But, of course, Miata has two seats and a drop top, Prix has four doors and a solid roof. And Miata is a blast with the top down. To keep the draft from slapping at your coiffure, you can get the optional windblocker, a plastic mini-curtain that lifts up from behind the seats. When up, that canvas top puts side and rear visibility at a premium and makes an adventure of slipping out from between two cars in the mall parking lot. One nice feature: the backlight, which had been plastic and which became marred after a few openings and closings, is now glass and comes with a defogger.
Send thank-you cards to 30, club members. The Miata we tested came with the leather option package, which includes leather seats, air conditioning, carpeted floor mats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, inch alloy wheels with locks inch standard , cruise control, Bose audio system with CD player, power steering, power mirrors, power windows, power antenna and power door locks, plus the windblocker.
The hardtop from past models will fit on the '99 roadster. One option you can't get is power seats. Never had them, never will, Aikens insists, largely because none of the 30, Miata Clubbers has asked for them.
The 5-speed is a short-throw, smooth-shifting unit with far less vibration than in the past. The character of this toy roadster demands manual over automatic. As for ride and handling, Mazda beefed up torsional rigidity for '99, which means you experience a more solid feel in the cabin and less commotion. Tracking is also a bit wider to improve road stability, which is enhanced with the inch treads, plus the front and rear stabilizer bars.
The package is complemented by power four-wheel disc brakes and rack-and-pinion steering that allows for nimble maneuvers. Miata may be built in Japan, but it has roots in Chicago. It introduced Generation II, however, at the Detroit Auto Show, where the roadster joined dozens of other new cars in becoming invisible in the presence of the Volkswagen Beetle. Ironically, the '90 Miata and '98 Beetle have something in common.
The '90 Miata, like '98 Beetle, attracted huge crowds. The latter is a fire-red Mazdaspeed variant chosen by the US team. The C is for Coupe, and just were made in various trims. It's a few years away from being importable into the U. It's quicker than the Mazdaspeed, and features tuning by Prodrive. The third-generation MX-5 is the Porsche of Miatas. Bigger and heavier, it's everyone's least-favorite Miata, but guess what?
Everyone is wrong. In actual fact, the NC is wonderful to drive, just overlooked. Just like the Except without the potential for catastrophic bearing failure. Early models rode a little too high, and the smiley-faced styling wasn't to everyone's taste, but lower an NC over a set of sticky tires and Enkei RPF-1s, and it's a winner.
Further, while the power-retractable hardtop available in later models is sometimes seen by enthusiast owners as an unnecessary weight to carry around, it is a work of engineering genius. It also adds to the all-weather capability of the car and gives you a little additional security against break-ins. Even better, the NC is new enough to be free from the neglect you can find on its ancestors—remember, most NAs are nearly thirty years old by now.
And, with hp and some much-needed torque from a new 2. It's also less claustrophobic than the later ND. Initially listed at hp, changes in horsepower measurement meant a drop to hp for later models. Really, the 2. While earlier Miatas used a four-speed auto, the NC got a six-speed that Mazda continues to use in the fourth-generation car. An automatic Miata might not be a purist's choice, but it shifts nicely.
It's not as roly-poly playful as the original Miata, and in later models is actually quite a serious little sportscar. Which is not to say it isn't incredibly good fun. Apart from the electric power steering being less talkative than in previous Miatas, the ND is lean, athletic, and poised. The suspension is slightly soft, which can teach a novice driver a great deal about weight transfer, and is very approachable. Add a few minor suspension tweaks, and it's a wee scalpel of a thing.
With a dedicated approach to lightweighting that included hollowed-out sun visors, the first version of the ND provided an increase in performance over the NC despite being initially less powerful, at hp. For the model year, the MX-5 got a power bump to hp, and a higher redline. But picking either motor is fine with a chassis that's such a sparkling delight. And tipping the scales at lbs in its most recent soft-top form, the ND MX-5 was good enough to warrant inclusion at a super-shootout against the likes of the McLaren F1 and the Shelby Cobra.
Or possibly great. The fact that they're an afterthought tells you all you need to know about this car's intent. With the hp engine, the weight of the folding mechanism only represents about a 5-hp penalty. The second-gen Miata ditched the iconic pop-up headlights of its predecessor, largely thanks to revised pedestrian crash safety standards.
The NB Miata was powered by the same 1. The new Miata was also heavier than its forebear, coming in around 2, pounds. When equipped with the five-speed manual transmission, the '99 Miata could sprint to 60 mph in about 8 seconds flat, but a newly optional six-speed manual gearbox shaved half a second off that time.
The zip-out plastic window from the previous-generation's soft top was replaced with proper rear glass and a defogger.
The Miata even got a retractable wind deflector to keep things a little less blustery in the cabin when the top was down. The Mazdaspeed Miata was the only one to get a turbocharger, and produced a healthy horsepower. An update came in , where the Miata got a revised front fascia with standard fog lights. Horsepower increased from to thanks to a revamped intake and exhaust system, and all Miatas got more supportive seats as well as a new instrument panel.
New inch wheels became available, and the front brakes got a bit bigger, too. The holy grail of Miatas OK, I'm biased came in , when the turbocharged Mazdaspeed version launched. Sure, the tiny little turbo only put out 7. Just 4, Mazdaspeed Miatas were produced in , with an additional 1, arriving in -- production was limited due to an unfortunate fire at the factory. Mazda officially dropped the Miata nomenclature for the third-generation NC model, simply calling the car MX-5, even though it never really stuck.
Why would you ever want to drop a name like Miata? The NC got a healthy increase in power -- horsepower and pound-feet of torque from a 2. A five-speed manual transmission came standard, but a six-speed stick was optional. What's more, buyers could opt for a six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The NC Miata added a tilt-steering column to its list of comfort and convenience features, and in mid, a power-retractable hardtop became available.
New headlights and taillights arrived in as part of a face-lift, as did a redesigned grille reminiscent of the smiley-face Mazda3 and RX A few engine upgrades increased the engine's redline by rpm, to 7, rpm, making it more enjoyable to really wind out each gear.
On the other hand, horsepower had dropped slightly to , thanks to new SAE power-rating standards introduced in Aside from a couple of special editions and a Club package, the NC Miata largely stayed the course until the fourth-generation car arrived in
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