Low power and high agility yea but then you got things like the gr 86 or brz for about $400 difference at msrp and and about equal the price at 30k each used same year and all the one thing I see the only thing I see the Miata has over a used boxter cayman or a newly used 86 or brz would be it’s convertible. now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I don’t like the Miata I’m just saying it’s illogical to me when you have better options specially when you’re thinking of buying a new Mx-5 when you have older more iconic 98 and older Mx-5 for 15k or less especially if you’re thinking of the modding scene. I’ve even found independent sellers that’s sell their Miata’s for 2-5k so a newer Mx-5 doesn’t make sense to me
@@mondragonmsaul308 People that buy a new Miata are people that want a cheap, reliable two-seater convertible little sporty rocket. And I bet you that the people that sell the old one, are in most cases getting a new one.
@@mondragonmsaul308 @mondragonmsaul308 As someone who has an NA and NB Miata, I get your point. However, the trouble with the GR86/FRS is the boxer engine. The miata has never needed improved oil baffling due to oil starvation while cornering. Unless you're pushing over 400hp, it's not needed. The GR86, however, will have a void warranty if the engine dies due to oil starvation, caused by a track day. This is despite the marketing about it being a track-ready vehicle. For this reason, the miata is more desirable than a GR86. I don't know if I would even autocross in a stock FRS/BRZ/GR86. True, this can be fixed with aftermarket parts. However, add the multi-piece head assembly, the weak head gaskets, the requirement to remove the cams to pull both heads, the hassle of a quad-cam on a 4cyl engine, AND the requirement to disconnect the pistons from the rods just to pull the engine apart. The comparison is a model of simplicity to an over complicated mess. I pulled the head on my NB with the turbo manifold and intake still attached. The camshafts were left in place as well. All the extra complexity on the boxer engine just to create a better center of gravity. The two are not even close in terms of upkeep. I see NA and NB miatas everywhere I turn. It is insanely rare to see a 90s or early 2000s WRX on the road today. That MSRP difference is just a bribe. Cheers.
If that ever happens, I hope someone else picks up the torch and makes a similar car. Honda is what comes to mind first- they made the S2000, and they just recently stopped making the S660 Kei car. All they'd have to do is make a lovechild of those 2. S1200 perhaps, some 1.2L Turbo I3, ~180 HP, fun power curves, a little bit of turbo lag for entertainment, 2200 lbs total weight or so, manual as standard, and amazing driving dynamics that turn every corner into a little experience.
@@dodoz44 the s2k was never a competitor to the miata. It is heavy and quick. It was closer to a Z4 roadster in terms of performance and an MR2 in terms of handling.
@@brandons9138 86 is 400lbs heavier and has the wrong suspension configuration and a long wheelbase. They're not comparable in the least if people would look beyond horsepower.
The first car I ever bought with my own money, was a 1999 Miata. To this day, 5 years later, I regret every moment that has passed without having that car. I have never had more fun driving, than when I was in that two door, rear wheel drive, 5 speed manual, cruising the backroads of Oregon in the summertime with my friends and there civics. The Miata should never change.
Same!!! The first car I ever bought with my own money was a 1994 NA. I bought it at age 27 in 2017, and my wife and I loved that car. I learned to drive manual with it. We cruised the rocky mountains in the summer, and took it to go skiing every weekend in the winter. Unfortunately, I totaled it when another driver on the road made an illegal left hand over a painted median and forced me to T-bone them. Such an injustice to lose a Miata that way... Big sad. I broke my arm and it healed. My heart? Never the same... RIP Devin.
The fact that the new only weighs 1kg more than the old one even though they had to add much more to it in order to meet safety requirements is truly amazing, hats off to everyone at Mazda that work on the car
Well it's the only decent sports car they make now really they need to bring out a new rotary engine that's what we want haha though here in australia alot of the people have engined swapped them for more desirable engines haha I know a bloke that's got an LS1 swapped MX-5 he had to modify the seats for his giant balls hahaha
@@dieseladdictryan9511 Just make sure you've got the top down and you never mess you're back up ... Just like an MG Midget. ..and don't get too wide in the ass 😂 🇬🇧🧙🏼♂️
I 100% agree on that the miata/mx5 fomula should never change. Back in the 90's there were so many small sporty compact cars. All of them with exception to the miata, got fat, cramped with electronics and tech and lost what they were about. Lightweight and simple.
