@@amonGustavo07 I own both a manual and automatic, the manual is obviously better for fun, the auto is much better for heavy traffic areas, and is actually very fun using manual mode with the paddle shifters on a winding road. As far as previous generation automatics like the 4 speed na, they aren't even worth driving
A few comments from a 4x MX-5 owner, now driving an ND2 Sport. For the ND2 power upgrade, rather than slap on a turbo, the factory used classic hot-rodder mods to improve breathing, lighten moving parts, and beef up the crank to handle a 13:1 compression ratio. The result is maybe the most refined 2L four-banger out there: faster than the S2000 and not peaky like that engine, but instead makes its power down low and winds out smoothly to its 7500 rpm redline. Combined with the close-ratio six-speed (no overdrive), on the twisties you'll always be in the power band. The result is a seriously fast sports car -- faster than my 1970 XK-E -- able to hang with 911s and WRXs in the tight stuff because you can drive this car safely at its limit on public roads and those guys can't. Save thousands over the Club and get the entry-level Sport instead. Then you can use those savings to make the car uniquely yours, and faster than the Club if you want. First thing to do with your new MX-5 is take it to an alignment shop that does race cars and knows Miatas. Use Flyin' Miata's specs to adjust all parameters -- the factory settings are frequently off. Another thing to watch out for -- the rear diff oil level. Make sure it is topped up during dealer prep. And that's about it! Consumer Reports rates the ND2 as having the lowest owner costs of any car sold in the USA. A sports car! And if you baby it as the reviewer describes, you'll be getting 36 mpg, not 32. Even flat-out backroad runs never go below 30 mpg. This is a daily-capable sports car without compromise, as cheap to own as a Mazda3 econobox. And it holds its value. The downside? There is no downside to this car.
He's Right. Having bought my first one i will always own one. Its so good that when I hear some nonsense about discontinuing it i looked into buying a spare to put into storage. I have to always own one of these.
This comment is EXACTLY what I’m trying to find out. Whether I should get the club with the LSD, color matching door sills, the factory bilstein dampers, and the side skirts all around the car for about $32k or just buy the base with an open diff for about $28k and add on my own mods. I also don’t care for the alcantara recaros, regular cloth seats last 50x longer. Do you have any other reasons I should get the sport instead of the club? And how do you make the sport faster than the club?
My 2021 ND Sport edition is just a wonderful machine. My wife caught me patting it the other day. She's worried....She should be! Best vehicle I ever owned. It is the most fun car I've ever driven. Quick tip, buy the rag top version. I've driven them both and that rag top gives you full convertable mode the RF feels more like it's a car with a big sunroof. Oh and buy the Manual gearbox, If you can't drive one then learn. It takes an hour or two to get the basics down and you'll get so much more driving pleasure.
Having, back in '63, the first of 2 MGB's. I loved the handling factor of those cars, then was drafted into the U.S. Army, went to war, came back, got married, then the kids came along, then working and life going on, then the divorce, women, etc... finally finding the MX-5 in August of 2015, buying a 2016 MX-5, then the '17 and the 19, then this one I just bought, the 2023 MX-5, of which has pushed me into my 3rd childhood. I love these cars man!
Nice review and thanks for the shoutout! Jealous of your perfect audio setup! To everyone considering the car or has one and deciding which parts to buy, feel free to shoot me your questions and I’ll help as best I can!
@takuminuri Hey, there’s nothing wrong with the stock suspension. I spent plenty of time with it on and off the track and its an excellent setup with tons of front-end bite. Any uneasy weight shifting you notice is a product of the inputs you give the car. During the exit of a corner, if you unwind the wheel smoothly as you roll on the throttle, the weight will smoothly shift from the outside tires to the rear tires and the car will squat and stay planted. I’ve coached one driver in particular that loved to coast around the track. Problem is, when coasting the weight of the car is free to bounce from tire to tire as the springs trade-off their energy. If you’re full throttle straight, the weight is kept rearwards keeping the rear stable. As you brake it’s all shifted to the front, then to smoothly transition to the side you have to lift the brake as you turn-in. While turning the weight is kept on the side, then towards the exit smoothly unwind the wheel and add throttle at the same time to transition weight back to the rear. If these step aren’t followed and you coast during the entry or exit of a turn, the weight will bounce around and make the car unstable. Any other car you drive will experience exactly the same load shifting, it’s just a soft, balanced car that will communicate via pitch & roll when it’s not being handled the best way possible. Most other cars will either be too stiff to communicate this way, or just immediately understeer. If you’d like to learn more you can research the ‘tire grip circle’. If you practice staying on the perimeter of the circle, the car will perform its best! If you’d really like to dive deep into the dynamics of driving, Scott Mansell has an excellent series here detailing everything you need to know :) ru-vid.com/group/PLAZL0MKQigFNSY0BTdt_GsDwxdHoeJ302
I'm actually very surprised how much grip this car has. Sure, it will peel out in 1st gear, but around the corners, it actually grips at pretty high speeds. Swap those tires out for something like Michelin PS4S or AS4 and it's perfect.
