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| 2006 Mazda Miata Review | |||
| Whether you're about to spend $40K on a brand new car, or half that on a used car, it is always important to learn as much as you can about the used car. Read these car reviews to learn about all aspects of the vehicle. Each of the usedcar reviews cover interior and exterior features, options, road tests, and more. | |||
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Introduction
| Road Test
| Inside & Out
| Other Thoughts
| Last Word
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| Road Test | |||
Yet Mazda has remained faithful to the car underneath. No matter how great a basis the RX-8 might make, engineers went to great lengths to preserve the Miata factor. Length, width, height, and wheelbase of 157.3, 67.7, 49, and 91.7 inches mark raises of only 2, 1.6, 0.7, and 2.5, ensuring the Miata remains short, squat, and skinny. Mazda also instated a glass ceiling of 2,500 pounds above all MX-5s' heads (they all made it), then sent in an army of OCD-infected engineers in to terrorize every possible ounce out of the equation. There were the major steps, like the new aluminum engine that cut 42 pounds, and the minor ones like turning the suspension's control arms to aluminum to save 5 pounds, hollowing out the stabilizer bar to save 5.3 pounds, thinning up the rearview mirror to save 0.2 pounds, etc. We're talking obsessive here.But obsession applied properly can yield great results. First of all, nothing - I repeat, nothing - beats a topless, rear-drive minicar in the curves; it takes but one corner to sell you on the MX-5's natural agility. Wiggle the wheel any which way and the chassis keeps up, following every hand movement a microsecond later, rotating happily around its axis, never losing control and always keeping you informed of the road's subtleties. The new six-speed stick feels firm and definitive, and while Mazda's clutches range from horribly vague on the 6 to good-but-tricky on the RX-8, the third pedal on this MX-5 feels as stellar as the other two. Top it off with strong, short-stopping brakes and you've got a full array of controls that feel tight, light, and oh so right. Extension of your body? More like extension of your mind. What's fun can also be practical. Being longer than exactly five cars (Cooper, Aveo, Insight, and two Scions) and shorter than the other 200-something, you can dart in and out of traffic, slide right into any parking space, and make tidy 30.8-foot-diameter U-turns in a sea of lumbering SUVs. However, driving with your head at the same altitude as some drivers' feet reminds you where you stand should push ever come to shove. Just remember: do unto others as you'd do to yourself, especially since others may drive Hummers. Old school Miata owners have heard all this before, so let's get to the new. After living with 1.6 and 1.8-liter engines its whole life, the 2006 MX-5 now gets its grunt from the Mazda 3's zestfully revving 2.0-liter 4, boosted way up to 170 horsepower and 140 pounds-feet of torque - 28 and 15 more than before. These figures were brought to you in part by variable valve timing and the number 10.8 (the lofty new compression ratio), both of which optimize efficiency and kick the MX-5 to 60 MPH in 6.5 scant seconds, slaughtering the previous car by 1.0. And delivery is linear, not peaky. Normally we could call this free power, but all the technology and pressurization bumped this engine up into the Premium Fuel Required society, slicing a bit from the Miata's "affordable fun" quotient. Then again, when a car this enjoyable gets 32 miles to the gallon (as our sample did), it can guzzle Vodka for all I care. But that's the thing about this new MX-5: it's coming of age and having greater ambitions thrust upon it. Look at those tires: P205/45R17 on 17-by-7-inch wheels. Insane. Indeed, the new MX-5 clings to the road with 0.90g of force by one source's testing (same as the Acura NSX), letting you enter corners waaay fast with minimal consequence. This will further please those who subscribe to our nation's grippier-is-better mentality with sports cars, and further disappoint those who believe lightweight roadsters should be about easy-sliding fun at low speeds. Oversteer can still be induced with a stab of the brakes (lifting off the throttle doesn't do the trick as easily), but you'll probably be going at least 40 MPH by then, and then it comes suddenly, which is a bit scary. Does the MX-5 hold the road too well? Choose your camp and celebrate/mourn. Steering is another new item. My verdict is basically the same as for the system on Mazda's RX-8: excellent for an electro-hydraulic rack, good overall. The satisfying feel, weighting, and speed are kept from perfection only by a slight numbness in the straight-ahead position. The rear suspension is also a bit new, switching from double wishbones (still retained in front) to a multi-link design like on Mazda's other cars - a semantic difference to many people. More importantly, the MX-5 still knows how to deal with the road: mid-corner bumps don't unsettle the chassis, and ride quality is quite easy on the backside considering the factors of weight, wheelbase, and wheels all working in its disfavor. Even with our tester's sport package, I didn't mind the ride at all. Control of quivers and shakes were also tops for a droptop, no doubt thanks to bending and torsional rigidity being up a significant 22% and 47% this year. Noise is another matter. What I described as "zestful" during top-down driving becomes shorthand for "borderline intolerable racket" with the top up. That's less of a reference to the buzzy-over-3,000-RPM engine than it is to the tire texture thundering throughout the cabin. 50 MPH in this car sounds like 150 in a BMW, and a daily freeway commute to work sounds like a recipe for pain. But that's little pain for a lot of gain. |
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