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00:00Hi, my name is Thomas Holland, and I'm in a really good mood.
00:29This is the 2018 MX-5, and it is easily the most fun that you can legally have in a car.
00:41The Mazda MX-5 simply does not do boring.
00:45You have to hand it to Mazda, and in a world of crossovers and pickup trucks, they continue
00:48to make a joyful, non-compromising roadster.
00:52And they've even managed to make the engine look good without any flimsy plastic covers
00:56on it.
00:57Now, Mazda offered me the RF, which is arguably the better-looking car, but I'm a fan of the
01:01soft top, and that cherry red is new this year.
01:05I like how quick it is to go up and down, and there are a few other advantages I'll
01:09talk about in a minute.
01:10Mazda has also made the 7-inch touchscreen infotainment standard on all models this year,
01:15so that's nice.
01:16But the thing that I like the most about the MX-5 is that it continues to be sporty and
01:20practical all the time.
01:22You can easily store a week's worth of groceries in the trunk, or if you're like me, you'll
01:26just eat instant noodles all month because you are hauling around racing suspension for
01:29your track car.
01:30The engine is torquey and does not possess any of the pitfalls of its Toyota-slash-Subaru
01:35rivals, however, it is maybe a bit low on the horsepower department for the money.
01:40But any issues aside, the MX-5 is still focused on one thing.
01:45Everything about the MX-5 is just fun, and I'm serious about that.
01:50There isn't a single part of it that I don't like when it comes to the driving experience.
01:55Let's kick right off the bat with how light it feels.
01:59I am an NC generation Miata owner, and for those of you that know your Miatas, there's
02:04NA, there's NB, there's NC.
02:06NA is the one that has the pop-up headlamps, NB is the one that came after that, NC is
02:12the generation where the front ends kind of look like this, right?
02:16Or like this.
02:17And the NC has a really big reputation for being the biggest and the heaviest of all
02:23of the MX-5s.
02:25This generation though, the ND, which has been out for a couple of years, continues
02:29to be light and fun like the old ones, and I get to rag on the NC because I own one.
02:36They are heavier.
02:37This car definitely feels lighter and more playful than the NC generation Miata.
02:43The steering is definitely lighter than the NC, and it is electric, and I wouldn't say
02:47that it is quite as communicative as the NC generation.
02:52The hydraulic steering just has a little bit more feedback coming through the wheel.
02:56You can almost feel the chassis flexing, you can feel the suspension movements in the front
03:01through how the wheel kind of kicks and bucks.
03:04This wheel doesn't really do that as much, however that can be changed with different
03:07tire setups and alignment setups, so I'm not going to get really into that.
03:11The point is that everything about this car is light, in a really good way.
03:18Sometimes we like our cars to be heavy and strong and brutish, and that's good, but when
03:23it comes to an MX-5, and you're on a back road like this, you want the car to dance,
03:28and this car dances with the best of them.
03:32This one is the MX-5 GT, and if you're just looking to have fun with your MX-5, you don't
03:36need the GT.
03:37The GT has extra stuff like these leather seats with the cool stitching, Sirius satellite
03:42radio, some Bose sound system which is actually quite good, and a few other little convenience
03:49and comfort features all around the car.
03:51However, on the GS trim level is when you start to get into the good stuff.
03:55You get Bilstein dampers.
03:57It's actually really cool.
03:58You turn the wheel, look in, bright yellow Bilstein damper.
04:00It looks like something you would put aftermarket on your track car.
04:04You also get a limited slip differential.
04:06Please do not buy an MX-5 without an LSD.
04:10That is really the core of this car.
04:13Power to the rear, limited slip differential, steering in the front is uncluttered by any
04:18form of drive shafts, and you get the puristic driving experience that you can possibly get.
04:24Look at me, going into the twisties like this, the front end just kind of dances into the
04:30corner.
04:31The stock MX-5 has quite a lot of body roll, but that is not a bad thing.
04:36Never let anyone tell you that the body roll in an MX-5 is bad, ever.
04:41It's not.
04:42It actually plays into the character of the MX-5.
04:45It's what you want.
04:46It allows you to feel the chassis movement, allows you to feel the suspension, and that
04:50is what makes it so incredibly predictable and easy to drive at the limit.
