Gadgetory

this is the benchmark for sports cars real sports cars in the traditional definitive sense small light typically open to seated and not overly power and the Mazda Miata also out sells all the predecessors it's a tribute to by far basically they've been getting it right for a long time let's drive this 2014 mx-5 miata grand touring with the retractable hardtop and check the deck now the most amazing thing about the Miata after 25 years it's still a Miata most cars after two and a half decades on the market suffer a pretty massive category creep but this is what it was when it hit in 1989 the pure essence of a sports car not too much of anything the engine has grown from 1.8 liters to two beyond that it hasn't changed much and you do now have the option of a power retractable hardtop that is new to their DNA but again you can go with canvas over your head if you like this is a thing of beauty though it's absolutely nicely behind the rear seats doesn't add a lot of weight and it doesn't give you a variable trunk intrusion like a lot of retractable I like that the downside is the trunks really small now to be sure inside a Miata is tight it actually makes a Boxster seem fairly spacious but that's kind of the idea here let's give it a little slack on that one super clean classic gauge pack I like that it's not adorned with anything including an LCD helper display which brings us to the other LCD that isn't here that one there is no LCD head unit on a Miata not available optional standard otherwise unless you want to get this sort of clip-on Garmin they offer but don't simple LCD readout for a simple entertainment system am/fm of no HD satellite radio is optional CD can be six disc aux Jack down here there is an iPod adapter but it's kind of added by the dealer later and that's about it for advanced media no apps no connecting anything except the connection you have in the road as long as I like this business like little cockpit there are a few economic and stylistic gripes that make me nuts first of all the style and quality of that center stack everything in here is a great classic look and then this is kind of this weird mushroom shape and worse than that it's made out of plastic that should be used to make the packages things come in not the things themselves this is one really bad sheet false note you can otherwise nice cabin some other weird ergonomic things when you get into the gear shift here and you're in either 2 4 or 6 the bones on my wrist hit the power window switches almost every time I'm constantly wondering what is that noise oh the windows down a crack again and if you want to open the little door to put gas in it it'd be nice if it was somewhere where I'm looking forward but no I've got to do a 180 open up the Smuggler's box and pull that thing that's almost like they don't like me our basic theme is very strongly heard under the hood 2 litre inline-four this is the big engine needs to be smaller than this when they first came out I throw a 1 6 or a 1 8 depending on your market 167 horsepower pretty modest number by today's standards 140 pound feet of torque very modest number by today's standard but the car only weighs 2600 pounds so 60 happens in a respectable 6.9 seconds you've got a 21 28 mpg rating therein lies the rub a car this light with this small of an engine should get better mileage but they're not pushing it on the technology front for example no turbo no direct injection now the first thing you'll notice driving a Miata is that it is not overly powered you saw those numbers 140 foot-pounds of torque is not much today but it's about revving this farm you get it above three pounds you keep it above three pound that's where the action lives in fact it's geared toward that when you're on the highway at sixty in Top Gear in six you're still pushing close to 3,000 rpm the gearbox is short-throw and crisp a lot of companies will say that about their transmissions and you get in and they're not this one doesn't lie traditional hydraulic power steering you may have noticed the engine is just mostly behind the front axle line that gives us what you could call a front mid-engine layout bottom line is it gets around a corner fine without feeling long now if you don't keep this car revved it is a bit gutless we've got the sports suspension on this car gives it a bit of a hard ride combine that with the hard bottom seats and it's a bit of a pain to be driving it every day in crappy pavement so just bear that in mind depending on your purposes for this vehicle here's what you bind me up because you can use all of it that goes for very few cars today if you get down a country land at a good clip in one of these it's because you've learned how to really use the car and how to drive now there are some wonderful enthusiasts who drive things like BMW M's and on WRX STI is but it is also true that any moron can make one of those go fast with their massive amounts of power computer controlled all-wheel drive and intelligent performance stability control this car has none of that when something good happens in one of these it's because you and the car made it happen together that's what a sports car is all about okay let's price our happy bug-eyed little friend a 2014 Grand Touring retractable hardtop Miata is gonna be about thirty thousand two delivered with a manual if you want to add the automatic that's eleven hundred of course I won't speak to you after that point so don't do it then it's 1394 the Premium Package which actually brings you a lot of things we take for granted these days including an alarm system that's right Bluetooth hands-free that's right keyless access satellite radio and xenon headlights 650 more for the Sport Package that will eat you Bilstein shocks firmer spring ray shows all around and the limited slip differential that one's actually a steal all in about thirty two three the best and perhaps the only 30 to three you can spend on a pure sports car in 2014