The answer is always Miata, right? Well now, Mazda offers a choice of two MX-5's. The traditional soft top or the new and very sleek looking RF (retractable fastback). Which version is the better choice? Stay tuned and find out!
I'm so tempted to get a Miata...I just got a CX5, and really like it, and now I'm considering trading in my Prius to get a Miata, and join a Miata club in the Northwest. Miata would be such a perfect sunny weather car that would compliment my CX5.
Whichever ND Miata you choose to buy is completely up to you! Just know that from my experience the RF model drives just as good, if not any better, as the regular soft-top model. I hope this helps you out in your research and best of luck to you on your future purchase! - Michael
Alex Dc, Yep! It is surprisingly fast. I tested it on a Fiat 124Spider, at my local Fiat dealer, and I closed/opened it in less than 3 seconds (on my first try)! Great engineering on Mazda's part. 👌🏽
Dude, this is the best review I've seen for mx5, and I've watched more than a dozen over the past few months. Plus you speak quite fast (I'm from Spain and had to rewind a few times to understand it all hehe) so it's like watching a 40 minute review in 20 minutes 😂😂 thanks for the video!!
Excellent review! We have the 22 soft top and the 23 RF (more "practical" car for the winters in CO)...absolutely love them both! I do feel a tiny bit claustrophobic in the soft top vs the RF, but love the 360 degree opening of the soft top when its down. And true what you say about the noise; cabin noise is quieter when the RF roof is up (not so in the soft top), but noisier when the RF roof is down (not so in the soft top). Thankfully both have the blind spot monitors and back up cameras now. Can't go wrong either way!
Funny - I would expect that you would say that if either made you claustrophobic, it would be the rf. There’s more materials behind you and less headroom in the rf. Why does the ST give you a claustrophobic feeling?
Great comparison man, thanks. One addition, don't forget about the storage spaces behind the seats, they are great for things that are used less often.
It was awesome meeting you at Katie's! Between the two I would still go with the Roadster just cause of the open feeling you get while driving. Dont want that compromised
Il bought the first gen, in 1996. 2lt manual gearbox, flip up front lights and manual soft top. My dad said it'll spoil me for life. It did. Driven hard, using the rear wheel drive, 2nd to 3rd gear was a revelation.. Top down. Smiles on. Loved it. Solid it 7 years later, Sadly . No corner will ever feel the same again.
Great review - you pointed out a lot of things I was wondering about the ND. Club roadster is the way to go to me. The RF is nice, but too complex/roofline looks awkward.
I'm a taller driver, so the RF model would be more appealing to me. In addition, the RF would benefit by having a blind spot monitoring option. Interesting review with both models, Sofyan.
One of your better reviews. I loved the black Miata I owned until a semi changed lanes on night in a light rain and pulled the trailer over the top of me part way. I quickly pulled to the side and the driver saw me and applied his brakes. I swung around the tractor on the right shoulder just missing his tires and kept on going. They have great control on the road. But now after watching your video Im tempted to buy another convertible, Just not a black one. They are great cars and mine like yours had no issues at all.
If Mazda could take the MX-5 RF, remove the retractable roof function, bring out the rear window to connect with the side panels and put a cx-9 engine in it, you got yourself the new RX
When I first saw the shadowy preview pictures of the RF I thought Mazda was finally going to make the fastback coupe version of the Miata after teasing us with a few really nice looking concept cars in that mode. I was saddened to find out it was arranged like the hardtop C3 Corvette - with the addition of a slow and complicated electric actuation for the targa top.
If they do indeed come out with a new sports car that would be great - not that the Miata isn't a fantastic car but the more sports cars on the market the better. Sports car sales in North America aren't great so I was a little afraid that the manufacturers might drop cars lime the Miata, 86/BRZ and 370Z altogether just when I was about to be in the market for one.
I have a CX-9. The engine is like a Subaru WRX but heavier but it has a pretty nice acceleration time and the turbo you can hardly hear but you can feel it
@@balintk.9373 I think it's the opposite because the PRHT (Power Retractable Hard Top) on the older NC Miatas are notoriously reliable. The soft tops on the other hand can start to fall apart and fade over time.
lol i have a feeling that the soft top will expirence problem like the NA one do aswell. always needing to be replace. not now obviously but in the future
I'm 6' 3" tall and my wife has just bought a 2018 2.0 Sport Nav soft top. We tried the RF and as the hard top came down the middle bar pushed my head down in the seat by about an inch. In the soft top I have plenty of head room and my eye line is well below the top of the screen. For our intrepid reviewer at 5' 7" - that is short!
