Quote:
Originally Posted by Vracer111
I just drove a Club Sport 2016 Miata yesterday, and honestly have no desire to ever get one. Truthfully, I would consider the Nissan Juke Nismo RS (which I also drove) before even thinking about the miata...that thing is a hoot and corners flat, much like the FR-S actually.
Things that bug me about the new Miata:
1. The shifter....maybe it's just me, but the shifter is much worse than the FRS; throw feels longer while the knob is freaking buried low in the center console, the resistance and feel is too light, ridiculously light to the point of being really annoying with neutral just a point you pass through from gear to gear. Actually I'm going to just state the truth - I can't stand the shifter whatsover...it's the very opposite of how I want a shifter, other than there being no slop/rubberiness with it. It has ZERO positive feel to engaging the gears, particularly neutral. While I don't particularly care for the stock FR-S shifter either, at least it has a positive feel to it and it's easy to shift into neutral - like when you actually want to put it and leave it in neutral. With the miata it was frustrating the hell out of me as it just wants to naturally go from gear to gear, overshooting neutral. If CAE made a shifter for the miata then all would be good... but they don't. Maybe the aftermarket has a fix for the ridiculous miata shifter, if not I'd never want to drive one again.
2. The seating position...Miata are made for short people, or those with short legs at least. It was nice that the wheel tilts...but still doesn't telescope. So by the time I found a comfortable enough seating position, the wheel was still about 1/2" too far away while the top of the windshield was very uncomfortably close to my face, less than 2" away probably. The FR-S puts you much further back from the windshield plus steering is in a much more comfortable position. So to me a stock miata is still really only suitable for short people (less than 6').
3. The engineered in sway/body roll...not something I like whatsoever in a sports car. I can understand why they would want to do this from a 'fun' perspective, maybe: yeah it is a method of wiggling the car side to side at a very slow speed and feel it dance around for you. What it reminded me of was the time I put Dunlop direzza DZ-101's on a track tuned Integra RS...the car went from chassis and tires turning in as one unit to the tires turning in then chassis being dragged along because of marshmallow sidewalls. With the Integra I could whip the steering wheel back and forth quickly while traveling straight down the highway and the car would just yawn side to side while still traveling in a basically straight vector. That tire/wheel set was taken off ASAP... The miata very much reminded me of that, but not to the extreme the Integra was capable of. Fun to me is ABSOLUTE steering precision where the car goes exactly how you point it, not slewing the chassis about at different angles compared to the actual vector of travel (while the tires are in complete traction with the road..) The FR-S is pretty much the only car I've yet to touch the suspension on because it does exactly what I want it to with such precision. The miata would need some suspension work to get rid of the 'slop'...
Now the miata is not a bad car...it's nicely done and handles quickly and well. It's just the exact manner that it goes about it is not my preference at all. I like, no strike that, I LOVE how the FR-S executes handling through its chassis...it aligns perfectly for how I want a car to respond to my inputs.
I will give the miata praise for its interior, motor, and clutch...very, very nicely done. Too bad the rest of the car (in regards to the driving experience) just doesn't work well for me.
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How exactly does one one "overshoot neutral"...?
I haven't driven one yet, but I think you're the only person I've seen complain about the shifter. Even the guy in this video says good things about it in his ND review video. Most people say the shifters in the Miata and FRS/BRZ are among the best around, behind the S2000's shifter. He also says he's 6'3" and fits in the car just fine. Doesn't look like he's pressed up against the windshield to me.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syIaA_YcaGg"]2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata - The Rebirth Of The King? - YouTube[/ame]