2015 Mazda Miata Mx 5 Grand Touring Review

1 of the burdens of being correct is that people are always trying to prove y'all incorrect.

The Mazda MX-v Miata knows what I'm talking most. For a quarter century, the Miata has suffered the slings and arrows of upstart challengers. Those others take come and gone while the Miata remains. It'due south correct and Mazda knows it.

The Miata doesn't get refreshed frequently, but information technology only happened again. Until you can purchase that one, this old crock, the "NC," is your but selection.

How can a automobile that'due south 10 years quondam with less power than the Scion FR-S (which I have already commented well-nigh) and an automatic manual still exist correct? I'm certain to like this car even less than I liked the Toyobaru, right?

Wrongo.

It was disappointing to encounter an automated transmission shift quadrant when I looked through the rider-side window. The fleet driver had left a voicemail telling me he'd dropped off a Miata, so I wrapped upwardly the weekly resource allotment meeting every bit quickly as possible and headed for the parking lot. I haven't had a Miata to drive in several years, and with a manual, they are quite the delight.

I became indignant

Why do automakers do this? Why undercut commuter date? Getting over my precious self, the respond is clear: most people buy cars with automatics. Even tidy convertibles with sporty personalities.

People are stupid. They are both lazy and incompetent behind the wheel. Because people are stupid, I was going to have to endure a stupid week in this stupid machine set upwards for stupid idiots.

I wasn't expecting much out of the cocky-shifting MX-5. Boy, was I surprised.

The Miata is perfect, regardless of which transmission you cull. Information technology'southward lively and lite on its anxiety. It'south involving to drive, and information technology doesn't give a crap well-nigh the numbers that internet racers obsess over.

Whatever spec-sheet triumphs the Miata lacks, it makes up for in personality. It's a car that wants to play. There's merely 167 hp coming from the 2.0 liter four cylinder, which drops to 158hp with the 6-speed automatic. The power reduction comes courtesy of a redline that moves downward from 7,200 rpm with a manual to 6,700 rpm with the car. Torque stays the same at 140 lb-ft, which makes me think the horsepower reduction is a camshaft/valve timing/redline thing. It also doesn't matter, because the torque converter does its depression-speed multiplication thing. Operation off the line is responsive, and the automated knows what the hell it'southward doing. Telephone call the powertrain dated, I call information technology well-developed and proven.

There'southward merely about ii,500 lbs to deal with hither. That's why the Miata feels more lively than you might look. The Miata is playing with just x fewer lb-ft of torque than the Toyobarus, but the Scion FR-S automatic I had a while back was 300 lbs heavier. And it sucked in ways the Miata doesn't. The Miata's torque peak is at v,000 rpm, a total i,600 rpm sooner than the FR-South, and that translates to more firsthand delivery of what muscle there is. When shifted manually, the automatic was even responsive enough to be satisfying. I would have preferred a transmission, of course, only the Miata's glow doesn't dim with an automated, and Mazda is smart to offer it, because purists are crappy new car buyers.

The Miata isn't without some horseshit. There'south a "Consecration Sound Enhancer,"  a membrane in the intake manifold that vibrates at particularly-tuned frequencies to audio more like an MGB gulping through SU carburetors. More aural snarl enhances the experience, and it's non as asinine equally BMWs that play back engine recordings through the sound organization, simply information technology'southward withal something that took evolution fourth dimension and dollars to create an artifice. There are besides steering-wheel mounted shift paddles with a learning curve (buttons above for downshift, below for upwardly, you'll definitely pick the incorrect one mid-corner.) That'southward about it for shenanigans with the Miata, though, the rest is simply solid operation and adequacy.

The interior is clearly a ten year onetime design and uses materials from some other era. The design is a plus, the materials, if y'all care, are a negative. Three knobs for climate, a pair for the radio, all within easy achieve, who needs more? The plastic on the heart stack of my test automobile had picked upwards a surprising amount of nicks and scuff marks in just three thousand miles; not a good look. The controls feel practiced, in that location'southward no goddamn touchscreen to confound y'all, the steering cycle feels skilful in your hands, and it's connected to one of the virtually directly rack-and-pinions in the business.

The Miata Grand Touring like I drove is the most luxed-up model. The seats are done upward in leather, a handsome color called Spicy Mocha in this case, with simulated cowhide on the door panels. It'due south a classy expect, especially in a color other than dour black. The snug cabin has all the charm that you've been told information technology does. Because I'm under half-dozen' tall, information technology's a delightfully close environs. Taller or wider folks volition bump into the physical limitations of the Miata, simply reports are that it tin even so be comfortable, fifty-fifty for tall folks.

Other Thousand Touring features are the Bose audio system, standard 17" alloy wheels, strut-tower brace, automatic climate command, and argent-trimmed rollover hoops. Equally welcome equally the extra filigree is, the principal point here is the underlying auto. The Premium Package my car had goes manus-in-hand with the Suspension Parcel. This is where the real action happens. It's a sport-tuned suspension with Bilstein dampers and a limited-sideslip differential.

Despite its senior status, the outgoing Miata feels solid. It'due south not as drum-tight equally a Boxster, only there'southward however a beefy sill to step over. Aluminum is used in the hood and trunklid to keep both weight, and the middle of gravity, low. Some pause components and the rear brake calipers are likewise aluminum. The strut tower brace under the hood ties the upper mounting points for the front interruption to the firewall for extra rigidity. What that ways from behind the wheel is a steering column that doesn't shake much, and a structure that doesn't wind up during maneuvering. I was expecting the Miata to feel like a machine that had been engineered in the naughties. Not and so. It goes down the route with a gimmicky attitude that's relaxed, frisky, and capable, all at in one case.

That intake manifold honker thing pipes some pleasant growl into the motel, but it's still silly. The chassis is tuned with a fine residual between comfort and control. The Miata's ride is absorbent, but that doesn't mean the handling won't make y'all grin. There's all kinds of data coming to your hands through the steering column, and the engine's response is eager and linear. Compared to that FR-S bogey, the Porsche-like precise feeling of the Scion is traded for more than condolement in the Miata. Information technology's a loss on paper that makes the Miata a ameliorate car to drive in the real world. The Miata feels more than responsive, the ability bend doesn't do funny whoop-de-dos, and it gives you what you ask for.

The Miata'due south role equally a modernistic-day MGB ways yous sit down more upright than yous might expect. It's a small car, for certain, but it's long-booty comfortable. The useable trunk and extra refinement offered by the power-retractable hardtop make the Miata an all-weather, all-seasons car.

While there are other sporty coupes for not a lot of coin, there aren't many. None are as well-rounded as the Miata. Yous want to become racing? Information technology'll do that. Taking your mother in law to the grocery store? It's got that covered, likewise. In M Touring trim with the automated, the MSRP is $30,550, and the terminal tally was a luxurious $33,000 with my car's Premium Package (HID lights, Bluetooth, Keyless Entry and beginning, satellite radio, alarm). That'south about as expensive as you tin can make information technology, and it's not hard to stay in the $20,000s. The Miata won't embarrass grown-ups, simply information technology's not tiresome in the least. In that location's a reason why it's one of the cars I recommend the most. Allow's promise they don't screw upward the next one.

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Source: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/12/capsule-review-2015-mazda-miata-grand-touring-prht/

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