04:55I haven't driven this one at the limit, but I have tracked and autocrossed several different
05:00ND generation MX-5s now, and they are just a joy.
05:05They are so easy to drive fast.
05:08I don't know how else I can stress that to you.
05:10There are cars out there that are faster, but they are more difficult to drive fast,
05:15and I would say that maybe they could be more rewarding.
05:17But the thing about the MX-5 is that it doesn't try to fight you.
05:21It will simply let you know if you do something a little bit wrong with a little gentle slap
05:27on the wrist, and then you can adjust your driving, learn, and become better with the
05:33MX-5.
05:34That's the beauty of this car is that it teaches you proper driving because it is so forgiving
05:42and it is so correct in its balance.
05:45It is so correct in the way that it delivers power that it just knows what's right and
05:50what's wrong, and it tells you clearly.
05:54That's the best part of the MX-5.
05:57So the body lean.
05:58Do not run away from that.
05:59Do not go, oh, it's lean.
06:01Look right now.
06:02Wee!
06:03Leans on the corners.
06:04Down to third gear.
06:05Turn it in.
06:06I can feel the whole thing going like this.
06:09It pitches, and it dives, and it rolls under acceleration and under braking.
06:13But that is what you want in an MX-5.
06:15Since the car is so light, the whole thing is just fun.
06:19What about how the car looks?
06:21I think this is a fantastic looking car.
06:24In fact, I've had tons of people stop, and you can see that they get up the courage to
06:30say it.
06:32One guy was in his truck, and he pulled up beside me, and he looked like he wanted to
06:35say something.
06:36I kind of like smiled at him and whatever.
06:37Then the next set of lights, he's like, all right, okay.
06:41He's this big guy in a truck.
06:42It's like he was admitting it to himself, not to me.
06:44He's just like, you know what?
06:46That's a really good looking car.
06:47I just wanted to say that, and then he like drove away really embarrassed.
06:52This MX-5 has a $200 Cherry Soft Top option.
06:56I like the Soft Top MX-5 personally better than the RF.
07:00Yes, the RF is better looking.
07:02However, the Soft Top is very good for a couple of reasons.
07:05Number one, there is less wind noise when the top is down.
07:08The RF actually has like the scoop up there for the retractable fastback.
07:12It's like a scoop.
07:13You hear it go all the time when you're driving.
07:16That gets old really quickly.
07:19I think that the Cherry Soft Top with the white paint, the pearl white paint, one of
07:23the best MX-5s that I've ever seen.
07:26That's new for this year.
07:27You couldn't get that before.
07:28That's a no-brain option if you ask me.
07:30I would put that Cherry Soft Top on anything.
07:32So what's under the hood?
07:33Well, it's still the 2-liter 16-valve 4-cylinder engine that makes 155 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque.
07:40Both of those fingers are reached at a fairly high RPM, which means, thankfully, you have
07:45to run out the gear to find it.
07:47That's not a bad thing in the MX-5, because all you want to do is run out the gears.
07:51And the beauty of the gearing, and how slow the car is, is that you can run through first,
07:56second, third, and not be anywhere near bad speeds on the road.
08:00Not very many cars you get to flat-out run through second gear and not be breaking the speed limit.
08:06That's hilarious.
08:07It's so good every single day to drive.
08:10Speaking of shifting, this is probably the best shifter I think I've ever used.
08:15I don't know if they have improved it for this year.
08:18I don't think they have.
08:20Previous NDs were very, very good, from what I remember.
08:22But for some reason, there's something tighter about this shifter this year.
08:26I don't know what it is, and it is easily the best shifter I've ever, ever used.
08:31There's something about this.
08:33It's so positive and so snappy, so predictable, that it's just a joy to use.
08:39Actually, the whole shifting experience is pretty much perfect.
08:44There's no rev hang when you shift through the gears.
08:46The revs fall quickly in between gears.
08:49The pedals are spaced absolutely perfectly for heel-toe downshifts.
08:53The revs rise quickly.
08:54The throttle response is good.
08:56You can nail four heel-toes in a row with this car at full braking without breaking a sweat.
09:03Listen, I'm going to brake and I'm going to downshift.
