2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata Review: Treat Your Senses

The verdict: In an era when cars increasingly isolate their drivers and passengers from their surroundings, the 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata stands out for its emphasis on connecting drivers with both the act of driving and the world around them — for better or worse.

Versus the competition: Miata competitors have come and gone over the years, but today it stands alone as an affordable two-seat, rear-wheel-drive convertible.

Refinement is a characteristic that’s typically praised in vehicles, as it results in a more comfortable, less taxing driving experience. But there’s a downside to refinement: It often comes at the expense of driving engagement, contributing to a general dulling of the driving experience. If your driving mostly involves traffic-clogged urban commuting, that’s not a bad thing — but what if you want a heightened, connected driving feel but don’t want to spend luxury-car money? Where do you turn?

Related: 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata Gets Performance and Tech Upgrades, Price Upcharge

To this: the 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata. It’s one of a handful of affordably priced, sporty cars that place their focus squarely on driving engagement (the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86 corporate-cousin coupes are two others). There are costs, however, to this focus, so let’s get into both the pros and cons.

A Sensory Delight …

The Miata is one of those rare cars that’s a lot of fun to drive even when you’re not going especially fast. With its standard six-speed manual transmission, the Miata has a light-effort clutch pedal that pairs with a direct and precise short-throw shifter; the combo is a joy to operate, enhancing the car’s man-machine connection.

The Miata gets a new steering rack for the 2024 model year, which Mazda says has less friction, and updated electric-assist calibration for smoother operation, a more defined on-center feel and greater cornering precision. The Miata’s steering is natural and responsive overall, and you get a sense of the road’s surface through the steering wheel itself.

Stupefying power and torque figures have never been the Miata’s game, and they still aren’t. The car is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 181 horsepower at a high 7,000 rpm and 151 pounds-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. The Miata is quick enough if you’re willing to let the four-cylinder wind itself out, but you have to work the engine fairly hard to extract its performance.

Where the Miata really shines is in corners, where it exhibits a stable, planted feel that engenders confidence; this car just wants to be tossed around. A low center of gravity, nearly 50:50 weight distribution, a relatively light curb weight of around 2,400 pounds and an available sport-tuned suspension with Bilstein shocks help make everyday driving situations fun.

The fact that the Miata is a convertible heightens the driving experience that much more since you can remove a physical layer (the roof) between you and your surroundings. The Miata’s manual soft top is one of the simplest ones you’ll find; there’s a center latch connecting the top to the windshield, and once it’s released, all you have to do is push the lightweight top back and down. Putting the top back up involves pulling a handle between the seatbacks, then lifting the top up and toward the windshield to latch it in place. It’s very easy to use and lets you go from top-up to top-down motoring (and vice versa) very quickly.

… That’s Not Without Costs

While elements of the driving experience that you want to have heightened are in the Miata, so too are qualities that can get aggravating when you just need to get from Point A to Point B. The cabin is very noisy on the highway, and it’s disrupted at more moderate speeds by the buzzy four-cylinder engine. The lack of isolation that makes it such an entertaining car to drive also means that cruising at 70 mph feels like you’re going 100 mph, and that gets tiring after a while.

The Miata’s low ride height means its bucket seats are also low, and that can make getting into or out of the car a challenge if you’re not especially limber. Once you are seated, you’ll likely notice there’s not a lot of space for you or your stuff in the cabin. There isn’t a traditional glove box, and the car gets by with some unusual cupholder solutions: One hangs off the center console and another is tucked against the inner side bolster of the driver’s seat.

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Worth the Price

The as-tested price of the top, Grand Touring trim level I drove was $36,200 (including destination) — not inexpensive by any means, but also not outlandish. The base Sport trim starts at $30,170, but at that price, you don’t get some of the performance features that are present in the Grand Touring, like a sport suspension and limited-slip differential.

The Miata has been around for more than 30 years, and its essence as an entertaining and affordable sports car has been a constant during its run. It may just be a weekend toy for some buyers, but if you like driving — and the way you feel when you’re behind the wheel of the right kind of car — the Miata is an incredibly fun toy for furthering that passion. If you didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas, now’s your time.

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