Wanna Miata? How 'bout a Fiata, Instead ...?

[Sharp11]

The Miata's Fiat twin ... it's about a hundred pounds heavier, but has more style ....

http://www.caranddriver.com/fiat/124

[Plaz]

Meh. Maybe if the Abarth version has 200+ ponies.

I want to love the Miatae. They don't need to be ludicrously fast. But they need to not be slow to really pique my interest.

[John V]

It's so ugly...

[equ]

Looks better than a Miata to me...

[Sharp11]

Looks better than a Miata to me...

Me too, in fact I think the Miata just looks awkward - I dislike the way the hood droops down toward the fenders in front ... it's just odd.

[bren]

Nope, it's ugly. Any other opinion is just wrong.

[Biggins]

They both look okay, but the Abarth looks the best. I'd pick the Miata over the regular 124 but take the Abarth over the Miata.

[John V]

Me too, in fact I think the Miata just looks awkward - I dislike the way the hood droops down toward the fenders in front ... it's just odd.

I'm with you on that. The hood cutline on the Miata is pretty bad; I don't understand why they did that. Like the BMW F30, it looks better in dark colors.

[FC]

I like the Miata. To go with the Fiata I would need a substantial power increase.

[rumatt]

24% increase in torque ain't so bad.

[Sharp11]

I'm with you on that. The hood cutline on the Miata is pretty bad; I don't understand why they did that. Like the BMW F30, it looks better in dark colors.

Those sharp creases, too ...

One journalist said Mazda tucked in the corners to save weight, but I have no idea if that's true. The new car still has a fair degree of body roll, and on certain wheel/tire combinations, looks tippy and awkward to my eye.

The interior is quite nice though (as it is on many of the Mazda models) :)

[ZBB]

I'm in the boat that the Fiata is just plain fugly. I kind of see where they are going -- it does look reminiscent of the 70s Fiat 124, but that wasn't the most beautiful car either.

As for the new Miata, I've seen a handful on the road so far and overall like it.

But I'm not looking to buy either of them...

[Josh (PA)]

I saw the Fiata at the PHL auto show. It was NOT pretty in person. I've seen a few miatas out in the wild now, and a friend picked one up earlier in March. They've grown on me. His is a candy apple red color with some really nice deep hues. It has a black top and black wheels. It is a really good color combo for that car (and one of the few cars that I think black wheels really work with).

I also saw a metallic black one that I liked. Reminded me of my m3 sapphire black.

[John V]

Those sharp creases, too ...

One journalist said Mazda tucked in the corners to save weight, but I have no idea if that's true. The new car still has a fair degree of body roll, and on certain wheel/tire combinations, looks tippy and awkward to my eye.

The interior is quite nice though (as it is on many of the Mazda models) :)

I wouldn't call the new Miata pretty by any stretch. I kind of like it, but it has some pretty awkward angles.

Mostly I appreciate that it exists. A light sports car that is actually reasonably fast, efficient and extremely fun, while keeping a revvy, NA engine. The Fiat version looks bloated to me in comparison. It checks zero boxes for me.

[lupinsea]

Somebody mentioned they wished the Miatas weren't slow . . .

IIRC, I think I've seen 0-60 times for the ND of around 5.8 sec. Seems like it wasn't all that long ago that a 6 second 0-60 was considered pretty quick. :dunno:

In any case, the Fiata look ffffugly. I'll concede there are are a few awkward lines on the Miata but overall I really really like the new Miata design inside and out.

Where as . . . holy crap, dunno what Fiata was thinking when they were trying to style their version but it's bad. And yeah, I get they were trying a bit of retro styling but why that car? It never looked good.


FWIW, not that Im in the market but if I were, I'd be getting the new hard topped targa Miata. That thing looks fantastic. And I don't care that it adds 110 lb. After 2 soft topped sports cars I'd love a folding hard top.

So . . . powered retracting rigid targa top w/ power roll-down rear window? Oh yeah.


http://www.focusrs.org/forum/attachments/6600d1458748594-2017-mazda-mx-5-rf-targa-roof-fastback-efllp7wlcf8e5dy1qzdf.png


http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE2LzAzLzIzL2YyL01hemRhTVg1UkYuODY0ZjUucG5nCn AJdGh1bWIJOTUweDUzNCMKZQlqcGc/e65cb99b/d1c/Mazda-MX-5-RF.jpg


http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/384/083/4/S3840834/slug/l/03-2017-mazda-mx-5-rf-ny-1.jpg


P.S. Sorry for the image dump.



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[FC]

It looks sleek but I rather have a regular one as a toy car. As a DD, yeah, I would definitely consider the hardtop.

[John V]

The targa makes no sense to me. It's not great looking to my eye - they could have done a really great looking coupe.