knight7

iTrader: (1)

MIATA= GAY the car is nice but then again so are Acuras but they aint no ferrari.

Chrisbert

WTF?

9291150

This Miata=gay is a North American thing...got a cousin in Portugal with one, nobody ever called his car gay. I had one, loved it, and heard the gay jokes from day one...and no I'm not gay for all you smartasses!

So what does it say about North Americans?

HCTR154

I have never seen a new MX 5 up close. That interior is sharp!

Chrisbert

I was never aware that a car could have a sexual preference. I'm also having trouble following the logic, but here goes a try:
Miata=Gay
Miata = Nice
Nice = Gay
Acura = Nice = Gay
<null> = Ferrari

CarAndDriver

knight7=moron

Chrisbert

Yeah, that was the logic I was looking for.

XDEEDUBBX

wow i wish i still had my NB miata's.

MazdaMonkey

I wish it was more aggressive looking in the front also. I think its best angle is from behind. The dual exhaust and fender flares help it a bunch from the last generation. I do agree with Groundrush that it will age better than the Solstice/Sky even though those are damn sexy cars. I considered the Sky/Solstice, but after the test drives I knew the Mazda was the only option for the true driver. I didn’t look at the turbo because of cost/availability. I bet a lot of non-driving enthusiasts will choose the GM products because of the looks though.

It’s not perfect though, I got a speeding ticket in it on the way to work this morning

AdRoCK3217

With the traction control turned on, yes, it has terrible understeer.


With it off...it has terrible oversteer..


The latter is with bald tires, however.

snizzle

Sorry to hear that.

I have some issues w/the stying.... actually prefer the previous gen mspd to the new one. You can't deny the experience Mazda has as far as roadsters are concerned.

9291150

Really? All news to me...maybe I'm not driving it right...or wrong

typej

I don't see people calling porsche boxter owner a gay. Or even BMW Z4 owners. I would love to have a convertible sports car for a weekend joy drive. Maybe when they say GAY, they mean Gay as in Happy and Jolly because they got a sports car to toss around in.

PhotoMunkey

Whoever said the MX-5 is faster than an RX-8 to 50 is nuts.

Whoever said the RX-8 understeers is nuts.

Whoever said that the MX-5 is gay is nuts.

Any car will understeer when driven too hard into a corner. This is doubly true on underinflated tires or in cold weather. Any RWD car can be made to oversteer.

MichaelBrown

They way i see it, when people call me gay i just laugh at them while their girlfriend is in my passenger seat

MazdaMonkey

Road and track does:

Moderate Understeer on the skidpad and mild oversteer through the Slalom. Great marks, and interesting to look back on this review 4 years later.

Road and Track April 2003

Here is the Miata one for reference. It looks like both cars were tested at the same place, although it was more humid during the RX-8 run and 23*s hotter during the MX-5 test:

Road and Track October 2005

The Miata has the same balance rating on the Skidpad with .02 less Gs of grip. The MX-5 is 2.3mph faster through the slalom but with a mild understeer balance rating.
Those were my driving impressions before, and to me the MX-5 feels much more willing to rotate at low speeds. I was glad I left the DSC on this morning, because I almost had a sideways meeting with a curb when I gave it too much gas making a 90 degree turn at around 12mph in second gear. I went around the same turn many times wit the RX-8, sometimes even in first gear, and the car wouldn’t rotate that much.

I probably feel this way because the Miata feels a lot more torquey than the RX-8 because of the smooth powerband. The closer gear spacing also makes it a lot easier to find the needed grunt in the MX-5 (you really have to keep the RX-8s engine in the peak RPM range to get the kick in the pants sensation.) I have no doubt that the RX-8 is a faster car over all and around a race track. Its weight to power ratio is roughly 1.3lbs/hp better. It’s just that the MX-5 feels faster, and is probably easier to drive faster at around town speeds because of the engine and car weight.

As far as acceleration goes, it is much easier to get a quick launch in the Miata compared to the RX-8 (I will never subject the RX-8 to the 7500rpm launch that Road and Track suggests). Even so, note that the Miata is faster to 30mph, and at 50mph it is only .4mph off.

I never meant to say that he MX-5 will replace the RX-8 on a road course, it would get shamed. But, scooting around town I find it easier to drive faster in the Miata. It really is a great car for the money, and I think anyone here who didn’t want to subject their RX-8 to the hazards of a daily commute or the stress of a race track would be perfectly happy in the tossible little convertible built in the same plant in Hiroshima.


Oh and I put this thread in Rx-8 discussion because it was a compare and contrast with my RX-8. It even included a pic of the RX-8. But I can see why it could have been interpreted otherwise and moved here.

CarAndDriver

The top comes down--it has a big advantage over the 8 in that regards. I live in California--convertible country.