I love ragtops, shifting gears, and my 981 Spyder in particular. I am fortunate to have two houses (not wealthy, but retired and happy), and I actually looked around for an additional Spyder to drive at our weekend house. I didn’t find anything that was particularly interesting (other than a PTS that was sold to someone else), and a friend recommended that I drive a new Miata. I drove it and I bought it. Wow!

I paid $26,000 (plus tax and license) for a new 2017 Grand Touring ragtop with manual transmission. It has navigation, heated seats, Bose, etc. More importantly, it is so much fun to drive!. That old saying about being more fun to drive a slow car fast really applies here. It’s not a Porsche, but it isn’t trying to be. This car is 75% of the fun at 25% of the cost. Plus, there is the “relax” factor. I can park it anywhere with no worries. Door dings, bird poop, scratches? Don’t care.

I’m still planning to buy another Spyder (I am first on the 718 Spyder list at my local Porsche dealer), but, until then, I’m having a lot of fun driving this Miata.

 

Nice ride and shot! There is something to be said for cheap, fun, reliable cars you don't have to worry about.

 

Yeah, the new Miata is a blast. I tell you, if the RF hardtop version had been out two years ago, it would’ve been a tough call between that and the 2010 Cayman I bought. Very different cars but both very good.

 

For the money it's hard to beat a Miata. My sons and I raced SM for several years- you could beat on those things and they just took it...

Even with a Miata though I'd be ticked if it got a door ding, etc- it's a sickness.

 

Beautiful! Congrats!

Spyder and Spyder-lite

 

Love it, I'm a big fan of the Miata's. Worry-free fun. Nearly bought one myself, and not ruling out the possibility that I might still!

 

Great buy! love Miatas, they're so good at the things I care about most. Totally agree on the "relax" factor, it's liberating when you have that option.

 

Congrats on your purchase! These cars are a blast to toss around.

 

Wow a great buy on the Grand Touring model. Think the MSRP is about $31K

 

That's a beautiful car!!

 

I experienced this wonderful car at the Skip Barber race school. I'm sure you'll have many enjoyable miles from that little gem.

 

Beautiful color combination!

I have always been a fan of the Miata, in fact it's what started my infatuation with convertible sports cars. After reading about the NA in all the car magazines as a young teen and finally driving one a couple of years later I knew I wanted that experience in a car.

I've heard the ND is very close to the NA in how it handles and carries its weight. I would love to test drive one and maybe add one to the stable eventually.

 

May I ask the speed on that car in top gear (6th) at exactly 3K rpm? My problem is to enjoy my toy cars, I need to travel quite far. No fun having the engine screaming at highway speeds anymore. That's why I didn't choose the manual CGTS, and went to PDK. Porsche, BMW, and others insist on leaving 6th gear short, when there's no track it's needed here (just at the 'ring). On my M3 V8 was doing 72 at 3K rpm. The 981 Porsche does 74. My PDK 76 in 6th (more than the manual) and 108 in 7th. I'd settle for a minimum of 85 in top gear. The ton is just about perfect, and would have been the right ratio for the PDK, which is a tad tall in 7th for the smallish NA engine IMO. But MUCH preferred than a shorter one. With just a puny 2L NA, I suspect the Miata will be quite high-strung too, but want to ask, before even wasting my time driving one. But I've also read great things about that little car, but I'll never buy a ragtop again, so it'd have to be the hardtop. Curious how much more cramped it feels vs our 981. My wife says my Cayman is fine, but wouldn't want to get into anything smaller. Thx.

 

As far as I can see, the only problem with the Miata is its size. I live in an area where about half of the traffic is comprised of SUVs and trucks. Soccer moms love SUVs because they are safe and can transport lots of kids. Not sure if one of these 5K lb SUVs would even know if they ran over a Miata. They may think that they just hit a speed bump.

 

We purchased our sports cars once we both hit the bit 60. My wife has the 2016 Miata and I have the Boxster; best of both worlds. They are fun cars and we fight over running errands to the store.