Originally Posted by KAuss
It is also FWD which loses a lot of power when the weight is shifted to the rear, however I don't think it is gonna be a HUGE amount of difference... Especially given the low torque of the engine...
Funny thing is, I drove the tC, 350Z, NC Miata, G35C in that order when my friend wanted to lease a car after failing to find a NB Miata to buy... Obviously was not thrilled at all by the tC but it was his first choice... We then moved on to this second choice and I cried a little inside how boring / heavy the 350Z felt... (We ironically went shopping in his 2nd hand 300ZX lol) I literally had high hopes for this vehicle only to be let down by the biggest bit of disappointment when my 90 Integra LS was more fun to drive than this thing!
Then we moved on to my only choice (the NB was my suggestion too LOL) the NC MX-5... He didn't even want to test drive it, so I said heck, since I'm spending all this time finding this car with you I might as well test drive something to have fun in... Low and behold that was when Mazda was big on "Zoom Zoom" and the salesperson just filled the NC up with gas, got out of their seat, and told me to hop on the freeway and mash the hell out of the pedal... Paraphrasing, but meant every word... Needless to say a few laws were broken on public roads, and after a 15 min test drive with purely zero intent to purchase, I went back to my friend's 300ZX waiting in front of the dealership with a grin from ear to ear... Literally the car was so much fun to drive while I was in the car selling this car to him again, I was shivering waiting for another 15 minutes with the thing...
My friend then saw my excitement and asked if he should drive it also second guessing his decision to sit it out this round... I just keep staring at him with one of those "buddy movie" moments chanting, "dude!"
He then got out after much hesitation, came back with a smile bigger than mine (I told him about the "Zoom Zoom" LOL)... We literally without exaggerating, must of spent the next 30 minutes saying "dude!" to each other... We were both floating on cloud 9 as we headed to our last destination... G35C...
My friend wanted to find something that if it wasn't for maximum fun, was going to at least get the amenities of a luxury sports coupe... Having the lead foot we gained from driving the Miata, we took the G35C a bit harder than we have the 350Z... Amazingly, the G35C was more enjoyable... Not sure if the refinement hid some of the weight flaws, or was it the easier to navigate blind spots from the better car design... But we enjoyed it more than the 350Z...
Still, the whole time I sat there thinking, yeah this thing literally glues my butt to the seat, but I could never really put my foot all the way down on the gas pedal like I did the NC... Partially due to the familiarity of the vehicle and also not being "my car" I didn't want to crash it either... And that's where the whole thing stopped for me... I NEVER had this feeling driving the NC... The handing, brakes, even the gracious gas pedal glued to the floor made me feel safer than any vehicle I've ever driven...
So after that test drive, I spent my next 4 years still dreaming of the NC even went as far as to get a trade in quote for my truck to see if I can land me a pretty even trade with a new one...
To this date I love to have one, until 2009 when the FT86 was announced... Always wondered what a hardtop version of a Miata would feel like, I think I've finally found it... Now I hope the wait is worth the hype in every aspect...
P.S. My friend ended up leasing the NC for 2 years and I got to drive it the last week of the least... Got the grand touring with heated seats and man much fun was had, it was like a fling with a really hot chick, REALLY hot chick...
TL;DR
Test drove all cars, all were dogs, fell in love with NC, and a week affair with said car, hopes FT86 will be my fantasy hard top Miata...
The End...
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