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MotorTranscript
00:00 Hi there. At Motor Trend, we have always had a special relationship with the Mazda Miata.
00:07 Because we invented it. True story. In the late 1970s, Bob Hall was writing for us, and he was asked by the then president of Mazda,
00:15 "What kind of car should we build?" Bob, being an automotive journalist, said, "Ooh, it should be small and light and quick,
00:22 and you should be able to catch bugs in your teeth, and it should be just like an old British roadster,
00:26 except it should start every morning and then at night it shouldn't create a lake of oil in your garage."
00:30 Fast forward a decade, and Mazda gave the world the Miata. Since then, they've gone on to sell almost one million of them,
00:38 making it the most successful roadster of all time. The question becomes, is the new, fourth-generation, 2016 Miata as good to drive
00:48 as the first, second, and third-gen cars? Of course it is, and I'm going to tell you why.
00:54 [Music]
01:22 So let's talk about the new, fourth-generation, ND Miata, because it is all new for 2016.
01:29 Biggest changes, obviously, are the way it looks. Mazda decided to butch it up. They wanted a more masculine car.
01:35 They wanted to get away from the stigma that only homosexual hairdressers drive these things,
01:40 which I always thought was weird because my friend who's gay who cuts hair has a beat-ass 1970 Chevy C10 pickup.
01:46 Anyways, they've made the front angrier. I don't know if it's more masculine, but it's definitely got this, like,
01:52 insect-y, Robo-tech kind of thing going on. Not horrible, not great, it's okay. The rear is really nice.
01:59 The more you look at it, the more you will see it's a BMW Z8 mixed with a Jaguar F-Type, but miniaturized.
02:06 I think that's its strongest angle. I think the side profile is particularly strong, especially this nice, muscular rear haunch,
02:13 which of course makes it more masculine. Or is that feminine?
02:17 Under this hood, normally, sits a 2-liter naturally aspirated inline-four that makes 155 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque.
02:30 Of course, this is a Japanese-spec car, so this is actually a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated inline-four that makes 130 horsepower
02:39 and about 111 pound-feet of torque. Besides power, what's the difference between the two?
02:45 Weight. In this configuration, this car is over 100 pounds lighter than the 2-liter, which of course, if you're into handling, is very important.
02:55 I asked Mazda, I said, "Hey, is there ever a chance that we're going to get the 1.5-liter in the States?"
02:59 And they said, "Ah, you Americans, you like to bare your right foot and pass people without having to drop two gears."
03:05 But they didn't say no, so the answer is maybe.
03:09 This is going to be real graceful once you do this.
03:13 Rather than having a seat height adjuster, what they decided was to put the seat on an elevated track,
03:19 so as it rolls forward like this, it actually elevates. And their thinking was that if you're short and you can't reach the pedals,
03:26 if you go forward, you probably also want to sit up higher. Saves 17 pounds per seat.
03:32 And finally, you're probably wondering why I'm wearing this horribly cheap rental tuxedo.
03:37 Reason is, about 100 kilometers that way, somebody once filmed a James Bond movie, and my producers thought it would be hysterical if I wore it.
03:45 Obviously, it was a complete and total failure. Let me change into something more comfortable.
03:51 [music]
03:53 Ugh, this is so much better.
04:18 So, I am on Scotland's most horrific road.
04:21 It's wet, there's no shoulder, there's semi-trucks coming at me, which you'll probably see in a second.
04:29 But I'm in a Miata, which is fabulous. Top is down, going over 30 miles an hour, rain is not in my hair.
04:37 One of the best shifters in the world. Mazda will actually tell you it's the best, but they don't drive a lot of Hondas, I guess.
04:44 I'm a little hesitant to take my eyes off the road because of the condition of this road, but I'm still having fun.
04:50 Oh look, a semi-truck. Ha ha!
04:53 Let's talk about power. As we discussed, this is actually the 1.5 liter inline-four, an engine we're not getting in the States.
05:04 This is a pre-production car, it's not on sale in the US yet. By the time you watch this video, it will be.
05:12 It makes 130 horsepower or thereabouts, and about 111 pound-feet of torque.
05:17 And that doesn't sound like a lot, but this car weighs nothing. In fact, the 1.5 liter weighs less than the 1989 car.
05:26 I'm not kidding, it actually weighs less. And this has airbags and seat heaters.
05:32 Whoa!
05:34 And a decent nav system.
05:41 We didn't get cream, that was... Did you see that?
05:44 Holy sh*t.
05:46 Now look, many of you are gearing up to write something in the comments like, "LOL, for that kind of money, I could have 17 Fox Body Mustangs with clean flows that run 9 seconds in the quarter."
05:59 And I have no doubt you could, but you're missing the point.
06:03 While this car is absolutely fast enough, that's not what it's about.
06:07 Handling, handling, handling. The Miata is about handling.