If you look at the seating positions, his seat is further back in the rf than the soft top. The miata will raise the seat up when you scoot forward because mazda tilted the seat rails. Since the soft top had the seat pulled forward, the seat would be higher too.
Hey, great review! You are one of my favorite car reviewers and IDK how you take suggestions... But while a car reviewer drives a car I wanna get as much of the experience of the driver therefore I want a shot of the road and steering wheel/and maybe gearbox etc *at all times* during the drive. Personally I don’t wanna see his face during the test drive 80% of the time because then the test drive is only your experience. If you absolutelly wanna film your face when you go over the vid from different angles (and wanna briefly show i.e. How thrilled you were during a fast revving ok, but not for more than 3-5 sec max IMO). Hope you don’t mind.
I'll take the traditional soft top any day. Why would I pay more money to diminish the 360 degree open air experience of a real roadster? If other Miata fans want the RF, I don't object. I just hope to god Mazda doesn't phase out the roadster in favor of the RF.
I don't understand how people live without a truck. I guess if you live in a busy city center and work at a desk and never do any manual labor, but I'd refuse to not have a pickup truck as my #1 option due to the ability to haul and tow.
Josh G. I’m willing to say the roadster will not handle as well as a Miata and also the whole point of the Miata is the open top, which the roadster does not have
So I saw the VA plates and got excited! I'm originally from MA but moved down to VA for work.. seriously considering purchasing an MX-5 but I'm very conflicted. I love the visibility of the soft top and it's obvious ease of use, but to be honest, I'm looking to have this be my daily (and yes, FOUR season) vehicle. Have you used this little pocket rocket in the winter months at all, though you have a soft top? Is the RF really worth it the money and if I went with the soft top, what is the maintenance like on it?
How do you feel about visibility when the top is down,compared to a soft top? Im trying to decide which one to get since i want the full visibility the soft top comes with. Any info is appreciated
Honestly, I feel like the ND Miata's an unsung hero. It's small, lightweight, comfortable, and all about the pure driving experience. Yet very few talk about it.
Thank you for this amazing and detailed review. I owned the Miata soft top for 2 years. Looks really good and timeless from the side but I've always thought the back with top down , plus a few other angles, don't look so good. Now seeing them both side by side the soft top seems a bit dated in my opinion. They're both head-turning amazing looking cars still but, I believe the RF feels more modern and trendy. I guess it depends what image you prefer. What do you guys think? 🤔 Regarding the "full convertible experience" take it from someone who drove them both, there is no difference. The RF drives and feels like a a convertible, you really can't tell. You'd have to twist your neck to look back and spot that you are in a targa car. Why would you do that anyway? Regarding the handling the added weight gives the RF a little more grip when turning which is what I prefer rather than a sliding tail. Also you get a slightly firmer suspension with less body roll which again I prefer. What do you guys prefer?
I like a convertible and I don't want a targa, I don't want a T tops I want a convertible, it's not at all the same sensation, there's a world between the two, if you give me an RF I sell it the next day and I buy a convertible, if the RF was like what I already have a 2010 convertible model with hard top, wow that's great, it's the best of both worlds, but as I say it is not comparable because a convertible and a targa are not the same at all and it simply cannot be compared. The fact remains that one or the other remains a wonderful and super beautiful vehicle, and I respect everyone's choices, I am simply giving you my point of view, have a good day everyone. PS: Yes also for manual or automatic, I believe that this is a personal choice and people should not judge people on this.
Thanks so much for your awesome comparison with this very professional video, don't mind the idiot comments from the low life aholes, I traded in my 15 mustang gt for the RF after buying a Mazda 3 and fell in love with it, my soul red RF tan, auto is on the boat and should arrive within a few weeks, can't wait!!! I know everyone says to get the manual trans but I am tired of shifting after 60 years of driving in traffic NYC area, keep up the great work, I will be watching this vid propably 100 more times till mine arrives, take care!!!
I love the sound of your active exhaust. It's pretty impressive that Flyin Miata is able to get so much more sound out of this car. I've been eyeing the new Miata since it came out, but there's a huge part of me that want's to hold out until I can afford a Boxter or Cayman. It's twice the price of the Miata GT, for a lightly used Porsche, so I'll be saving up for a while. I do love the Miata tho, and I'd go with the soft top as well. If you want an open air roadster, get a true roadster. Plus, the added weight does compromise the balance of the RF, even if just a little.