@@IstralLabraid The stock Bridgestone S001 tires were much fun. Only lasted me 10,700 miles before they were slicks. Got the Michelin Super Sport summer performance tires & its amazing how much quieter / smoother the car became. The Bridgestone's were also about $25 more expensive / tires when I looked at replacements. I liked the Bridgestone's but not at the price or wear factor.
future classics with gas cars and manual transmissions on their way out. sold my na to my dad recently to get into a type r, still miss it some sunny days
i have a 1st gen brz. its time to retire her after 7 years. Been looking hard at the new 86 twins, but I've always had the ND's in the back of my mind calling my name
Story time: I drove my dad's ND2 Miata RF to Lake Tahoe during the summer. Babying it and actually cruising there, I got about 34MPG. Not bad. But going home was the real treat: 40MPG. So if you really baby it and cruise and take advantage of those downhills, you'll get really good gas mileage from a car like this!
I've watched a lot of ND2 reviews online, and this is excellent - right up there with Zach Klapmans "RATED" video on the Hagerty channel. Well done, sir.
Thank you Justin! How did you come across it? Financially speaking Miatas hold value fairly well so if you buy a used ND2 now you could sell it when you get an NE~ and get close to the same money out. With taxes in mind you’d probably pay about $300 a month or less to own the ND2 for 2 years. The example in my head is ND2 for $25,000 today 10% tax of $2,5000 Total: $27,500 (you could probably spend a few thousand less than this for an ND2). Sell in 2 years for $20,000 and that means $7,500 over 2 years. $7,500/24 months = $312.50!
@@shouldigetit RU-vid recommended vid! But to be fair I watch practically every ND video :P Honestly your math definitely isn't that bad, especially because I've always said I don't really want the first model year of a generational change anyway. So it would either be waiting until 2023/4 or just picking up a 22. With used prices near me and what I want, trying to get a new GT with SPlan pricing might be the move. And while it's fun to wait for 'the next big thing,' man, I freaking LOVE the NDs. Driven them a couple times, and big fan
ND1 RF Launch and 3x NA owner here (1x 1.8, 2x 1.6)... this is definitely my favorite Miata I've owned. It just works and makes the most mundane task like picking up groceries fun.
2019 nd2 rf club, first Manual ive ever driven or owned still getting used to it but rarely stall it anymore, I wanted a coupe but given the market the rf or a brand new 86 were pretty much my only options found a cheap rf for 28k so went with that, great car so far, haven't done anything fun with it yet wanna get used to it before I try to yeet myself off a cliff lol.
@@brysonjackson3279 it wasn't bad, just let the clutch off super slow while giving it a bit of gas, at least for first gear until you get the hang of it.
RE: Lack of eco/sport etc buttons. That's because almost all of those buttons just change transmission and pedal mappings. On a few turbo cars, like the modern Alfa's they also cap boost lower, but that's not super common. So with a stick those buttons do virtually nothing.
Nice review! Owned an NCPRHT. My new MX5 manual Grand Touring soft top arrives in a week. Will be garaged next to my 718 Spyder. Folks ask me why I would want a Miata as I have the Spyder. That’s because they haven’t driven a Miata. I will thoroughly enjoy them both.
Great vid. Just picked up an nd2 club last week. Loving it. Had a previous 12’ with PRHT, and it was great.....but the new ND2’s engine and refinements is pretty dramatic...big improvement. It’s great Mazda keeps making these cars, especially considering they only ship 10k of these gocarts to the U.S. annually.
2020 grand touring nd2 checking in. Best car ive ever driven. Traded in my WRX for this earlier this year. The response and the lightweight feel is incredible!
My dream car. I currently own an 8200rpm B16a Swapped EK. The engine is loud as fukk. When vtev kicks in you can hear it coming from far away. I wish this ND Miata har a loud engine but other than that its a track car for the street its lightweight and its perfect.
@@shouldigetit Yes please, I would be delighted. I am in New Zealand and the car I am getting is Pearl White, soft top with the manual transmission. I have already paid a deposit. I was initially thinking about getting a Toyota GR86 but I have no idea when it will be available and it seems like the Mx-5 might be more fun on the street. Thank you.