06:13 Is there a better handling production car?
06:16 Not really.
06:21 As much as I'm loving the Miata, and I'm really loving the Miata, the handling, 7,000 RPM, naturally aspirated engine,
06:31 I love how softly the traction control kicks on when the tires are losing grip because it's soaking wet out because we have a break in the rain.
06:38 As much as I love this car right now, I have to get off this road.
06:41 It's heavily trafficked, there's stone walls everywhere.
06:44 Some of the very best driving roads in the world are right here in Scotland.
06:49 And we're going to go find one.
06:52 [Engine revving]
06:54 This car and this road, I hope one day all of you get to experience something like this.
07:08 This is a narrow Scottish, it has to be a C road.
07:15 The British always like to talk about their B roads, but this is smaller than that.
07:20 And this car can just, it's just so perfectly matched.
07:25 I know we've already established it, but in case you're wondering how this car is to drive, it's so impossibly good.
07:33 Everything's right. The steering wheel's right, the shift is right, the pedals are right, easy heel and toe downshifts.
07:40 And again, the small engine, but it revs so freely, the car's so light, you have plenty of power for what you want to do.
07:49 The ride, the ride's even good.
07:51 They've got control arms everywhere, and while they obviously give it superior handling, they also give it this wonderful ride quality.
07:58 So one question might be, are there any cars that compete with the Miata?
08:03 And the answer is, not really.
08:05 I mean, yeah, you know, yes, you can get a used Boxster.
08:08 But it's just kind of a different thing.
08:10 It's going to be a much more powerful car, you'll probably get one for the same money as a new Miata.
08:15 But it's just different. Nothing wrong with the Boxster.
08:18 It's just mid-engine, where this is the classic front-engine, rear-wheel drive.
08:22 Pick your poison, but, you know, Miatas are just unique.
08:27 You know, it goes back to what Bob Hall was talking about in the '70s.
08:31 I want a light, British-ish roadster, but I want it to start and be dependable and fun.
08:39 I just want it to be fun, and that's exactly what this car is.
08:44 So you take all those attributes, right, the great turn-in, the incredible reflexes, the balance,
08:49 and you blend them all together, and what you wind up with is something that's a momentum car.
08:54 You know, it's not the fastest accelerating car on the block.
08:57 We've established that. But once you're going, you just don't have to slow down.
09:01 You can just jam through corners.
09:03 It's just a wonderful feeling.
09:08 Actually, the very definition of driving fun.
09:14 We're coming up on our annual Best Driver's Car competition.
09:17 The Miata here will be competing.
09:19 And, you know, we always talk about what makes a really good driver's car.
09:24 And there's several things, of course, but one of them is driver's confidence.
09:29 And the Miata, and again, I guess it's similar to a Boxster,
09:33 but I really believe I can place this car anywhere I want.
09:39 Whoa! Like that.
09:42 [engine revving]
09:44 Anyways, it's a very confidence-inspiring car, like all great driver's cars,
09:49 but it's also more flickable, more tossable, more fun.
09:53 [music]
09:59 You know, when you do these videos, you want to point out, "Aha, there's something bad about this car."
10:04 It's crammed, just nowhere to really put your sunglasses,
10:09 the trunk's not all that big, but who cares?
10:12 You know, if you're buying this as a primary car, you're cool, good for you.
10:15 If this is your secondary car, then none of that matters.
10:18 This is a car you pull out on the weekends, and you find your favorite road, and you go murder it.
10:23 And then it doesn't have downsides. It just doesn't.
10:27 In fact, I feel like I've been driving all day, and we've still got two-thirds of a tank of gas.
10:33 It's efficient, and we've been driving like this.
10:37 [engine revving]
10:39 So at the beginning of the video, I went ahead and told you that, yes,
10:42 this Miata is better than every Miata that's ever come before it.
10:46 And after a few hundred miles through Scotland, still totally true.
10:50 Why? Why is that?
10:52 Well, you know, it's the original idea done better.
10:56 And again, it's not like they amped it up.
10:59 It's not suddenly making 600 horsepower, or anything like that.
11:03 It's not a dream. But what it is, is a very focused, a very articulated, a very distilled version
11:08 of the essence of what makes a Miata a Miata.
11:11 And remember what that is, it's the idea, the notion, that the rider and the horse are one.
11:17 And it's truer now than it ever has been.
11:20 [engine revving]
11:22 In its own little way, this car is simply mega.
11:27 Like that.
11:32 [laughing]
11:34 Nice you got that light on.
11:36 [laughing]
11:38 He keeps touching me.
11:40 He's playing with my blouse.
11:43 And we're going to die.
11:46 And, over here.
11:48 Um, alright, what do you think, turn back?
11:54 We're disintegrated.
11:56 Caution. That's probably a good sign we should turn back.
12:01 (laughing)
12:03 We're about to fookin' die.