2017 Mazda MX-5 RF VS. A deadly rival A Doubleclutch.ca Review with T.H.
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00:00DoubleClutch.ca magazine acquired one of these for the summertime as a long-term tester.
00:09This is the daddy of the Mazda MX-5 lineup, the R-F, a retractable fastback.
00:15It is the same torquey four-cylinder making 155 horsepower as the base model, but it comes
00:20with that power-folding hardtop that I think makes it one of the best-looking cars on sale
00:26today.
00:27So I'm going to take this out for a quick spin and share my opinions, but then I'm also
00:31going to show you a very tempting alternative that costs about the same price.
00:38The MX-5 R-F.
00:41This is in the GS trim level with the Sport Package, which is the middle of the range,
00:46but you pay more for the R-F, the folding hardtop, the retractable fastback, and we've
00:51got the Sport Package, which gives you the important stuff like Brembos and Bilstein
00:55dampers.
00:56You also get these really awesome Recaro sports seats, which are half Alcantara and half leather.
01:01The point is, is that the R-F has an interior that's far beyond any other Miata.
01:06Yes, I know that the NA and the NB generation is much more classic, and I will agree with
01:10you.
01:11I like the look of it.
01:12It reminds you of a vintage roadster.
01:14However, the R-F has a very modern interior, and it's very usable, and it's very comfortable,
01:20actually.
01:21Everything in here is just like what you'd need to drive a car every single day.
01:25I've got heated seats, got air conditioning, obviously.
01:28I've got a really nice steering wheel.
01:30I've got my mileage read right out here.
01:32By the way, it's giving me 7.5 liters per 100 kilometers in the city and the highway
01:36combined.
01:37That's pretty impressive, and it's read out on a nice little digital display.
01:41I have an actual handbrake, and I have what is as good as any Miata chassis ever made.
01:49There's nothing in this car that's unnecessary, so what you get is a car that feels as fun
01:54as any Miata in the past.
01:59Excellent transmission, short, snappy gears.
02:02The transmission is right here, so there's no long linkage to flex and bend.
02:07Chuck it into a corner like so, braking, heel-toe into second, turn the car into the corner,
02:15get on the throttle a little bit, rear comes around, and off you go.
02:21And that's literally underneath the speed limit.
02:25All that fun.
02:27Pretty much no matter what you're doing with it, you're under the speed limit because it's
02:33an MX-5.
02:34You approach the limits so easily, and if this is the car that needs it, the Sport Package
02:40also comes with Brembos, huge brakes in the front.
02:44So the point is, is this car stops very effectively.
02:51Now my biggest gripe with the car is probably the driving position and the steering.
02:56There is electric power steering in this, and it seems like no matter what we do, everything
03:01is going electric, and we've lost a little bit of the feedback that you get in the hydraulic
03:05racks and the non-powered racks of Miata's way in the past, right?
03:10So no, it does not quite feel as connected in my hands here, but the sensation of the
03:16movement of the chassis is still there, and it is perfect.
03:19I have not driven this Miata on a track, but I have driven this Miata on an autocross course
03:23when Double Clutch Magazine was testing this car in Push-It-To-The-Limit Autocross Series,
03:30and I can tell you exactly what this car feels like.
03:33Alright, it has a tendency to understeer a little bit as you turn into the corner, but
03:39since the weight balance is perfect, you can back off the throttle a little bit or
03:43use the brakes to shift the weight over the front, and you end up with oversteer, okay?
03:48Or just to neutralize the understeer.
03:50And then at the end of the day, it's still an MX-5, it's still a roadster.
03:55The top goes down, I'm not going to put it down right now because it looks like it might
03:58rain, and you end up with just a wonderful cruising car.
04:03There's enough space in here, I'm 5 foot 10 and 195 pounds, and I fit in this car comfortably.
04:10I've got space here for my arms, the cup holders are kind of a little bit wonky, I've got one
04:13down here and it's detachable, and you can put it over here and you've got to do this
04:18weird cup holder dance to be able to get to it, but other than that the interior is very
04:22usable.
04:23Now the other problem that I have with it is the wind noise.
04:26Now I was kind of hoping that they would sort that out for the brand new one, but they kind
04:32of haven't.
04:33It doesn't seem to matter where I put the windows, or even if I have the roof up, I'm
04:37still getting quite a lot of buffeting.
04:39With the windows up and the roof up I can hear this, now right coming from up here,
04:44right by my left ear, and if I have the windows down it's loud, if I have the top down the
04:50retractable fastback kind of piece just is like a scoop and it catches the wind and it
04:55makes a lot of noise.
04:56I'm not really sure what that's about, but that's a bit disappointing.
05:00But when you have the top down, the wind's flying through your hair, put some tunes on
05:04the radio, you stop caring pretty quickly.
