Two years ago I considered selling my Sprite and buying a Miata. Mostly
for the convenience aspects. So I drove the Sprite down to the Mazda
dealer and parked next to a row of 12 gleaming new Miatas (including one of
the special BRG models with Connolly leather seats). I then took the big
step and had my test drive. I was living in Ithaca at the time, so the
drive involved heading out the road to Robert H. Treman state park, a nice
twisty, hilly ride. It was a chance to really put the cars through its
paces in a driving sense. My conclusion, its a wonderful car. By the time
I got back to the dealership I was close to sold. I then took my Sprite
out on the same drive. The facts are these: the Sprite is not as fast,
accelerates worse (I've a 1098), does not have as good of handling, and is
a lot noisier. That's right, a Sprite has all the determining features
of the A-H or MG style cars compared to modern sports cars. But, it also
all adds up to the Sprite feeling faster, which is what counts in my book.
I'd rather be having a wild ride under the speed limit (Sprites excel at
this!!) than 60 over (the specialty of say a Nasty Martin). All
considered, I kept the Sprite, I like it much better. But, its pretty much
a personal thing. Another aspect, Sprites ARE bigger than Miatas. Not in
terms of outside dimensions, but in terms of legroom and headroom. This
also helped to convince me. (At least, Sprites with old, broken down seats
like mine).
This said, I do have a concern about Miata drivers, even if I think the car
is perfectly fine. All I can say is:
put those darn tops down!!!
I've been keeping track since this started. In this last several days I've
seen 18 Miatas. 15 had their tops up. I suspect this problem is really at
the root of some peoples concern about this car. ( I should point out,
sunny 70-80 degree days used for this test).
Mark M. Banaszak Holl
Brown University
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