Just get the Miata. It's handling is insane, get a Mazdaspeed race conversion kit to boost past 200hp and it would out drag a 911 over quarter of a mile easy. Much lighter car, perfect 50/50 weight balance. . The Porche would only have a higher top speed and meaner sound. It couldn't possibly go round a corner quicker or be more fun doing it. The Mazda is a drivers car no doubt..
I hear your points as I’ve considered the more expensive brands as well, but what gets me is the potential maintenance cost. I’m going with the Miata as I already own a European car and the cost to fix anything on it is insane.
@@Sixfigas That's why the first thing I do with any new vehicle is learn how to work on it. I don't trust dealerships to do good work anyway. If I do it I know it's done right.
Hi, in the market for a new RF, what color is your car in the video? arctic white or ceramic? Also is it fairly easy to keep clean, and not show to many scratches and swirls etc... would you get this color in again?
GT6SuzukaTimeTrials just get a good nb, I'm thinking about retiring my na for an nb, idk yet. I've done alot of preventive maintenance, and last emissions test of its life. Don't know what I want honestly
Go Faast I bought an 02 in 18 just about to turn 13,000 I wasn’t looking for one and it wasn’t for sale I was just admiring it Now it has 26,000 only summer driven garaged winters Chicago area I’m 68 now I drive the hell out of it I love it another blessing form my Lord and Savior
I recently reviewed a MX-5 GT and the thing I found amazing was how quiet it was with the top down and the windows up. It was no problem having a conversation with my passenger @ 100KMH (62 MPH). In contrast the RF suffers from a lot more wind noise with the top down due to the wind buffeting against the rear window. Having said that I would absolutely choose the RF as a daily drive, watching the targa top stowing away would never get old 😃
Great Comparison Video Sofyan! I had the opportunity to Test Drive the Miata RF back in late March (with a video of it being uploaded onto RU-vid in early April). It was a pleasant experience, and it drove just as well as the regular soft-top model. So after driving both versions, do you still like your soft-top model, or do you like the RF model better? - Michael
Hey wondering if you can feel how the transmission tunel gets hoter inside the cabin , is it normal? thats something im wondering with mi recent invest on the miata 2016. thanks!
Is there something different going on with the boot/trunk lines - the back of the RF seems to look more squashed in and pinched. I don't know if it's an illusion or just the pillars making it looks less wide and than the soft top. Something doesn't look quite right but I can't figure it out.
According to Mazda's official specifications, the headroom for the MX-5 Miata GT 2017 soft top is 37.4 inches with the top up, and 36.8 inches with the top down. The headroom for the MX-5 Miata GT 2017 RF hard top is slightly less at 36.8 inches with the top up, and 36.3 inches with the top down.
You had less headroom in the softtop, because your seat was set much more to the front. ND-seats go slightly up, if you slide them more to the steering wheel. On same conditions the rf has a little bit less headroom! Also: you forgot the "secret" storagethingis behind the seats. the RF has none behind the driving seat.
I had a C6 Corvette and the wind buffeting when the targa top was off was awful. Putting the side window down helped a bit but the added noise was still there. I would love the added functionality of the RF but not with this downside. Too bad they didn't do it again like the NC PRHT, that is the best of both worlds.
Did a Road trip from Las Vegas to Los Angeles in soft top ND GT Manual. Bring noise canceling headphones for the freeway portion 🤣. We didnt tho. Super loud but MAN was it a blast. Got so attached to the car. So amazing on Mulholland and through Big Bear lake. I could daily one no problem. Not sure how the RF is road noise wise.
The RF cabin is also quieter because Mazda added extra sound insulation around the transmission/driveline tunnel. With the hard top, cabin noises from the drive train were more noticeable, so Mazda added the extra insulation.
Guy´s do ya´lls soft top make hood noises when going over bumps? Mine makes them... a bit too much... :( Wanted to see if ya´ll are going through the same...?
I am interested to buy a 2017 used MX5 (Miata) here in my country. Manual transmission, but wich color do U recomend me ... perl white or perl red wine..? Friends say me red is a color for a sport car 2 doors, but it is the "typical" red wine color of many Mazda® corporative color. White for me is more exclusive, maybe. But red perl finished reflcts better the the horizon, white looks flat in reflection of image (u know, the wet shine effect of poliuretan painting). I am really confused. Help me please.
