Stop me, stop me
The Mazda MX-5 Miata is still the standard of reference for people who care about driving. It's the best car with which to learn about driving, and nearly everybody you know has driven one or wants to drive one.
So our current long-term MX-5 surprised me a little. At 17,000 miles, our MX-5's brake pedal doesn't feel quite right. The pedal action is initially very light and lacks any feedback, and then the brake pads really bite. The overall braking action is not abrupt exactly, but it's not smooth, either.
It's not an issue when you're braking hard, but it can be difficult to brake lightly and smoothly in traffic situations. It's probably only something I'd notice, since I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like to stand the car on its nose under braking...
Our test car hasn't led a very hard life, and it's never even been to a race track (so far), so I'm pretty mystified. I have to say that this is the first MX-5 I've driven that has any reasonable amount of mileage on the odometer.
Turns out, this braking issue seems be apparent in the new-generation MX-5. Our sources tell us that it's difficult to know which part of the braking hardware is responsible. But apparently it's something the Mazda engineers plan to address.
So I guess it's not just me after all. A refreshing change….
carlisimo says:
05:34 PM, 02/ 8/07
Do you have that photo in high res? What does one have to do to get one taken like that?
genius163 says:
06:06 PM, 02/ 8/07
carlisimo: I took a picture similar to that once of Karl driving the long-term Pontiac Solstice. It doesn't look as good because I took it with my camera phone, but it has the same effect. We were both traveling at the same speed when I took the picture (approx. 60 mph).
banhugh says:
07:50 PM, 02/ 8/07
So in this picture, where is the car with the cameraman driving on, the grass? It seems that the road has only one lane!
SubyTrojan says:
06:26 PM, 02/ 9/07
banhugh, our long-term tester is blue. I'm guessing that might be a Mazda North America photo.
banhugh says:
08:59 PM, 02/11/07
thanks subyTrojan!
manybmws says:
01:01 PM, 02/19/07
MIchael,
Could you let us 2006 MX-5 owners how this braking issue got resolved?
Thanks.
socal2006 says:
12:29 PM, 03/ 3/07
My Mazda3 has a similar brake feel... Some reviewers have called brakes on new Mazdas and on/off switch. Its not that bad, but Mazda really needs to address brake feel in their refreshes and new models.