09:05I'm in fifth gear right now.
09:06I'm going to go into third to enter this bend.
09:09Fifth, braking, fourth, third.
09:12That was two heel-toes in a row.
09:14No jolt in the car whatsoever.
09:16Perfect.
09:18Down into fourth, and off we go.
09:20Down into third.
09:21Heel-toe.
09:22Brake, turn in.
09:23Love it.
09:24I'm going to slow right down and go into second.
09:25Down into second.
09:27Perfect.
09:28Literally perfect.
09:29Just the easiest I have ever, ever shifted.
09:33My car, which has like solid engine, it's a BMW.
09:36For those of you that don't follow my BMW build, you probably should.
09:39It's really hilarious.
09:40I mess up all the time.
09:41My car is constantly braking.
09:43Anyway, I have an E46 generation BMW, and it brakes all the time.
09:47But I've done everything I can.
09:49I put solid engine mounts, solid transmission mounts.
09:51I've got an aftermarket shifter, and it's still garbage compared to this Miata.
09:57So what's it like to live with the rest of the car?
09:59I don't find these seats to be the best.
10:01I find that they're a little bit narrow for my bottom end.
10:06I'm not a huge guy, but I'm not the smallest either.
10:09However, I've heard lots of people say that these seats are comfortable for them,
10:12so I'm not going to give it really that hard of a time.
10:15The problem that I have with the driving position,
10:18which I believe, I don't know if it's 100% yet,
10:20has been addressed with the 2019 MX-5.
10:24This steering wheel does not telescope.
10:26So I can't quite get the perfect driving position that I want.
10:29I find the steering wheel is a little bit too close to my knees.
10:32But I still have room underneath here and room for my legs
10:36to be comfortable when driving and shifting.
10:38I've reached the gear stick perfectly,
10:40reached the real handbrake perfectly.
10:42So everything is reachable and comfortable.
10:46No issues there whatsoever.
10:48The climate is an absolute cinch to use.
10:50Three knobs.
10:52We've got temperature on the left,
10:54fan in the middle, and then where the air is going on the right.
10:57No mysteries there.
10:59No searching for anything.
11:01Really, really like that.
11:03Mazda's infotainment is okay.
11:05I've got a home button.
11:07The actual home screen on the infotainment
11:09totally looks like the DVD menu
11:11for a Blade movie in the late 90s.
11:14It's really dumb graphics, I'll be honest.
11:17It's not my favorite.
11:19I definitely have come across infotainments
11:21that I find to be a little bit more intuitive than this.
11:24I do like having the knob down here, though, on the side.
11:28You can sit back and cruise and relax
11:30and change the radio station
11:32or turn up the volume, whatever it is.
11:34And we've got the buttons that take us to the different places.
11:38Home, navigation, and music.
11:41Once you're in the music area...
11:43Oh, see, I'm getting a call right now.
11:45Look at that.
11:47Oh, yeah, by the way...
11:49I'm not going to answer the call.
11:51Sorry, Mom.
11:53Right now, the speakers are coming right here,
11:55right behind my head.
11:57It's very loud for you, I'm sure.
11:59Loud for me, anyway.
12:01But the music and the phone
12:03comes through these speakers.
12:05Okay, I'm going to ignore that now.
12:07I can carry on a full conversation
12:09I've had no one complain yet
12:11with the top down and the windows down.
12:13That's awesome.
12:15So I can be cruising and just answer the phone
12:17and talk normally, and you don't have to yell.
12:19They've positioned the microphone in a really good place
12:21to carry on a conversation
12:23when you're cruising with the top down.
12:25That's fun.
12:27So absolutely no interrupted top-down cruising time.
12:29That's important if you have an MX-5
12:31because that's really what it's all about.
12:33Under music, it's fairly straightforward.
12:36I'm going to scroll through the bottom here.
12:38However, this screen is also a touch screen
12:40which is really, really nice.
12:42So if you don't want to deal with this knob,
12:44you just touch the screen.
12:46I found the screen isn't really super responsive.
12:48It's like it was designed
12:50as touch screen second, knob first.
12:52That's kind of the vibe you get
12:54when you try and use it.
12:56Anyway, back to the ergonomics.
