2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata - Perfection Refined
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Date: 2019-05-30
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Comments and reviews: 10
Marco Santorini
When the interior space is so small would it not make more sense to remove that huge hand break in the middle of center console and replace it with a power break button or better yet replace it with a foot parking break? By doing so you can open up space for at least one or maybe even two cup holder rather than that silly design they have now. The way it is now you either hit the cup with your elbow or ask your passenger to stick one leg out the window to accommodate second cup holder. The other issue that makes no sense to me is lack of driver seat height adjustment. How much a manual height adjustment feature can possibly add to the weight of the car? For 2019 they have added a telescoping steering wheel that lets you to pull up the wheel all the way to your face if you wanted to but god forbid if you want to have adjustment to your seat for better driving experience.
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When the interior space is so small would it not make more sense to remove that huge hand break in the middle of center console and replace it with a power break button or better yet replace it with a foot parking break? By doing so you can open up space for at least one or maybe even two cup holder rather than that silly design they have now. The way it is now you either hit the cup with your elbow or ask your passenger to stick one leg out the window to accommodate second cup holder. The other issue that makes no sense to me is lack of driver seat height adjustment. How much a manual height adjustment feature can possibly add to the weight of the car? For 2019 they have added a telescoping steering wheel that lets you to pull up the wheel all the way to your face if you wanted to but god forbid if you want to have adjustment to your seat for better driving experience.
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Stephen Hendricks
As someone with a wife, daughter, a big dog, and a two car garage limit, the MX5 isnt a car for me. Nevertheless, Im grateful it exists. Kudos to Mazda for resisting the temptation to make it bigger, fatter, give it a turbocharger, oversize wheels/tires, power seats, heads up display, etc, etc. There are many alternatives with all those features and more. The Miata is what it has always been, a classic two seat sports car designed with goals of light weight and linear, balanced performance. For those who insist on improving it, a wealth of aftermarket options, including turbochargers and even superchargers are readily available. Thankfully, those who want to experience a classic sports car can walk into a Mazda dealer and buy one without getting a second mortgage.
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As someone with a wife, daughter, a big dog, and a two car garage limit, the MX5 isnt a car for me. Nevertheless, Im grateful it exists. Kudos to Mazda for resisting the temptation to make it bigger, fatter, give it a turbocharger, oversize wheels/tires, power seats, heads up display, etc, etc. There are many alternatives with all those features and more. The Miata is what it has always been, a classic two seat sports car designed with goals of light weight and linear, balanced performance. For those who insist on improving it, a wealth of aftermarket options, including turbochargers and even superchargers are readily available. Thankfully, those who want to experience a classic sports car can walk into a Mazda dealer and buy one without getting a second mortgage.
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Lee B
The stainless after market grill imho makes the front look much better. In the UK the rag top outsells the RF by a quite a lot probably the same reason the 1. 5 outsells the 2. 0, weight. The ND 1. 5 has always been 7500 rpm engine but I can understand why the US prefer the more powerful 2. 0 and the UK prefer to concentrate more on handling and feel. Basically the infrastructure to drive on. Where I live single lane twisty country roads with passing lay-bys are common so getting up to the 60mph speed limit is not likely. I like the addition of the steering column adjustment. but come on guys Auto box? really? why not bung a bag or two of concrete in the trunk and totally destroy the fun factor. Good review happy MXing friends
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The stainless after market grill imho makes the front look much better. In the UK the rag top outsells the RF by a quite a lot probably the same reason the 1. 5 outsells the 2. 0, weight. The ND 1. 5 has always been 7500 rpm engine but I can understand why the US prefer the more powerful 2. 0 and the UK prefer to concentrate more on handling and feel. Basically the infrastructure to drive on. Where I live single lane twisty country roads with passing lay-bys are common so getting up to the 60mph speed limit is not likely. I like the addition of the steering column adjustment. but come on guys Auto box? really? why not bung a bag or two of concrete in the trunk and totally destroy the fun factor. Good review happy MXing friends
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Pezz Pezzer
My OCD got triggered by the LED turn signal comment. That is not an LED sir, that is an traditional incandescent bulb turn signal. You can tell by the way it brightens and dims as it lights up where as a true LED turn light would just blink instantly much more like a strobe would. Plus digital camera frame rate of capture can make all LEDs look funny when filmed digitally. So not sure if this was Mazda providing information on a trim level not shown or if this was just in error as the brake lights looked to be LED. My new 2019 VW Jetta is the same way. It has LED headlights, LED daytime running lights and LED brake lights but all turn signals lights both front and rear are regular incandescent bulbs sadly.
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My OCD got triggered by the LED turn signal comment. That is not an LED sir, that is an traditional incandescent bulb turn signal. You can tell by the way it brightens and dims as it lights up where as a true LED turn light would just blink instantly much more like a strobe would. Plus digital camera frame rate of capture can make all LEDs look funny when filmed digitally. So not sure if this was Mazda providing information on a trim level not shown or if this was just in error as the brake lights looked to be LED. My new 2019 VW Jetta is the same way. It has LED headlights, LED daytime running lights and LED brake lights but all turn signals lights both front and rear are regular incandescent bulbs sadly.
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Paul Stabin
More hp good. More torque would have been priceless. I am 511, and medium build and the MX-5 /Miata/Whatever has always felt too small for me. Both my 02 Toyota MR2-S and 67 MGB roadsters felt just right. That and a bit more body lean than I like have kept me from owning one. My point is that there have been other small lightweight roadsters that felt less cramped. S2000 also, and even the Lotus Elise. Of course you cant get in or out of the Lotus easily. And the S2000 also had no low or midrange torque. The price point on the MX-5 unfortunately has crept up into the dreaded 26-35k range. There are some great drivers cars lurking there.
