Gadgetory

I'm still working through my anger at Honda for cancelling the s2000 and not the natural gas Civic but in the meantime I've got Mazda to help me work through my angst let's take a ride in the 2012 Mazda Miata mx-5 power retractable hardtop special edition check the tech and catch our breath they're army out on top of the stack it's a power retractable hardtop special edition here's how your spot of special it's got black wheels and a black top first time Mazda has ever done a contrasting roof from the factory it's got the chubby cheeks like all the Miatas do like it's got a mouthful of chestnuts for the winter that goofy dopey-looking grin on the front overall though nice tidy packaging the specials are only available in two colors chick car red and regrettable pearl white can't win on either front there if you know the story of how the Miata got started you know why it's like it still is an American motor journalist was talking to the brass over at Mazda they said what should we do next in terms of an interesting car he said no one has reinvigorated the ethic of the 1950s British roadsters do that crazy talk then that was before they sold a bajillion of these look at the inside still very simple not a whole lot different than a 50s British roadster except it runs all the time the only partial concession to modernity is this head unit and it's barely a concession to modernity you've got am/fm no HD radio sirius satellite radio is an option for like 400 bucks aux jack is down here no USB no ipod mil streaming Bluetooth in fact even Bluetooth hands-free isn't on every Miata but we have a high trim car so it is little touches that make this guy nice inside this is one of the firmest Crispus gearboxes you'll ever drive I love the real mechanical thumb wheel switches for the seat heaters so they're still on next time you get in that's nice in the winter look at this a horn button they don't do that anymore now in true vintage form you can still get a whole bunch of different trim levels Amiata with a canvas top this is not one of them we've got the perk the power retractable hardtop and it's a great one it goes back real tightly behind the seats and it goes up and down in a really speedy 14 seconds this is one of the fastest tops of any kind in the industry on a car that is rather affordable and notice nothing gets in the way of your trunk space when this thing is up or down pretty good trick in a small car and speaking of small here is perhaps the strangest windbreak we've seen in a convertible I don't think that's possibly large enough to do anything although it does make a nice basket for drying oregano on the way home from the grocery store now under its diminutive hood the Mazda Miata has got a pretty basic motor but it's a good engine it's a 2 liter inline-4 basic stuff no direct injection no turbos it's got variable valve timing these days and multi-port fuel injection not direct injection but it gets the job done 167 horsepower 158 if you get the automatic not sure what's going on there but you're not gonna get the automatic anyway because then I'll stop answering your emails or speaking to you 140 foot pounds of torque regardless of the gearbox moves this 2500 pound you heard me right little roadster up to 60 in about 7 seconds or so while delivering 21:28 mpg and she read a bunch of reviews in the car magazines in places where they call it a pure driving experience and it sounds like a bunch of that BS the car journalists right but it's true what's happening in this car and you notice it immediately is that you're not fettered with a bunch of computers and software and algorithms that are interpreting your driving yes this cars got electronics like many others lesser than most but they get out of the way and the car is very direct you wear it more than you driving ok specifically this car has no real torque until you get this thing wound up a little it doesn't come alive till about the high 3,000 range on the tach not bad it's the kind of car it is it's not godless but it's not a torquey vehicle of course mounted 140 foot-pounds the rear end will come around on you to some degree if you don't know what you're doing because the suspension is relatively unsophisticated I'm on crap pavement here on some decreasing radius turns that it's just not a great place if you're just pushing it too fast and not paying attention the ride is unrefined it's not brutal but it is unrefined you feel the road come through the cars will build it doesn't sound like it's coming apart but again this is not the car you take on a 600 mile road trip nonetheless that's just who you are you hear me talk about responsive all the time this is one of those it's a responsive vehicle that doesn't mean powerful that doesn't mean fast that means it's light and it does what you think it's going to do when you give it an input that is the rarest thing in vehicles today thank god Mazda still makes this thing comes on to chicken out a long time ago on theirs and we're now left with one that you can afford ok the price at mx-5 miata power retractable hardtop forget about the special edition we're gonna make 450 of these contrasting ones you're not going to get one of those but that's ok you get a better choice of colors so go for the touring retractable it's about 28 3 nicely equipped but you've got to then step it up to the Grand Touring 1400 more to get the Bose audio leather heated seats and you're all so going to get automatic temperature control sports suspension is 6:50 Bilstein shocks limited slip differential and firmer all-around automatic transmission 1,100 bucks we talked about that you're not going to do it