Here's Why the 2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata Is the Best Miata Yet

this is a 2019 Mazda mx-5 miata and it is the best Miata yet and I don't say that lightly the Miata first came out almost 30 years ago and it's gone through four different iterations to get here plus an update for this model year and this is the best one ever here's a little overview the original Miata came out for the 1990 model year and back then it had a hundred and sixteen horsepower it was updated for a second generation in 1999 and then there was a third generation in 2006 the latest Miata came out three years ago and then in 2017 they added a retractable hardtop version this model which is called the Miata RF for 2019 they've updated it even more there are a few new features but more importantly there's more power the old Miata had 155 horsepower but the 2019 model now has a hundred and eighty-one horses the base price of the Miata is around $26,000 or if you get the RF version it's around 32 thousand dollars the power bump isn't the only reason this is the best Miata yet it's also gorgeous the styling is just beautiful and attractive perfectly proportioned it makes this car look a lot more expensive than it is and it's a huge improvement over the prior generation Miata the NC model as enthusiasts call it which was a little bit odd looking then there's the weight the Miata has always been about going light getting lightweight but every previous model has been a little bit heavier than its predecessor well that changed with this one this Miata the Indy model is enthusiasts call it is actually lighter than the Miata that came before it which demonstrates Mazdas commitment to making a lightweight two-seat simple sports car in changes for the 2019 model year only help things along further this car has a few new features including a newly standard rear view camera thanks to government regulations but the biggest news is the power bump now we have a Miata with more power and less weight which is the best of both worlds so today I'm going to show you around the 2019 Miata and I'm show you all of the quirks and features of the latest Miata then I'm going to get it out on the road and drive it and then I'm going to give it a dug score and four more of my thoughts on the Miata click the link below to visit autotrader.com slash oversteer where I've also compiled a list of the cheapest convertibles currently listed for sale on auto trader now I'm gonna start on the inside of the new Miata where one of the first thing you'll notice is that storage is rather limited for instance there is no storage in the door pockets which is rather unusual and there's no glovebox in this car which is really unusual outside of the crazy realm of insane compromised exotic cars its but there are some hidden storage places one is between the seats there is a little storage compartment in here that's actually quite large this is intended to be the glovebox and it even locks so you can lock up whatever important things you have just like you could in a glove box there's also a tiny little center storage bin where you can stick tiny little items if you want but one the lack of storage kind of limits practicality a little bit this car has an absolutely genius situation with its cupholders now if you look and Lois there are only two cupholders in there between the seats which is kind of annoying actually because then they have to cut or reach in here to get your drink and it doesn't really work but you don't actually have to do that that's because the cupholders are movable you can detach a cup holder from in between the seats and you can move it and there's a little anchor point in the passenger side footwell where you can stick it and so if your passenger wants more legroom you can pull the cup holder out and stick it back between the seats but if you want to drink and you don't have a passenger remove the cup holder back and then the cup that you're drinking from is right next to your shifter in your hands it's brilliant moveable cup holders everyone should do this next I want to talk about speakers now in a car this small it's kind of challenging to find places where you can stick speakers obviously the door panel but Mazda has come up with a rather interesting idea there are speakers in the seat headrests if you look closely you can see that they're kind of on either side of your head right by where your ears are which is a great idea in a car like this an especially great idea when you have the roof open because then there's wind blowing everywhere and sometimes it's hard to hear the stereo well not if the stereo is right next to your ears next up something I absolutely love in this car is the climate vents now there are three climate vents in this interior all circular they all have aluminum trim they all function in the same way seems like it works pretty easily but it's almost like right at the end of the cars design process someone told Mazda no no you need for climate vents two for the driver two for the passenger and so Mazda was like five so they stuck in sort of this afterthought vent in the middle and not only does it not look like the other vents but it's incredibly tiny it's basically the same size as the hazard light switch which is next to it you can cover it with one finger but it's there so Mazda could have the for climate vents that probably their product planners insisted they needed next up here's a rather unusual one in the gauge cluster there is a little stick that sticks out that you can push now in older cars you push the stick and it resets the trip odometer but in modern cars the trip odometer is electronic and it doesn't work like that anymore so what does this little stick do well it's quite weird actually if you push it you'll notice that it focuses the engine temperature gauge so if you have the engine temperature gauge and it's a regular spot you see a full range of temperatures but if you push that it focuses only on the second half so you can see in just how hot your engine is in sort of a more detailed way it's very weird I've never seen anything like that that gives you the