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When we heard the Elise was coming to the U.S. we got excited. But news that revsions would first be made concerned us; would we miss out on the car that made the name an icon as was the case with the original WRX, 3.0L M3, early Miatas etc.?

The news that Toyota would be supplying the engine came as a shock, but then again there was little to recommend the Rover sourced unit that had been used previously. Our main concern was that the ride/handling compromise and alertness of steering would be ruined by the larger wheel and tire complement. In their April 04 issue, evo assured us that we hadn’t missed anything…

“the most impressive ride and handling compromise since launch, the Elise is better than ever.”

(We welcome comments from anyone who has had the good fortune to drive both versions back to back as we have yet to drive a car we prefer on 17s over 16s – particularly a lightweight one).

As we read Sport Compact Car’s December comparison of the new MX-5 vs. two versions of the outgoing Miata, we were reminded of what we dislike about the 99-02 BMW 3 series – it traded too much agility for the sake of stability, while the size and proportions made it harder to place precisely on the road or track:

it…manages to feel heavier and less tossable around the autocross than the older cars. It lacks the traditional Miata handling dynamics, characterized by a neat tuck of the nose when the throttle is lifted. It feels like the front tires are doing everything, and a look at the beaten carcasses at the end of the day confirms this.

No matter how hard its pushed, nothing short of a momentum induced flick gets the car to rotate …

We imagine the MX-5 could have done better if it were a little easier to place. The high waistline combined with the low seating posistion makes it harder to see exactly where the front wheels are than in older Miatas.

It took BMW two steering revisions (‘01, ‘03) and modifications to the suspension (‘03) to get some of the involvement back – we wonder if Mazda will be forced to do the same.

UPDATE: Come to think of it, this MX-5 comparison in the December C&D mentions something else we’ve felt of the 3 series since 99: that the wheels are too big. They excite structural tremors, slow steering response (due to rotational inertia) and make highway tracking less than stable.

the suspension remains somewhat nervous at the nose. Especially on rough pavement, the front tires hunt, there’s a little too much bump steer, and tracking is just okay.

In his long term test report for the Mazda RX8, C&D’s Aaron Robinson mentions a ‘silent recall’ that we thought RX8 owners may find useful..

The mostly black cabin strained the air-conditioning system. Even in full-freeze mode with the fan roaring and the vent set to recirc, it couldn’t keep up. At 12,237 miles, Mazda repossessed the car and dropped it off at the local dealer with instructions to install an “A/C amplifier.” Reserved for “people who complain,” reports Bedard, the amplifier is a black-box change that bumps up the duty cycle of the compressor and condenser fan. The fix transformed the A/C’s performance, although it meant that the cooling fans often whooshed long after the car was parked, blowing gusts of hot air at innocent bystanders and weakening the battery.

Q: Why don’t they put the more powerful rotary from the RX-8 in the MX-5 too?

A: Because the rotary has very little torque & sounds like a dishwasher.

Besides, MX5s have always been about feel – steering with the throttle and engine note are greater priorities than peak hp figures (a refreshing change from the norm).

UPDATE:

Top Gear: As the starting point for an increasingly sporting Mazda range, was there ever a Wankel (Renesis)- engined MX-5, or plans to produce one? Could you have done anything tricksy with the packaging?

MX-5 chief designer: The rotary engine is a great asset because it is so compact and easy to package into a car. It gives you great power and a great sound, and is also great for meeting things like pedestrian impact issues. I think you will find over time that we have a secret weapon in the rotary engine, that we can do a lot more with it. The reality is that you don’t need to in this MX-5, but there is other potential.

source: Top Gear

Car and Driver does a quick A:B comparison in their October issue – click here to read their surprising conclusion…

UPDATE:

C&D has since flip-flopped, which should be a lesson to anyone who bought the car based on a ‘ranking’ rather than the subjective impressions that make up the driving and ownership experience.

They explain thusly:

Last October, we compared the all-new Mazda MX-5 and Pontiac Solstice—for about eight hours. That wasn’t enough time to settle the dispute. We were still messing around with the Solstice’s knurled seatback control when a Pontiac emissary arrived, demanding the return of his keys. And, in any event, finding suitably twisty roads in Michigan’s farmland is [near impossible]. So we don’t apologize for this MX-5/Solstice redux.