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More hp good. More torque would have been priceless. I am 511, and medium build and the MX-5 /Miata/Whatever has always felt too small for me. Both my 02 Toyota MR2-S and 67 MGB roadsters felt just right. That and a bit more body lean than I like have kept me from owning one. My point is that there have been other small lightweight roadsters that felt less cramped. S2000 also, and even the Lotus Elise. Of course you cant get in or out of the Lotus easily. And the S2000 also had no low or midrange torque. The price point on the MX-5 unfortunately has crept up into the dreaded 26-35k range. There are some great drivers cars lurking there.
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acchaladka
Nothing compares? Id like you to give the Fiat 124 (Abarth) a more serious look and direct comparison. For thousands less, made in Japan, quieter ride, higher ride height, bigger trunk, and the turbo / tune-ability, I think its a great option. Motor Trend ran them and had them super-close on auto-x. Also, with that backup camera placement Im guessing it will be obscured quickly in any kind of bad weather and get blocked with dirt. Will be curious to hear folks experience. Also wonder if a hack will allow the camera to function as a kind of better rear mirror: I test drove the RF and the rear visibility was blocked by the buttresses.
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Nothing compares? Id like you to give the Fiat 124 (Abarth) a more serious look and direct comparison. For thousands less, made in Japan, quieter ride, higher ride height, bigger trunk, and the turbo / tune-ability, I think its a great option. Motor Trend ran them and had them super-close on auto-x. Also, with that backup camera placement Im guessing it will be obscured quickly in any kind of bad weather and get blocked with dirt. Will be curious to hear folks experience. Also wonder if a hack will allow the camera to function as a kind of better rear mirror: I test drove the RF and the rear visibility was blocked by the buttresses.
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Barry Manclark
I drove the MX-5 wanting to like it and subsequently make the purchase. . Mmmm Very disappointing; Here in Australia we have a bunch of 2 liter cars producing from 210 up over 300bhp. Why on earth do we get an engine that is well suited to those super-conservative Camry owners that love to hold up traffic at 20 - 30 kilometers/hr under the speed limitIt also rolls like a Citroen It seems like Excitement was clearly ruled out in the design phase. Instead of looking forward to ownership, I cut the test drive short and returned the car. There were far better engines in the 70s, Alfa 1750GTV comes to mind.
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I drove the MX-5 wanting to like it and subsequently make the purchase. . Mmmm Very disappointing; Here in Australia we have a bunch of 2 liter cars producing from 210 up over 300bhp. Why on earth do we get an engine that is well suited to those super-conservative Camry owners that love to hold up traffic at 20 - 30 kilometers/hr under the speed limitIt also rolls like a Citroen It seems like Excitement was clearly ruled out in the design phase. Instead of looking forward to ownership, I cut the test drive short and returned the car. There were far better engines in the 70s, Alfa 1750GTV comes to mind.
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Jim Tatman
Great review, great video, very informative. I drove a 2017 model MX-5 roadster a while back and totally loved it. Looking forward to checking out the RF model now that it has a little more power. Back in the late 70s, I owned a wonderful 1976 Fiat X1/9 that had the removable roof panel with the fixed rear window and buttresses, and the RF model reminds me of that car, which I also loved, despite Fiats terrible reputation for reliability. Still, at nearly 40K out the door, it is seems rather expensive.
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Great review, great video, very informative. I drove a 2017 model MX-5 roadster a while back and totally loved it. Looking forward to checking out the RF model now that it has a little more power. Back in the late 70s, I owned a wonderful 1976 Fiat X1/9 that had the removable roof panel with the fixed rear window and buttresses, and the RF model reminds me of that car, which I also loved, despite Fiats terrible reputation for reliability. Still, at nearly 40K out the door, it is seems rather expensive.
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Bart Rammeloo
Just wanted to add that you can indeed use the MX-5 as a daily commuter car. I drive mine to the office every day of the week. Thats a total of 150 km per day. Half of that trip is on the highway. In my case that adds up to around 35, 000 km per year. Even though I live in Belgium (not really known for its great weather, the top is down 95% of the time. You can fit a booster seat on the passenger side, and my five year old just loves it. Worth every single penny.
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Just wanted to add that you can indeed use the MX-5 as a daily commuter car. I drive mine to the office every day of the week. Thats a total of 150 km per day. Half of that trip is on the highway. In my case that adds up to around 35, 000 km per year. Even though I live in Belgium (not really known for its great weather, the top is down 95% of the time. You can fit a booster seat on the passenger side, and my five year old just loves it. Worth every single penny.
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watershed44
Alex on AutosHave to remember that if you want more comfort and features you probably shouldnt be looking at a convertible roadster. If youre looking for a traditional sports car this is THE ONLY true choice, and its PERFECT. Id go for the base line convertible. Pure sporting car Id be a bit wary of the power hardtop because if it breaks its going to cost a LOT of money to fix many times although there are some faults that are free or cheap to repair.
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Alex on AutosHave to remember that if you want more comfort and features you probably shouldnt be looking at a convertible roadster. If youre looking for a traditional sports car this is THE ONLY true choice, and its PERFECT. Id go for the base line convertible. Pure sporting car Id be a bit wary of the power hardtop because if it breaks its going to cost a LOT of money to fix many times although there are some faults that are free or cheap to repair.
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