ability to magnify your engine temperature gauge but you have that in this car next up moving on to the Sun visors now the Sun visors fold down just like normal Sun visors although you can't detach them and move them over to cover the side windows sorry one interesting item no if you lower the Sun Visor you will see that there is like this hidden little weird plastic storage area above the Sun Visor I guess that's for business cards or a garage key card or something you'd probably miss that I bet most Miata owners don't even know it's there but it is one interesting item on the passenger side is that whoever sitting in the passenger seat has to contend with this giant hump the passenger side foot well which definitely takes away legroom it's a very interesting thing obviously it must be some integral component of the car or else they wouldn't have taken away passenger foot room like that but there is a large hump in the passenger side next up I want to move on to the infotainment system the screen in the center where there are a couple of interesting quirks almost all of which have to do with volume settings they're very strange ok take a look at this you can change the keyless lock beep volume that's the beeping sound the car makes when you lock the doors as you're walking away you can change that low medium high depending on how loudly you want your car to let you know that it's locked that is odd but it gets stranger in this car you can change the turn signal volume if you feel like the turn signals are not loud enough well you can change it from low to high here's the turn signals on low and here's the turn signals on high now too many cars where you can change the turn signal volume but how about this one the lane departure warning you can choose between a beep and a rumble for when you kind of start to stray from your lane now if you choose the rumble you can choose between low medium and high if you choose the beep you can merely choose low or high still probably too many configurations for that and another unusual volume item is the navigation guidance volume you can play with it and then it gives you a little voice that annoyingly says navigation will be at this volume navigation will be at this volume navigation will be at this volume now speaking the navigation system this car has a couple of interesting navigation related quirks the most interesting to me is the warnings the alerts you can set alerts that are based on the map based on where you are and then the car will let you know when you reach wherever you've set for example if there's a spot on your commute where there's always a police car sitting it's wearing radar you can put that in the navigation system and it will warn you when you're approaching that spot in case you space out and forget that's a cool idea here's another cool idea this car will alert you to speed cameras obviously there are some apps that will do that but not too many built-in navigation systems will alert you to speed cameras but this one will most interesting part about the speed camera alert though is you can set it to alert you all the time or only when you're speeding the car can detect what the speed limit is and if you're going ten miles over it'll let you know that you're approaching a speed camera if you're going under it won't bother at your choosing that's pretty cool and the final item I like the fact that this infotainment system gives you the option to turn off and only it leave on the clock and I figured when you did that it would turn off the screen and then it would show up like a large clock so you can see it but in fact does not the remains tiny and in the corner even though nothing else is on the screen kind of strange but that's how they did that now next up moving on to a couple of interesting items in the gauge cluster one is traffic sign recognition this car will recognize the speed limit on the street you're driving and then it'll put a little icon in the gauge cluster letting you know what the speed limit is now that's not all that uncommon a lot of luxury cars have that but what's interesting about it is it will also recognize stop signs so as you approach a stop sign it'll put up a little icon in the gauge cluster letting you know that you're approaching a stop sign I can't imagine that this is helpful at all it's not like you're driving along and looking down on your gauge cluster to see if you've hit a stop sign but it's there nonetheless another interesting item in the gauge cluster is the gear indicator which I find to be very odd there's a little display in the gauge cluster that lets you know what gear you're in it's a manual car I don't really need to know what you're I'm in I know what you're I'm in the most interesting item with that display though is the fact that it lets you know when it is time to up shift and tells you that in the most economical way possible letting you know when to up shift to save you all in fact it is so economical that sometimes it tells you to skip gears go from third to fifth or from 1st to 4th so you can drive in the most economical way possible I suspect that display is commonly ignored by Miata owners next up we must discuss the roof which has a rather interesting procedure now on the regular cloth tought me out of the roof is easy there's a latch here you throw it down and there's a latch here and you pull it up that's all it is but in the RF there's a little bit more to it now to start the roof procedure you flip a little switch in the center console that has a picture of the roof on it strangely enough to put the roof down you flip the switch up and to put the roof up you flip the switch down now once you've flipped a switch a little orange blinking icon comes on in the screen right next to that switch to let you know the top is moving and in the gauge cluster it kind of shows you the progress in four steps with like a full color diagram of what's happening behind you and over your head now since the roof is currently in the down position we will start there time to see how it works [Music] it's pretty simple and now we put the roof back down now there are a couple of