12:58Everything is comfortable in here.
13:00We've got a nice spot for your arm.
13:02The shifter is right there.
13:04What you can see is the location of the cup holders.
13:06I don't really like where we're at right now with this.
13:08They're movable.
13:10You can remove them.
13:12One goes over in the passenger side leg well.
13:14If you have a larger passenger,
13:16you can't have that there when they're there.
13:18So that means it goes right back here behind you.
13:20It's not easy to take...
13:22Here's my tea.
13:24It's not easy to get it when it's behind you here.
13:26So this is kind of...
13:28Don't do that while driving.
13:30That's where the drink goes
13:32for you and the passenger.
13:34It's really not the best,
13:36so you can't really cruise with a coffee
13:38if you have a passenger.
13:40The NC used to have cup holders here and in the doors,
13:42which people complained about,
13:44but I don't mind them at all.
13:46So I do want a sip of my tea right now.
13:48No one's coming.
13:50There it is.
13:52Not the best.
13:54Don't really like that.
13:56I feel like there's got to be a better way
13:58of integrating that into what we've got going on here.
14:00They're really well laid out,
14:02and I don't have any issues with them whatsoever.
14:04Cruise control on one side,
14:06and volume control and controls
14:08for audio here.
14:10On my center gauge cluster,
14:12I've got three dials.
14:14I've got a nice big tack right in the center.
14:16Thank you, Mazda. That's the way that it should be.
14:18I've got a speedo off to the side,
14:20and I have a screen
14:22actually on the left,
14:24which tells me my engine temperature,
14:26my fuel, and my fuel economy.
14:28I can press this info button
14:30and scroll through the different things.
14:32I'm getting actually really good fuel economy.
14:34I'm getting 7.3 liters per 100 kilometers,
14:36and that's almost exclusively city.
14:38Right?
14:40And it's an MX-5.
14:42It seems like no matter how you drive it,
14:44you still get that fuel economy.
14:46It's not like with some performance cars.
14:48In order to get the fuel economy,
14:50you have to really, really baby it.
14:52I haven't been.
14:54I've been driving it like an MX-5,
14:56and I'm getting 7.3 liters per 100 kilometers.
14:58The car has lane departure warning,
15:00which I turn off immediately
15:02because when you're kind of like cruising around
15:04in the back road,
15:06you come close to the line sometimes.
15:08It beeps at you really easily.
15:10One thing that I thought was really, really good of them
15:12is that if you turn lane keep assist off,
15:14it does not turn itself back on
15:16when you restart the car.
15:18That's very important
15:20because I don't want to have to always
15:22turn off a feature that I don't like.
15:24We also have blind spot detection,
15:26which works very well,
15:28and one-button traction control,
15:30which is very important
15:32because the MX-5 truly comes alive
15:34when you turn off the traction control.
15:36With the limited slip differential,
15:38the Bilstein dampers,
15:40and a perfect weight distribution,
15:42this is an easy, easy, easy car to drive fast.
15:44If you have one of these,
15:46I implore you,
15:48take it to your local autocross course.
15:50Find a track school.
15:52You should look them up
15:54if you are in the Toronto area.
15:56You want to get your car on track
15:58to really, really experience what it's capable of?
16:00If you have an MX-5,
16:02you really should look them up
16:04to actually get this thing to the limit
16:06of what it's capable of,
16:08to experience what you're missing on the road.
16:10It just totally changes
16:12what you think a car is capable of.
16:14My name is Thomas Holland.
16:16You've been watching Throttle House.
16:18Make sure you check out all my BMW build videos
16:20and my one-track mind track review series
16:22where I take performance cars
16:24and put them head-to-head on the track.
16:26I recently did a Stinger versus a Mustang,
16:28which everybody's up in arms about
16:30because the Stinger, I won't ruin it for you.
16:32You can watch it.
16:34However, make sure you subscribe
16:36and hit the notification bell
16:38so you don't miss any more car reviews like this.
16:40I've got car reviews coming all summer,
16:42all winter, tons and tons and tons of different cars.
16:44Lots of stuff coming up that you are going to like.
16:46Thanks for watching Throttle House.
16:50Transcribed by https://otter.ai