I love this car. I grew up in Southern California and as such I am a great lover of convertibles. Winter night? Who cares? Drop the top and cruise with the heaters on. And everything was good. Cranked some James Brown, donned a Santa hat and a nice scarf, and blasted over to my girlfriend's house (whose neighbors, I speculate, now think either I'm some sort of criminal or that she has several boyfriends, all of whom drive brand-new cars -- and one semi-decrepit BMW). The Miata does everything right. The top drops and goes back up in about 10 seconds. Simple, no hassle, one latch, quick. Idiot-proof. No need to get out of the car. That short-throw six-speed shifter is heaven on earth. The engine note. Dios Mio! That fantastic handling! Oh Nelly! Even my 6'1, 200+ frame, while a little difficult to get in and out, fit perfectly and comfortably. My girl lives on a semi-dark residential street with no sidewalks and a lot of dog-walkers and I was even blown away by those fantastic headlights, which illuminated from the left side of the road to the far right, showing me exactly the way to go. A virtual movie theater screen of clear light. Even the Miata's diminutive size didn't bother me, despite the huge trucks and buses and assorted apartments-on-wheels. Because it's just so SOLID. Feels great. Well built. No fear, even against an Expedition. (At least that's what I keep telilng myself)
Maybe one criticism regards that utterly fantastic, high-revving engine note. In 6th gear on the freeway, it still sounds loud. Wonderfully loud, but it never seems as if it's really settled in for a long haul, relaxed down to about 2,200 rpm. I've driven this car before, on one long drive back from our performance driving school in Monterey, and that engine sound sorta bothered me. But as I said in the intro, that's why the powers above provided us with James Brown. You want to blast through the gears, no stereo. Ready for some long-distance cruising, "Good gawd, y'all! Haaiyyoooow!"
Doug Lloyd, Copy Editor, @ 15,412 miles
desmolicious says:
04:45 PM, 12/14/06
Wait, I thought it was "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything nice"...
priuscrusher says:
06:25 PM, 12/14/06
Boring. If a car you like has no storage then it warrants a sentence or two. If it's a car that is cooler than the one you like you post and post and post about lack of storage.
dderosa says:
06:34 PM, 12/14/06
I thought it was "If you can't say anything nice, come sit by me."
jsabowabo says:
06:38 PM, 12/14/06
Well said, I don't hear much mention of the headlights, but they are by far the best lights I've ever seen in a car, period. This car is just too much fun to drive. The only major change I would make is giving it a taller 6th gear; it really dosen't need to be reving to 4k while cruising the interstate.
blueguydotcom says:
01:42 AM, 12/15/06
jsabowabo - the short gearing is a common mazda mistake. they never set th ration for the cruising gear to a level that will net high mileage. mazda's been making that one glaring mistake for decades.
scott65 says:
07:57 PM, 12/15/06
Edmunds = We hate the Solstice and will continue to bad mouth it...even though it is no longer even in the fleet
blueguydotcom says:
11:16 AM, 12/18/06
Scott - the two are considered competition. It's only logical that edmunds will compare them as they have extensive experience with both. Maybe Pontiac/GM should make a better car?
crashtestdingo says:
01:18 AM, 12/26/06
James Brown, R.I.P.
allcarsrcool says:
08:36 AM, 12/26/06
The Mazda is the Better car. Just wait when you are in your pontiac solstice and...
1 when you have to put up and down the top. More than a 10 second process by far.
&
2 when you want to take a trip with luggage with the top down. You'll be getting a lap dance the whole way.
&
3 If you actually take the trip with the top up, try acessing your luggage when you get there. Backwards opening trunk that can only be acessed when the top its partially lifted. Stupid.
This is exactly why the edmunds people say the miata is the better car. You can actually put your top down without affecting the cargo space and you can also acess the cargo without disturbing the top. You can also, with the top up, throw soft items behind you in the place where the top resides when it is down. SMART.
Though the Solstice is sexy.
louart says:
02:36 PM, 02/29/08
Now looking back at all your silly miata biased post and seeing the incredible GXP blow the doors off all competition then peeking over to see miata sales down 30%.........
all of a sudden Solstice is the king of racing and the silence from Edmunds is wonderful!!!! 2007 Cool GXP with 5000 mi
and we love it...........
irnmdn says:
03:41 PM, 03/ 8/08
Wait till MS MX-5 comes out, it will blow GXP's top away!