I’ll take one in blue please

Mazda have done an astonishing job here of not only keeping the weight down, but making an astonishingly pretty car even more so. I’d love one if I didn’t have to carry passengers so often…

the back trunk deck is rediculously huge, looks like a miata-camino. not a very good hardtop, they should have avoided the “bubble” look.

I for one like the hard top. It looks somewhat (opinion mostly formed on side views of the car) like an S2000. I don’t think it looks bubbly, I think it looks great. But everyones got their opinion.
I don’t like the headlight design but besides that it’s a good car. There’s no comparison between this and GMs Miata fighters (the Solstice and Sky I feel are somewhat Miata competitor)!
I wouldn’t mind owning one of these, but I think Subie’s are more functional.

Chick car…………

that is horrible to compare a miata to an s2000.

Ha, Ha, Ha, Chick car, I luv it ! Too funny, lol ! And yes, Mr. Miata, you ain’t no s2000, or even a Solstice/Sky for that matter !

Another Hairdresser’s vehicle.

I wouldn’t try to explain Dan – you’re dealing with people who’ve never driven one and don’t know how good they are, or that they’ll leave most cars behind on twisty roads because the chassis and handling are close to perfect. And yes, it IS a chick car, but only in the sense that you always end up with one beside you whenever you take it out

Blah, blah, blah…. Mazda just bring out the Kabura WTF!!!

Enigma,
how am I suppose to drive one, if I’m 6′5″!? And I consider a cars being for girls if it comes only with a four-banger and has styling to match. I’m not a fan of Hondas, since here, in Canada, every punk has one with a “broken” muffler that they think makes it a real sports car, but S2000 is the exception of girls car. I haven’t seen many girl driving one and it’s looks aggressive. I don’t like Solstice, but I find that Sky and Opel GT (it’s European twin) looks good, although they’re build on the same platform.

I want one of these.

A friend of mine is 6ft 3 and fits in them perfectly so you may be surprised He drove this and the S2000 a while back and said that in almost every respect the MX-5 is the better car. It has less power, but the handling, balance and level of refinement are far higher and it’s not got the unpredictable snappiness that the S2000 can have in certain road conditions.

As for girl cars – In the UK we have a history of small 2 seater, open topped, 4-pot sports cars dating back 80 or so years and so we don’t tend to view them like that. If it’s sharp, agile and fun to throw around on twisty country roads then we’ll drive it Funnily enough I’ve only known two S2000 owners and they were both female, and that particular car is owned and championed by Vicki Butler Henderson, one of our most well known female racing drivers and TV presenters.

Pamela you’re fugly……..

Enigma– your friend who said this “…respect the MX-5 is the better car. It has less power, but the handling, balance and level of refinement are far higher ..”

He does not know anything about seriious sports cars. Do not take his opinion seriously. He just likes to drive around town and relax. The MX-5 is perfect for him

The handling, feel, fit, finish and refinement goes to the perfectly constructed S2000. Don’t get me wrong, the MX-5 is fabulously built and a serioulsly fun car , but it is no S2000. That is a legimate sports car for all time an an automotive performance legend.

The fact that a famous racing driver owns one shows that this is an experts car. It does not matter that she is a girl. Racing drivers are racing drivers and they are far above mere amateurs. Ask her if the S2000 is a better car than the MX-5.

He *was* a racing driver (Formula Vee), and now drives stock cars for fun (the UK version, banger racing). He’s also an avid karting fan, his last car was a Honda Civic Type R, and his daily driver is now a seriously tweaked Nissan 350z. He’s the only driver I know who can actually scare me as a passenger whilst remaining perfectly safe. I’ve been in the passenger seat of a FAR smaller and extremely evil turbocharged hot hatch he ran as we overtook a BMW full of chav idiots on a roundabout who’d tried to race him off the lights. They went straight, we went round sideways, and I remember looking at their driver through our windscreen and his driver side window as we tore past.

His take on the S2000 is that it’s quick, but harsh and snappy in the process. The engine needs to be worked extremely hard to perform well, and it’s an utter bastard in the wet.The ride is awful over typical UK roads too, which tend to be rough and bumpy. It definitely gets results, but it’s not a polished experience. He thinks it’s great, don’t get me wrong, but he said it’s just too twitchy to live with every day.

Please don’t make baseless assumptions in future.

What about the fit and finish? I love both cars. Nothing like the S2000 for money though. My ‘06 is bolted together like a vault. The seams are super tight. The leather is fantastic.

He may have been talking about a pre 2004 which is more extreme. Just to be fair was it an ‘06 to ‘06 comparison? The S2K has been steadily evolved, it is significantly different than the original. Just like the MX-5, only with with one generation.

The S2000 is hardcore, the MX-5 is a great alll around roadster. The Honda gives you an exotic car experience with the reliablity of a Honda. Try looking at it that way.

My assumption was not “baseless”, how can any guy who is a racer not be freak over the S2000?

TO be fair it probably was last year’s S2000 he tested – I know he was one of the first in the queue for the new MX-5 test drives, and the S2000 test was arranged just after we’d been to a local motor show abut a year before and looked over one. I would imagine it has got better because I drove one of thse first and it was a seriously fast car but far too snappy for my liking – it would tramline badly and the back end would skitter around of rough corners. The engine was sensational, but it was really hard work to do distance as it would become intrusive and irritating. Like you say, the S2000 isn’t an everyday car but it’s aimed at that market and I still feel it’s a bit too harsh to fill the ‘one car for all’ role.

By baseless I meant assuming that because J thought the MX-5 felt like more fun to drive that he can’t be a man who knows his cars. He’s had at least two cars a year since I’ve known him (and that’s almost 15 years now) and some of those have been absolutely barking. He’s a complete petrolhead, but he values fun over flat out speed (which is why he chose the 350z rather than the Evo he was looking at) and that’s what the view of the MX-5 was founded on. I was only a passenger in that drive, but I have to say that it felt like the entire spirit of motoring had been distilled in that little car, whereas the S2000 seemed to be focused on just one possible aspect, even though it achieved that magnificently.

LLN…who the fark cares about this story…post it when you get US figures…speculating doesn’t a post make. You guys are really grasping at straws this week, no good stories…I am disappointed.! Carry on.

Power retractable hardtop, red, mazdaspeed turbo, bbs whls. under 30k please.

Nice marketing here. Don’t convertibles usually cost more than their hardtop equivalents?

Disregard last comment. … I see now that this is an operable hardtop.

Regardless of what people seem to think. The fact remains that this car has a ‘chick’ stigma to it. Except maybe the race prep SCCA versions, they have a feminine allure weather they drive well (and they do) or not. I don’t see what the big deal is with pointing that out.
Some folks are way too sensitive.