This review first appeared in the October 2024 edition of the Cruisin' News, "Oregon, Nevada and California's classic auto news & marketplace."
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Sacramento, California --I well remember "Mazda Miata Mania" back in 1989, when otherwise intelligent, thoughtful adults lusted for the newly introduced sports car like youngsters craving a Cabbage Patch Kid on Christmas morning.
Some totally hooked motorists offered to pay twice the sticker price for the little beauty. Others shamelessly begged and slobbered for a mere test drive.
My week in the tested 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Grand Touring produced a flood of memories -- all of them good. Just scooting the thing around the neighborhood had me laughing out loud. What a pleasure!
It's not a Corvette-type of thing either. The 2-liter, four-cylinder engine packs a max 181 horsepower, but in this small package, you feel like you're blazing through the Bus Stop chicane on the Watkins Glen road course in New York.
And with the MX-5's super-low stance, you have the feeling that you're stuck to the pavement, just gliding on top of it at heart-racing speed. A rush? Absolutely.
And all these years later, the MX-5 still turns heads.
Curious folks approached me in parking lots and in my front yard, asking for details. I was only too happy to talk up the sporty car's charms.
While you feel every road imperfection driving the MX-5, the tester was extremely well balanced. It was rock-solid on corners taken a high speed. Steering response was excellent.
It looks racy just standing still. It has a few cosmetic tweaks: Exterior changes for 2024 include new LED lighting elements.
But the MX-5 is not stuck in the 1990s. The current version has been upgraded with numerous contemporary technology features, including blind-spot monitoring (a must riding this low to the pavement on freeways) and rear cross traffic alert.
Fuel mileage is an impressive 26 miles per gallon in the city and 35 mpg on the highway.
The bottom line on the tester's sticker was $39,895.
Modern amenities aside, the appeal remains the same as it was all those years ago. You can have fun in the sun, a blast on the open road and a take self-satisfying journey just cruising this roadster through your neighborhood.
The MX-5 Miata remains what it was from the beginning: a good-time car that always delivers a good-time drive.
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