@@First362 They brought the CRX back as the CRZ from 2011 to 2016, but the crx had several trims before. It had the base, si, and hf(high fuel economy). They basically brought the CRX back only as the hf this last time as a hybrid. They could have made a si trim with a k20, but they opted not to do so. I imagine it wouldn't be worth the sales and would take away from SI civic sales. It had abysmal sales in the US. PS. I own a 91' dx CRX. It's fun as hell to drive even with the 1.5l d15b2. Nothing beats a cheap stick honda for slow and fun.
That’s what makes a Miata a Miata. I like how they’re one of the only manufacturers that kept their iconic 90’s car true to its origins and didn’t try to reimagine it and ruin it like so many others have
roughly a week or so ago I saw a video where they interviewed the engineer who designed the miata. In his own words: The miata was never meant to go fast or be a technological masterpiece. I designed this car so it would be fun to drive.
Agreed. No experiments. No compromise. No extra leg room, no additional storage, no backseats. No overly techy screens either. It's good enough, and that's gold.
Yea, if you are short. I won’t fit in one with the top on, so it has no value at all to me until it is changed to fit. I fully believe that it should be scrapped and they need to produce an adult sized version.
I wasn’t crazy about the looks of the first Miatas but I’ll still concede that they nailed it. It always has been and always should be a drivers car. A car for people who want to enjoy A to B as opposed to just going A to B. This one especially looks terrific
Always treated Miatas not serious, more like a meme car, until I've driven my friends ND2. No car I've ever driven brought more smile to my face than this small bastard 😅
Huh...? Always treated it as a joke/meme/novelty car? Why? Where have you been all this time? For more than _3 decades,_ Blind Freddie has seen the Miata is a well sorted and smile inducing sports car.
@@assininecomment1630 to new people looking in the way people talk about miata makes it seem like a joke even though it is a legendary car. its like trying to understand an in-joke from someone else's friend group
I remember I wasn’t interested in the Miata.. until I got one at as a rental… it is truly one of the most fun I ever had in a car the handling alone is worth it. No, only people who haven’t driven one asks for a bigger car.
They always looked so fun to me just seeing them on the road. And the selling point to me is that it looks light and the cabin is small. Just seems like a fun lil car and i would love to have one someday.
Ya know what brotha , this is tbh prolly the best explanation I have heard for it .. mad respect there brotha ... peace and love bro keep it rad stay safe and build on l8z famz
I am 66 years old now . I own a 1993 automatic Miata because my legs are too long to shift. They hit the steering wheel . I just rescued a 1991 Miata last week that was sitting under an oak tree for five years. It’s a mess but is worth saving, no rust thankfully ! Will turn over but will not fire . For 500 dollars I can’t go wrong . Both are white automatics, all original, including wheels . I told my daughter I have a new set of twins.😂 thanks for sharing this video with us out here in south east Alabama USA ☮️❤️
@@TylerDurden-oy2hm thanks for the reply . I also have a 1974 MG midget that is fun to drive but not nearly as fun as the Miata . Hope all is well with your family and friends ☮️❤️
Learn to drive manual, at 66 it will give you a new lease on life lol. I'm 6'4 an am completely fine driving a manual Miata, whereas when I drove an auto it didn't feel sporty at all. with the sluggish transmission and the amount of power that's lost through it.
@@grannysgushinggash thanks for the reply . I guess I’m just getting lazy in my old age !😂. When I want the shifting experience I swap with my son in law. He has a 2006 grey miata 5 speed . This car I have was a girly car back in the day . Hope this finds you and yours well ☮️❤️
Pop-up headlights are illegal in EU because of danger to pedestrians (when hit). Therefore no mass production car will ever have pop-up headlights ever again. Well maybe if some US manufacturer decides to make a car just for the US market because you guys don’t care about others peoples lives
As someone that raced Miata's for years - don't change what works. It's a drivers car. Small, light, agile and fun. If you can't make it go fast around a track or through quiet country roads the fault is not with the car, it's with you. An absolute legend of a car. That said, I would love a version that comes bare bones. No stereo, no AC (I live in NorCal near Sac and my 94 Miata had no AC), manual steering rack and a pair of Sparco FIA approved fiberglass seats.
If they could allow the seat to move about 4 inches back and lower down it could expand the customer base maybe even twofold. If we're talking weight and size constraints, why is there room for a passenger?
The people who complained probably haven't even ever driven one. Most of them would "Get it" if they did.... If they don't they have NO business even getting in one. They're like Go Karts for the Road!!!!
@@rya3190I’m 5’11” and I fit in my 91 like a glove. Any taller and I do think it could be a little tight. I don’t even ride with the seat all the way back to be fair so there might be a little more room in there.