interesting items that I didn't know about the RFS roof situation one of which is the fact that it's open behind the seats like this did you know that it was just open air back here I had no idea I figured there was a glass piece in here but there isn't so you still get that sort of wind in your hair feel even though this car has like pillars behind you and doesn't have the traditional cloth top there's still wind flowing through the cabin one interesting item is there is a wind deflector in there you can see it's in place but you can also remove it in case you want even more wind to come through the cabin another interesting item about the RF that I didn't know is these windows here these little rear quarter windows they're not Windows at all they're fake they're just kind of black plastic I guess Mazda figured that painting that piece body color will just give a little too much body color on that side so they pin them to look like windows frankly I think it enhances the look of the car but I admit they fooled me I always thought their windows and they're not by the way it's worth noting that once the roof is in place there is an actual window back here obviously because otherwise the car would be open-air even if you have the top up it's only when the top is down that the window goes away and you have sort of the more open air feel and speaking of weird windows I want to talk about this one here this car I would say has a normal window that goes up and down on the door but then in front there's this tiny little quarter window it's only like four inches long and it's basin maybe five inches high and triangular it is very very strange that they bothered to put that there my guess is that based on the door design they had to if they had let the regular window go this far it wouldn't have rolled down or something like that so this is what you get this tiny little quarter window most people probably won't even notice it but it is strange most cars don't have anything like this next up moving around back one thing I want to talk about is this cars name now repeatedly throughout this video and in the title I refer to this car as the mx-5 miata but if you look at the badging it only ever says mx-5 on the back it says mx-5 on the doorsill mx-5 it says mx-5 on the floor mats it even says mx-5 in the owner's manual on the front cover it doesn't say Miata it just mx-5 but Mazda is still officially referring to this car as the mx-5 miata on their website that's what it listed as and when you go to buy one that's what it's officially called but they're not really badgering it with Miata anymore and I suspect the Miata name won't really make it much further Mazda really wants to call this car mx-5 to sort of fit in with their other product lineup the cx-5 is cx3 I think the only reason they haven't already chopped the Miata off this car's name is because Miata just has so much brand value here in the US so many people know the Miata and love it so they keep it going the other interesting thing you'll notice back here is right here and that would be the backup camera now standard on all these cars because for 2019 the US government is requiring it now I'm a big fan of backup cameras I think they're much better for safety but I have to admit it does kind of screw with this cars Lions in the back the earlier Indy models with no backup camera had a much cleaner rear bumper look and it's a shame Mazda couldn't integrate that any more cleanly like down here where it wouldn't be so visible directly in the middle of the bumper but they didn't and that's where it is okay next up it's time to get into the n DS trunk but before I do I have to show you a little quirk that probably only I will appreciate and like nine other geeky people who like the weirdest littlest details but here it is okay yet the key fob right it's got four buttons on it lock unlocks the trunk and the alarm now these buttons are all about the same size and so one thing that a lot of automakers do is they put little dots on a button you'll use more frequently so that when you're just feeling it with your thumb you know which button is which now for this car the button they put the dots on is the trunk button and if you look closely you will see that the little dots are where the wheels are which is the stupidest little tiny quirk and they definitely didn't have to do it that way but I guarantee there are about a dozen other people who will appreciate that little tiny attention to detail and for the rest of you who don't appreciate such a ridiculous my new show well I'm sorry but anyway getting into the trunk to open it you hold down that button with the little wheel dots and then you pop open the trunk and there are a couple of interesting items in the trunk the thing I like most is that there is no trunk liner almost every other car has like a piece of cloth here to cover up this and make it look nicer but Mazdas like cloth that adds weight forget that they figure most people who buy these cars won't care and indeed that's true they would rather save the weight now when you go in here there are a couple of interesting items one is the fact that you can see the owner's manual is in here because this car has no glovebox and because that centerpiece is not quite large enough for it they have to stick the owner's manual back here in this little plastic tray that is designed for it and there's a little clip that keeps it in place and that's where the owner's manual is in an mx-5 also back there is a little fix-a-flat kit since this car also doesn't have enough room for a real spare tire other interesting items of the trunk one is the fact that you can turn on or off your trunk light there's a little switch on it I have no idea why who's ever goes in their trunk and I like darn that light I don't want to liked her so bizarre but then give you that option in this car except we move under the hood and there's nothing particularly interesting or unusual under here when item I do like though is the fact that Mazda doesn't bother with an engine cover just like they didn't have a trunk liner back there up here they could make this look more