{"id":18063,"date":"2016-02-13T12:29:29","date_gmt":"2016-02-13T16:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=18063"},"modified":"2016-02-13T12:29:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-13T16:29:29","slug":"payne-how-do-i-love-miata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2016\/02\/payne-how-do-i-love-miata","title":{"rendered":"Payne: How do I love Miata?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"miata_topless\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 28 degrees outside. Gloves? Check. Hat? Check. Heater cranked to 84 degree max, windows up and top down? Check. In Michigan you have to embrace the six-month winters or go stir crazy. Having a\u00a02016 Mazda Miata MX-5<\/a>\u00a0in your driveway helps.<\/p>\n

How do I love the new Miata? Let me count the ways:<\/p>\n

1. Above all, it is \u2013 after 26 years \u2013 still the raw, throwback car that it set out to be. Just over a quarter-century after it was introduced, the fourth-generation car is the same weight as the original. Heck, I\u2019m not the same weight I was 26 years ago. And neither is any other car on the market I can think of.\u00a0The BMW M3<\/a>, for example \u2013 an icon of automotive athleticism \u2013 weighs 900 pounds more than it did three decades ago.\u00a0Nine-hundred pounds<\/a>. That\u2019s 40 percent of a Miata.<\/p>\n

2. That raw character translates into throw-able, joyous handling. Go on. Turn off the traction control. Go too fast into a corner. Throw the front end into the apex. Let the rear slide out. It\u2019ll come back to you just like your favorite puppy. Lightweight. Good balance. Low center of gravity. All the things that make a predictable sports car.<\/p>\n

3. The shifter. Short, firm throws. Why doesn\u2019t every gearbox feel like this?<\/p>\n

4. That\u2019s gearbox as in\u00a0manual<\/em>\u00a0gearbox. Yeah, I know, automatics have made manuals an anachronism because they deliver better fuel economy, better zero-60 times, better sanity when you\u2019re trapped in a five-mile winter traffic backup on the Lodge because some lunkhead was driving his F-150 90 mph and did a barrel roll. But automatics lack one thing: total control. Heel-and-tow downshifts, rowing the box out to redline, drifting with throttle. The good stuff.<\/p>\n

5. A trunk big enough so you don\u2019t have to mail your luggage to your destination (lookin\u2019 at you,\u00a0Alfa Romeo 4C Spider<\/a>).<\/p>\n

6. Going topless is as easy as pulling off a T-shirt. When I get the spontaneous urge to put the top down and take Mrs. Payne out to dinner (she\u2019s more appreciative of my spontaneity when it\u2019s 80 degrees outside), the Miata is just as spontaneous. No manual required for a multi-step roof fold. No pull-down tabs that require the strength of Arnold Schwarzenegger (remember the last gen Camaro?). No long, Corvette-like button presses while the top folds into a tonneau cover in the rear (though the Vette\u2019s ability to drop the top up to 35 mph is a real convenience). No, all you have to do is flip back the switch, pull back the soft cover and stuff it behind the seats. With one arm. Without getting out of the car. And it\u2019s just as easy to put back up.<\/p>\n

7. In this age of alphanumeric badges, it\u2019s still OK to call the Mazda roadster a \u201cMiata.\u201d<\/p>\n

8. Distinctive design. At a time of me-too styling, Miata ditched its me-too, Lotus Elan, retro look for its own wardrobe. It took guts but it also rewards the Mazda\u2019s staying power. A quarter-century after it took a risk in the U.S. market, it is now an icon in its own right. A halo for the Mazda brand.<\/p>\n

9. Modern outside \u2013 but still festooned with interior quirks reminiscent of a British sports car. Quirks like cup holders that can snap into place at driver\u2019s elbow \u2013 or by the passenger\u2019s left knee. Cute \u2013 but you\u2019d be crazy to trust a McDonald\u2019s coffee in this baby. Of course, the sensible thing to do would be to put the cup holder in the middle of the console \u2013 but that\u2019s occupied by a rotary dial needed to operate a touchscreen that\u2019s only six inches away inside a car so small\u00a0everything<\/em>\u00a0is six inches away. Seriously, the 2,309-pound roadster is so small you can throw it in the back of a Suburban with your golf clubs for a weekend up north.<\/p>\n

10. You can buy a turn-key,\u00a0ready-to-race, Cup car<\/a>\u00a0to compete in the single-make, factory-supported, SCCA Miata MX-5 Cup series. And true to the affordable, $25,735 base Miata production sticker, the Cup car\u2019s 53-grand price is one of the cheapest ways you can go racing today. Which means those Michigan winter months will fly by as you prep your car and team for the opening round at Laguna Seca Raceway, California on April 29.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll still be winter in Michigan. But it\u2019s always 70 degrees and sunny at Laguna.<\/p>\n

\u201916 Mazda MX-5 Miata<\/p>\n

Vehicle type:\u00a0Front-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-passenger sports car<\/p>\n

Price:\u00a0$25,735 base ($31,015 GT as tested)<\/p>\n

Power plant:\u00a02.0-liter, dual overhead-cam 4-cylinder<\/p>\n

Power:\u00a0155 horsepower, 148 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\n

Transmission:\u00a0Six-speed manual and six-speed automatic<\/p>\n

Performance:\u00a00-60 mph, 5.9 seconds (Car & Driver)<\/p>\n

Weight:\u00a02,309 pounds<\/p>\n

Fuel economy:\u00a0EPA 27 mpg city\/34 mpg highway\/29.8 mpg heavily flogged by Payne<\/p>\n

Report card<\/p>\n

Highs:\u00a0Topless-made-easy; simple, affordable fun<\/p>\n

Lows:\u00a0Flimsy cupholders; BMW-like rotary infotainment dial<\/p>\n

Overall:\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 28 degrees outside. Gloves? Check. Hat? Check. Heater cranked to 84 degree max, windows up and top down? Check. In Michigan you have to embrace the six-month winters or go stir crazy. Having a\u00a02016 Mazda Miata MX-5\u00a0in your driveway helps. How do I love the new Miata? Let me count the ways: 1. Above […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18063"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18063"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18065,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18063\/revisions\/18065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}