 grand.  You won't be stoplight racing for pink slips, but you'll have a great time.

true...but again...Money is an issue...i should have applied around here sooner

There's a bank of Mom and Dad that can loan you some cash...you can pay them back without interest.

my bro maxed them out...they bought him TWO cars and he hasnt payed them back for either...he's gone through 6 T-5 trannys in his mustang and was suppose to pay them for at least 3 of them....so the bank of mom & dad is goin out of the loaning business

Weak, man, weak.  Sorry.

me and my bro suffer from the same addiction....Racing...guess who gets all the money..since he's older and at collage....it really pisses me off :angry:  :angry: ....


its true what they say....Racing is an addiction...and the only cure is poverty

just look my sig...  

[CaseyNPham]

I could've sworn Mazda dropped the Miata name because more people recognized the name Miata over Mazda

[footoflead]

I could've sworn Mazda dropped the Miata name because more people recognized the name Miata over Mazda

haha...haha...haha......noooo!