Too bad none of the car magazines thought so. You need to spend nearly 30k for the Solstice GXP turbo to beat the Miata, and it still lacks a usable trunk, has a truly lousy top and the build quality is inferior. Not to mention that the Miata has a more balanced and sorted chassis as well as a super-slick 6 speed.
As to those guys who refer to the Miata as a lady's car... LOLOL Trust me, very few "real men" could drive the Miata to its limits. It's owned its class in SCCA racing since it first arrived. It has been a perennial member of Car and Drivers Ten Best since 1989.
(Image removed from quote.)
My regards,
Widewing
A family friend bought a new BMW 328i X-drive and was wondering "where he could go to stretch it's legs." I took him to an abandoned parking lot devoid of any obstructions and told him to "go for it." He wouldn't ride on the brink of drifting, although he hinted at it. I asked him if I could "give it a whirl". I had him wondering what else the car was capable of. I even cleaned the rubber off of his wheels.
I went to Camp Jeep and was drifting in the provided Grand Cherokee SRT at "Road America", as was my buddy. The chap in the pace car said "we'll be going about 80mph around this course." I drifted around every corner with my wife laughing her arse in disbelief. The last straightaway to the finish line, I laid up and left a good gap to the pace car. I punched it to 135mph. The guy walked up and simply said "That was some good f**king driving!"
If I could drive for a living, I'd do it, but I'm not 5'3, 130.
Nothing compares to the smell of baked rubber from tires, nothing.
Again WW, I've been in the Miatas before and they just leave you "missing something". I've yet to be able to get behind the wheel of a Mazdaspeed Miata though. But, those border on $29,000.