@@povertybay3260 also so many people deny that its a sportscar because it doesnt make 400+ horsepower, most "car enthusiasts" nowadays have sadly no clue about cars anymore
@@povertybay3260just because I have more fun in my Cummins, 300c, mk4 tdi or my motorcycle doesn’t mean I’m not a driving enthusiast. You’re an idiot man, we don’t all look for the same thing in vehicles. I love torque, deep rumbling exhausts with turbo whistle, exhaust breaks, and manual transmissions, you don’t that’s why I have what I have and you don’t
@@horrorkidd369 to add, how many cars make that sort of power out of the box anyway. People will be driving 4-6cyl Naturally aspirated cars that weigh 1500kg, might be a smidgen faster and still try to shit on Miatas lol
I owned/drove nothing but RWD V8s until my late 20's, then I bought a 300SL, and a 124 spider when the SL's engine decided it didn't like having oil pressure. I really don't like driving my old V8 cars anymore as they're big and lumbery. The G body wagon is pretty fun to slide around, but I'd rather be feeling the G-Force, not the G-Walk, yaknowhatimeeen?
The Miata is perfect the way it is. One of the few simple lightweight cars left on the market. I would like to see Mazda come out with a beefier sports car to directly compete with the supra/Z/Mustang. Like a true "RX7" successor, just probably not rotary
Make a coupe, 350hp, rwd. Hybrid? Maybe, but I prefer full ICE because the engine goes vroom and maybe with the manual option with 5 or 6 speed, doesn't need to be flashy. And then make a one off wagon of it.
Back in the early 2010's or late 2000's Mazda could have replaced the RX-8 with a similar powered, piston engine car. NC Miata and SE3P share chassis and MZR 2.0 used in NC Miata is very close to MZR 2.3 Turbo from Mazdaspeed3. Even after the divorce from FOMOCO and introduction of Skyactiv-G engines the 2.0 liter from ND Miata (maybe with a turbo) or 2.5 liter variant would be a good replacement. Mazda has plenty of parts in the bin and (I hope) they are not dumb, so I think they won't make it because they don't think anyone's willing to buy one.
The Miata has had a great track record of being the fun little go kart that likes to slide out the rear end for every generation, and we gotta keep it like that. If US regulations didn't change, it'd still have pop ups just for every car enthusiast to make it blink
Back in late 1989 a shop i worked at in LA stuffed a built 302 Ford engine backed by a top loader 4 speed & a shortened 9" rear axle with a 3.91:1 gear in a 1989 Miata. It was a theft recovery stripped of it's drivetrain. We called it the "Cobra for the 90s". That little Miata easily smoked the tires through every gear. I wish i knew what happened to that car. Hopefully someone, somewhere still has it. It was red, it was hella loud & it was crazy fast & traction was an issue, thats all I remember.
ive seen builds on here on yt where they take a fox body 5.0 motor, trans, shortened drivetrain & rear axle, the cut the firewall out the miata and move it back 2"
I drove a red one here in Wisconsin back in early 90s. 5.0 swapped and guy let me drive it. Powerful as a mother trucker. Back tires were bald. Lol!!!!
The miata and the frs-brz are perfect examples that you dont need to have tons of power to have fun. Small low power rwd cars are super fun to rip around and if you need more power to drift or do burnouts get better at driving. The hunger for high horsepower has blinded so many people its wild.
Please don't change the miata.... the miata is one of the few cars that has stood the test of time and held true to its roots... it's simply a great car
I had my Scion FR-S for a few years, and was looking to trade it in towards something new, so I sat and test drove a new Miata. I’m 6’2” and didn’t have a problem fitting in my GT86, but even with the seat all the way back in the Miata, i couldn’t justify the small cabin. I ended up going with a WRX, but even still, the Miata should never change.
I agree with you ,it's timeless , the design, inside and out has hardly changed in 8 years ,it still looks as fresh today as it did in 2016, how many other mainstream car manufacturers can claim that ?.
So, because its not a crossover SUV, they hate it... Just get a CX-5. If the platform is too small, get a Nissan Z, or one of many BMW Sedans. Let us have our low-powered roadster and keep it exactly as it is. Mazda nailed the return to form. The NC was the "bigger" miata. We didn't like it. I didn't at least. I'll chase down a fellow NA, or NB driver, but not an NC driver unless it's heavily modified. Its like a less ugly Saturn Sky. *shutter*
It's heavier by at most 300 pounds, really not much of a difference, and has a lot more power stock than the previous generations, it's definitely the ugly duckling though haha
@@keymow7162 nice, i got the base model from 2006. Its what got me into cars and eventually autocross. I wouldnt trade it for anything. Im hoping to do the 2.5 swap when my schedule and funds permit me. But until colledge is done ill settle for a nice set of coilovers and a welded diff lol.