Great review, nice to have a drivers feel and perspective rather than the waffle of the obvious stuff. Mazda have stuck to the original design philosophy and refined it with each new release. With you that we are in the sunset years of the purest of MX5's before hybrid versions add weight. Please that we have a ND3 ...
I own this ND in soul red...at 80km/h you have more fun with an MX5 than with a Porsch Boxster 718/Porsche 997 4S... The only things I want to be changed: The breaks don't break as a real sportscar (they don't bite hard enough) and the rolling of the chassis in bends is too much.
I've narrowed down my search for a fun driving enthusiast car to this car and the Ford fiesta ST mk7.5 (2012-2017). We get the 3door here. You are one of the few people I've found that understands these kind of cars and why it is special and rare. Have you ever driven the ST, and how would you compare it with the Miata?
FIRSTLY, thank you for the kind words and for watching! I have driven a Fiesta and Focus ST, years ago. I remember the Fords feeling very cheap inside and fun to drive however I love rear wheel drive much more than front wheel drive. Get the Miata, I promise you will LOVE it.
I’m definitely buying a new used Mazda ND2 MX5 with a manual soft top, and if I can get the club version I’ll do that. As long as it’s not red. I perfer to get one in white or silver or black
I just bought the 2021 ND2 and it's the very best car I've ever driven. Period. BUT Advise for people coming from automatic cars. If you can only afford to have 1 car, then don't buy a stick shift.
Can you explain why? Never drove a manual and I plan to learn. I can’t afford having two cars, so when I purchase a new car the nd2 will be my only one.
@@MeredithLawwson Everything they say about manual cars are true, it's fun to drive, it's engaging, you feel connected to the car and the road, but that's every time, all the time. Imagine coming home from a hard day at work all beat up. The car now also requires a lot of your attention, the "engaging" part now becomes a little fight that you don't wanna deal with. Since it's your only car, you're not gonna just drive it for leisure, you also need to go grocery, dealing with traffic and what not. Every single little stop and go is a mini battle with the clutch. With that said, I'm 700 miles in my ND2, I feel like my opinion is starting to change, but as of right now, I would not recommend buying it if it's the only car you can afford. And if you feel like you can deal with all that, by all mean, get the car, it's the best car ever.
@@MeredithLawwson If you'll be driving on fun roads (mountains, canyons, backroads, etc) you'll want the manual to be fully connected to the car. If you've ever danced with a partner it's like this: Driving the automatic feels like being in a beginner class where you dance with an instructor and you're following along with whatever your instructor does. Driving the manual puts you in control and you can dance however you want to :) Hope that helps! Here's a video of me teaching my friend within 10 minutes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TpyCkGkIDSw.html -Ben
@@shouldigetit It was the first time I ever saw a Miata and my first thoughts were 'that car is so tiny - I'd had to get in an accident in one of those'. Fast forward 35 years. I've been in 4 accidents in 2 different MIata's since then that I've owned lol. Looking to buy an ND sometime in the next few months or when the prices finally go down more.
Actually, there is a sports button for automatics. How do I know? I'm married and wanted to make sure that my wife could enjoy the car as well. I have owned a NC for 7 years and bought a new ND2 back in June of 2021. Yes, I do miss buying a proper manual but at the same time, I love keeping my wife happy. I have taken this on thousands of miles of road trips. My wife actually thinks that there is more leg room in the ND2 than the NC
Is this a good 1st car? I currently own a ‘10 Prius and have done some mechanical fixes; learning as I go. (Control arm, fluid changes, brakes, suspension). I have a Prius since its been given to me by parents when they got another car. And for the mpg saving while being a college student was a blessing also it’s VERY roomy. I want to change cars and get something i enjoy. Is the md2 rf a good 1st car? I don’t know how to drive a manual yet but I’ll prob get it down soon enough. I’m also very curious when it comes to tinkering with a vehicle. Lmk ! I live in sf so maybe the fact that it’s a manual in a hilly city can be a problem? Stop and go traffic annoying ? No more texting and driving ? Lol jk don’t do that.
Want it exactly like that but gonna wait for the NE. If its full electric and or ugly, i rush to the dealer and buy this one before they are gone for good.
@@devilgames2217 Call your local dealer and enjoy! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I also own a 2018 BMW M2 that makes 380+ hp and I love my Miata.
I really wanna trade in my new Mazda 6 for this thing, I have no need for all the space. 22 and single 😆. Out of stock everywhere tho, plus I need to learn how to drive manual, and being in Seattle, prly not the best place haha
I live in LA, even worse than Seattle dare I say for driving stick but it's not bad at all in the Miata! Follow the technique hear to learn stick and then practice practice practice: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TpyCkGkIDSw.html
Seattle is a fine place to own this car. I lived in Vancouver where it is even rainier and loved the experience. The Miata has one of the easiest-to-use manual transmissions on the market. But I recommend you go to a driver's school to learn how to shift manually. It's safer, and easier on your Miata's transmission if you learn on something else. Good luck!