05:07So the ND RF MX-5 is a sensational car, without a doubt.
05:12I absolutely love it.
05:13It's everything that a Miata should be.
05:15They resisted the urge to add more weight, they kept the philosophy, it looks fantastic,
05:21it's a great car.
05:22However, I'm having a hard time getting over the over $40,000 price tag, because for that
05:28much money I could get this.
05:37This is a 2014 MX-5.
05:39It has a power-retracting hardtop, and no, it doesn't look anywhere near as nice as the
05:44ND.
05:45However, it costs the same amount of money as the ND, and that's because it has Ohlins
05:50and a supercharger.
05:53The fact that you have a supercharger means that you put your foot down in pretty much
06:01any gear, and it's just ballistically fast.
06:09All right, so Dave's Garage in Oakville, Dave is a Miata specialist, Dave Biagioni is his
06:18name.
06:19He's done the build and pretty much the install and oversaw the entire project here, and Dave
06:25knows how to build a Miata.
06:28He has an LS swap Miata that's won many competitions.
06:32It's insanely fast, I've been in it, and he was the one that fronted this.
06:35I'm going part throttle right now, because I think I'm just going to light up the tires.
06:38Oh my God, oh what a phenomenal car, oh my, that is just insanely fast.
06:49And the brakes, we've got StopTech brakes on here, oh my God, what an awesome car.
06:57All right, so suspension wise, we have Ohlins and sway bars, so it is a superior vehicle
07:06when it comes to handling, right?
07:08There's no competition, it's not even fair, right?
07:11We're on proper coilovers, and this has had a corner balance and a proper alignment.
07:16So, the way that it reacts at the limit, or as you approach the limit, is better in
07:20every conceivable way to the RF.
07:23All right, here, going down to second gear, tight corner, tail's gone, tail's gone, oh
07:31my God, okay, let's calm down and talk about the car as itself, okay.
07:40The price for this car, all in, including the used purchase, we have 28,000 kilometers
07:46on this, so you can get yourself an NC generation Miata with under 30,000 kilometers on it.
07:52They bought it for, I think, about 24,000 or 26,000, and then they put pretty much $20,000
08:00into the car, right?
08:01So, the supercharger install was around 10,000, and then a lot of other performance parts
08:06here and there.
08:08We end up with a car that costs, as near as makes no difference, the same as the RF.
08:13Here's the catch, though, this isn't anywhere near as nice to drive.
08:17It feels frantic and serious almost all the time, okay?
08:21It's almost like it doesn't want to calm down, right?
08:25Any gear at any time, power, just there, boom, right?
08:30That's nice, but here's the big difference.
08:35I have to pay attention when I'm driving this car.
08:39Do you understand what I mean by that?
08:40That means at pretty much any given time, I have to be going, in my brain, going, how
08:46much throttle am I giving it?
08:48How much steering lock do I have on?
08:50What's coming up?
08:51Do I have enough grip for this corner?
08:54Because the car feels like, with just a flick of the right foot, you're going to spin off.
08:59You're going to spin off the road, right?
09:03For me, personally, I'm okay with this.
09:05I would own this car, because I drive on the track, I like a lot of performance, and this
09:10is pretty much exactly what I would want in a driver's car.
09:14The steering is hydraulic, so it's better.
09:16It's actually not as much better as I remembered it being, coming out of the RF, but it's still
09:24better, right?
09:26This is more of an engaging driver's car, but if you're looking for a car to cruise
09:30on the weekends, find a place in the country for lunch, then the RF really is the way to
09:36go, because it is more refined.
09:38The interior is nicer.
09:40This has cloth seats.
09:41This is like the club sport pack.
09:43I'm not sure they're actually called a club sport pack in Canada, but you know what I
09:47mean?
09:48It says MX-5 here, and it's got some other fancy stuff.
09:52It's not really as much of a cruising car anymore.
09:58So there's really the conclusion that we're going for.
10:02If you want a car to just cruise with, one that you'd maybe, you know, you'd be happy
10:06to sit there and sip your coffee and look at in a cafe on the weekend downtown, the
10:12RF is the answer, because it looks better, it feels more calm, it feels more Miata-like.
10:20It feels more classically Miata.
10:22If you're looking for a car, though, that you want to drive on the track, you want to
10:26be serious about driving with, and you want to explore the limits of what a small, lightweight
10:32rear-wheel drive car can do, then a tuned NC might be the answer.
10:56Whoa, whoa!
10:57I made just a little bit of a hit.
10:58Edit that out, edit that out.
10:59Whoa, whoa!
11:00Take two.
11:01And here I got to steer you outside of the curve.
11:20So your best is a 128.8.
11:23That's terrible.
11:24Thomas, you are very good on camera.