Hi there! Jesus says to you today: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28 May God bless you! 😊
they were outlawed from being put on new cars because if you hit someone with your car theyre gonna roll over the hood and the big sharp flat lights would hurt them a lot more. it sucks but it makes sense
hurr durr they hurt on impact hurr durr its unsafe We now have the means to close those in a fraction of a second on approach/on impact, but lawmakers seem to have more important stuff to do than appearing on their jobs
@@reelne look i get the pop up headlights but the miata itself is soon to be dead in a world where everyone drives a SUV or a truck the miata will might vanish for ever cause its just not safe enough anymore ..
A long time ago I was taught a car is a metal box without any sort of feelings for its owner, so giving any sense of affection to that metal box is bonkers. You may love your car but that affection is based on how useful, handy or available your car is. Nowadays a cool car is useless you need a semi armored car to survive any kind of collision, high enough to run over any obstacle and with enough power to push at least through a feet and a half of water.
I live in the mountains, so a turbo seemed to be the answer to the power issue for my 2018 Club. The car is perfect now, so perfect in fact that I bought a clean rust free 1990 for a restomod.
the miata is one of the last of the small cars, most brands have fallen to creating bloated corpses of shitty suvs and crossovers, but the miata still just works
Ah the good old "farm interaction video". Make a claim that unidentified peoples are saying something a target group would find controversial, then make statement that confirms bias and strokes ego of said group. Targeted manipulation. Disgusting.
Finally someone who gets it. And I'm adding even more interaction right now but all I wanna say is thank you for being sane. Exactly my thoughts, I'm glad there's still people like you.
I bought my wife a 2004 Miata back in 2011. Shortly thereafter I bought myself a 2003 Miata. Both 5 speed variants, both the funnest car I've ever owned period. And yes I've had more powerful, faster cars. Currently I own a 2015 Corvette, 2007 Mustang GT Whipple charged w/full Roush suspension, 1994 Viper and yes, a 2003 Miata. The Miata is simply the perfect sports car, light, 50/50 weight distribution and best of all no one understands it until you drive it. My Viper is a death trap, my Miata can be driven by my 90 year old grandmother but it's still a blast to drive.
Just like Jason Cammisa said. The affordable sportscar was perished because the enthusiasts got greedy. You have a simple 2-door coupe sportscar to start with, then the next thing they want is more power which is reached through fitting a turbo, then you have to add intercooler, give it wider wheels to accommodate the additional power, beef up the suspension, and it all adds up as a cost that the buyer has to pay. Suddenly it isn’t affordable anymore. Miata (and 86 to some extent) are still exist to this day because they don’t give what the enthusiasts want. They simply give what the enthusiasts truly need by simply keeping the original recipe.
No it perished because people stopped buying sports cars in favor of 4x4 land yachts. The Miata has actually gotten pretty expensive itself, and it's avg buyers is 75 year olds now. Most kids are probably gonna opt for a Mustang or a hot hatch.
As an NA Miata owner myself I'll share my journey with it. I wanted to Hagard 1. Test drove it and changed my mind. I wanted to turbo it, blow it up and LS swap it. Changed my mind. I've kept the slightly modded 1.6 the same for 6 years now and won't change it. Slightly modded being intake, long tube headers, and exhaust. Everything else is cosmetic
We’ve got a 1990. Wifey like our son Little Tikes toy car and thought the Miata looked like it. 25 years later still rocking it. Belt broke on the PS/ACpulley and WOW! What a horsepower increase alone!!!
Cars are getting bigger and heavier over the years. Even the Miata's closest peers have gotten much bigger in their most recent iterations. In this day and age, the Miata keeping it's small, lightweight built only emphasises more on what made it appealing in the first place.
One of my mates races them, he has a 650hp turbocharged 1.8L and weights 980kg. Came first in his last race and was entering turn 1 at 270km/h and didn’t need to brake the whole turn
It was the same with the GT86. Everyone said that it was slow compared to [Insert Generic Car Here]. But for those of us who have driven one properly, or who have modified one. They are brilliant.
For me it was the reason I didnt buy one. The 200 hp didnt feel like that. I was very dissappointed, because I like the looks. But my 122 hp diesel felt very similar to the 200 hp and that disappointed me
The best part about my Miata is that it’s simple you get in you drive. There’s nothing fancy about it. It’s only purpose is to have fun or get you from point a to point b in a fun way
