Road and Track Article
Photo Gallery: Mazda MX-5 MiataThere has been much buzz about the new MX-5 (aka Miata) on the national and international message boards. Any why not? The new Miata is quite an update.
Road and Track has some pictures (liked above) of the new car and it looks pretty sharp. However options still differ widely regarding Mazda hitting or missing the mark on the new car.
For instance issues about the new car's weight, a big selling point of the original (NA ) Miata are being raised:
They said the entry-level Club Sport model is 291 lbs. heavier than the original car, and out tester is a whopping 316 heavier.
Some fans of the new NC (it's unofficial name amoung Miataphiles) quickly came to it's defense.
I don't think its necessarily fair to compare the NC's weight to the
NA's weight, particularly given that this car is a bigger car, has three more airbags than the NA, much bigger wheels, etc. It seems Mazda did its best to keep the weight down given all the safety restraints.
.. and ..
2498 lbs is 1132 kg. In the registration papers for my -91 NA its base
weight is listed as being 1080 kg (2378 lbs). I must say that an extra 120 lbs for a larger engine, four airbags, lots of equipment, much chassis stiffening components etc is not too much of a weight gain.
The car tested appears to be one given to the press during the Hawaian release event. It's said to be a 'mid-spec' car equipped with 17" wheels, 6-speed transmission and the sport suspension which included Bilstein dampers.
Speaking of the 6-speed it is also a point of discussion and comparison to the original car are of course going to be made.
The article said:
"the new 6spd is an improvement over the outgoing one, but lacks the snick-snick feel of the old five-speed".
Owning one of the originals (1990 model year) I can attest to the wonderful 5-speed these cars were originally release with and I guess I'm not the only one.
Loss of snick-snick is a big loss. I prefer the 5 Speed, but it appears
destined for only the less equipped models.
.. and ..
Regarding the six speed gearbox in the NC - I still think that the
gearbox in my NA is one of the best gearboxes I've ever sampled. The gearbox in the 1,8 NA is a bit more "thin", it feels less sturdy somehow. The two NB's I've driven, a 1998 (yes, here we had a '98 NB) and a 2001 had the same feeling. It's still a really, really good gearbox but not quite like the one in my NA.
.. and ..
I am one Miata enthusiast that wishes Mazda had never abandoned the
original 5-speed tranny. The 5-speed in my '92 was perfection, a real joy to shift. By contrast, I find the 6-speed in my '01 to be much notchier (despite trying several different gear lubricants). The only real advantage I find with the 6-speed is that 3rd gear is placed such that I don't find myself shifting nearly as much when driving the twisties.
However it sounds like the new MX-5 will be available with a 5-speed as well. This sounds like a wise move if in fact it has been strenghtned since engine mods and swaps are a common fate for the little roadster.
"The five-speed manual transmission is carried over from the
second-generation MX-5 with key changes. To handle the additional torque, the inner structure of the transmission, the counter shaft, and third gear are stronger. Triple-cone synchronizers for first and second gears, double-cone synchros for third, and a carbon-type synchro for fourth reduce shift effort.
Check out the article and the pictures if you get a chance. It still has the lines of the previous models but somewhat more muscular. Jury is still out on the fender flairs for the most part but having seen the car in person at the MotoGP in Monterey California a couple weeks back I can say that did not look ugly in the least.
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