smooth and more simple like so many automakers do but they're like why bother with that that adds weight and plus most of the people who own these cars are going to modify them tinker with them so we'll just leave that behind and so they do no engine cover in this car because frankly Mazda understands their customers and so those are the quirks and features of the 2019 Mazda Miata now it's time to get this thing out on the road and drive it alright driving the Indy Miata Aref a couple things I want to get out of the way first one is do I fit I'm six foot four and I'm often talking about this in my videos because tall people email me and they're like lot taller you do I fit in this car almost always the answer is yes I have barely ever had trouble fitting in any of the cars that I film for my reviews this one is different my knees are right up against the dashboard it's tight I never have this problem in modern cars even at my height but this car is tight I think if I was an inch or two shorter it would be okay I think it's okay now like I could drive this and it'd be fine it's not ideal I think a lot of car reviewers are hypocrites about this car almost every car reviewer has said all the BRZ and the FRS mean more power and then at the same time these same people say all the Miata is so amazing well this car has less power than those and the acceleration numbers aren't dramatically different if you think the BRZ and the FRS have too little power then you should think the same about this car and I do I think 155 horsepower that I've had before was way too little I think 181 is fine just like BRZ and FRS 200 is fine I think we could do better I want them to bring back the old turbo me out of the end be the Mazda speed like I'm ready for that I think that it's a shame in order to do this sort of back to basics lightweight rear-wheel drive roadster that's also associated with kind of low power like old mgs and cars from that era to me you can put power in one of these and everybody's gonna be happy it'll be fine don't worry about it this thing I think 230 240 horses would just make this amazing and so with that let's talk amazing the driving experience is so so so good it's so sweet it's so exciting and so much fun and so thrilling to just kind of throw this thing around and see where it goes and how it does this car almost seems like there's no limits to what this car can do and how much fun you could have in this thing going around corners and it isn't the fastest out of the corners but with the top down and your floor in it and you're excited you're happy a lot of enthusiasts will tell you that this is one of the greatest cars ever made and I think a great argument could be made for that in terms of the RF I actually do prefer it to the regular one I didn't think I was going to but one of the things I learned is that the RF when you're sitting here like this driving feels like convertible that you see all this stuff behind me but when you're sitting here you don't and you think it's just a convertible but it is less wind noise so you can drive on the highway with the top down and like talk to your passenger which is super cool and and this is the big thing if you're living a cold climate or something and you don't want to deal with a car that has a cloth top whatever it's not very well insulated well suddenly this car just became a year rounder I think the RF is great the problem is it's $7,000 and unless you actually do need that year-round or car or you spend a lot of time trying to talk to people on the highway it's not worth 7 year and that's an enormous amount of money it's just such a thrill it's almost impossible to imagine not having fun driving one of these and the amazing thing is it can make simple normal everyday driving exciting you go make a right turn at an intersection and you can take it at a speed that you shouldn't and then the tires squeak a little but it's you're like how much fun is this great and so that's the 2019 Mazda mx-5 miata I love this car I still wish that it had a little bit more power but doesn't really matter there's something so wonderful about the idea of a two-seat rear wheel drive simple lightweight roadster that just makes this car so appealing and has made this car so appealing for almost 30 years I personally would go for the simple cloth soft top I like the RF but for 7 grand I don't mind my hair getting blown around a little bit but frankly it doesn't matter which Miata you get they're all fantastic and this is the best Miata yet and now it's time to give it a dug score started with the weekend categories and styling the latest Miata is truly handsome gorgeous in my opinion and gets a 7 out of 10 acceleration to zero to sixty and five point eight seconds which gives it a four out of 10 handling is really sharp on par with the great sports cars and it gets an 8 out of 10 fun factor as high as this thing is a total hoot and it gets a 7 out of 10 cool factor is a little lower as the Miata is a relatively inexpensive and common car still it gets a 5 out of 10 for a total weekend score of 31 out of 50 next up are the daily categories starting with features this car has more and more tech with each passing year but it still lags behind top modern cars it gets a 5 out of 10 comfort is fine the ride quality is nice and the seats feel good but it's a bit tight inside for tall people and gets a 5 out of 10 quality is good though not exceptional and it gets a 6 out of 10 practicality is low it's a two-seat car with not much trunk space and it gets a 2 out of 10 value is OK the RF model like the one I drove is pricey for what it is so it gets a 6 out of 10 but I think a regular soft top would bump that up at least a point anyway the total daily score is 24 out of 50 added up in the dug score is 55 out of 100 and that's really good compared to similar cars it beats out everything but the Honda s2000 on the weekend score including the Fiat 124 Abarth largely thanks to the Miatas new engine and better styling it's not as good in the daily categories but it still manages to beat out the s2000 in the old enemy otta and overall it scores very well [Music]