@@shouldigetit thanks man, will give it a watch! And will def consider getting a Miata. Gotta find a way to practice manual beforehand tho, I don’t wanna ruin a brand new car if I get it
@@johntechwriter thanks dude, yeah driving school sounds good tbh, I don’t wanna ruin a nice car just bc of poor manual driving skills. Or maybe can buy a super cheap manual car and practice for a few months
Miyatas always seemed like the perfect two-seater. Unfortunatelu, if I ever want a sports car, I am quite tall and broad shouldered so I don't think it will work for me :(
I loved my ND2 Miata but after 15 minutes of driving it was really uncomfortable. I wish they would add lumbar support and make the cabin bigger for taller people.
I have a bad back and have done 11000 miles this year. i bought a lumber roll and sat it right at the bottom of the seat to support my hips. I can sit in this for 3 hours now.Adjust the seat and once youve got it leave it alone. Hope it helps
Hey Joel that’s a great and fair question. I haven’t driven the base 718. Unless I really care about being an owner of the brand (I’m saving up for a GT4) then I wouldn’t go base 718 over GT4. Two reasons. 1) financial. Everything is cheaper on the miata post purchase. Maintenance, insurance, parts/labor. 2) psychological. Parking a Miata in a crowded parking lot, getting a door ding or scraping the bumper cause a lot less mental impact and stress on a cheaper car. The Miata still brings immense joy and possibly more overall joy then the P-car. Hope that helps! Happy to discuss further :) Ben
@@shouldigetit - You’re absolutely right! I daily a 2008 NC Miata and love it!. I purchased it for about $10k and maintenance and insurance is cheap as you say and parking it in public places is NOT stressful. I previously owned a used 2012 Porsche Boxster and it was priced ok to buy but I could see future costs and the associated stress. However having said that I’m still addicted to the Porsche as a brand becja#e of the driving dynamics and quality. A GT4 is totally unavailable now because of rare allocations and huge demand. That is a So true for the Spyder and even the new GTS. However Base Boxster and Caymans and maybe S models are still possible to buy new. I’ve been contemplating trading my 2019 Mustang Bullitt for a Cayman and keeping my Miata as a daily. But I probably won’t do anything. The base Cayman is a great car especially the S. It like a Miata on steroids. A warranty eliminated the stress. Just don’t park near other people!😀
How tall are you? I'm 6' 1" and I really really want one; I haven't driven one ever so IDK how I would feel in it giving my height 😩 but even with my height I'm really serious about buying one ASAP
Hey Freddie, I'm 5' 8" and know some people around 6 foot and your height who have ND2s! I think you'll fit, it depends on your body proportions really. Go sit in one ASAP!!
@@shouldigetit I'm pretty athletic so I should have no problem. My only concern is being 6'1" and have no visibility in front but I'll definitely will go sit in one as soon as I get to the USA from work because I work overseas 😅. Thank you for the reply back 😊
Great cars if you fit. Needs to be around 250 hp. Way underpowered. 187 is ok. In 1998. G86 has 240. 20 yr old solstice gt had 240. Time to up their game. 2020 club bbs Brembo Recaro owner
@@mohamadshatila7835 I have multiple 6 foot tall friends who have driven the ND and they are comfy. I think the hardtop has a bit less headrooom (not sure) but highly recommend test fitting in a dealer if you can! Definitely get an ND2 so you can adjust the steering wheel. -Ben
My serious question to you is have you driven one? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the power. If you haven’t driven one yet I recommend you Turo one for the day and rip through the canyons with it.
@@ThatRanMan yes. I am well aware. An ND1 with a turbo is top of the list. Strange they can't crack the ND2 ecu yet. NE might be out with a supercharger before they crack it. Who knows.
There are dozens of aftermarket forced induction options, but you are missing the point. Forced induction reduces drivability, and the result is a less satisfying driving experience. I know because I had my NA turbo'd and ruined the car. The ND2 has plenty of power for Colorado sweepers and tops out at 140 mph.
@@shouldigetit just bought a 2017 86GTS with the TRD kit. I just prefer the look and hardtops always handle better. 2017 the 86 got the engine, handling and gear ratio changes. It's the better model over the early ones. 6 speed
great video! i'm glad i got my miata--for almost a year now. :) my car now! >>> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PYsZjSLASdM.html i just wonder what it's like driving on ice/snow with it. would i need special tires for it?