Channel: Doug DeMuro

Views: 3,043,425

Keywords: mazda miata, mx-5 miata, 2019 miata, 2019 miata review, 2019 mx-5 review, 2019 mx-5, mazda mx-5 miata review, nd miata review, nd mx-5 review, nd miata, nd mx-5, mazda mx-5, mazda mx-5 review, new miata, new mx-5, doug demuro, demuro

Id: hJUltR6UYSo

Length: 23min 30sec (1410 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 16 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/floydiandroid]

I literally just came from the dealer today to get my 3 looked at and this model (same color too!) was sitting in the show room..it's so sexy.

[u/JoeBenigo]

My only issue with this review is this: you couldn’t wipe the smile off Doug’s face and all he could do was speak about how much he loved driving it, but fun factor wasn’t a 10? I think he gave the Abarth a 10.

[u/EmWatsonLover]

Hey doug, if you're reading this, what do you think the real reasons are for Mazda not offering a Mazdaspeed version with 225-250ish horsepower?

[u/Waffle_Bot]

I think the refreshed 2019s are absolutely gorgeous cars, but I agree with Doug - 181 horsepower is only fine. The car is great, but it can be even more.

For a small company wanting to increase its market share, imagine the hype and publicity Mazda could generate for the entire brand if it offered a true halo version of this car. Throw a turbo 4 into it with 250 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque. Offer a specially tuned suspension and/or performance package. Give it some unique cosmetic changes versus a "regular" MX-5. I don't think this will ever happen (at least as a manufacturer's option), but a man can dream...

[u/paulcjones]

They have the turbo engine - use the one from the current gen US spec 6, or CX-7 (are they the same engine?) - cram it under that hood and off you go, a turbo MX-5. Price it at $36k for the hard top version - and I'd buy it.