Mazda Talk Forums

ronbauer wrote:Brian,

From what I've seen, the suspension and subframe setups seem to be very similar to the NC. Did you happen to notice whether the rear hub setup is the same? What I'm really asking is whether there is any chance that 15" wheels will fit the ND, or will 16s still be the smallest?

Ron

Hi Ron

It's a great question and was high on my mind of priorities as I stuck my head everywhere they let me stick it (the security guard called me off when I started to go UNDER the car). Rear design did appear similar, and it did appear link was tight to 16 inch wheel....but there was some room. Thus, though I tried to eye-ball it as best I could, I still don't know if 15 will fit. And I asked Derek (designer) during the question and answer if they knew if 15 inch would fit, and he refused any spec questions. And I asked Jeremy Barnes in private if he knew, and he too declined the question. Try as I might while on the scene, I was unable to convince myself one way or the other on the potential 15 inch clearance....so I remain highly curious!

Thanks Brian. On those wheels it does appear to have more clearance on the 16s than the NC. I'm thinking about my DP car. It'd be cool to fit the smaller stuff on it to allow me to do 15s.

Brian, I read somewhere that you finally got to sit in the car and you thought that it was comfortable. You look tall. How tall are you? I'm 6'3" with a tall torso and 32" inseam and have not been comfortable in NBs, and barely so in my 2012 NC, even with all seat mods. I briefly owned a M-Roadster which I hated but which fit tall people well. I'd hoped that the Mazda would be smart enough to make the new MX-'s cockpit large enough to fit a wider range of potential buyers.

I love the looks of the ND, some interior quibbles aside, but I'll have no interest in buying one if it doesn't fit me comfortably.

So, how does it fit? What adjustments are there?

I wish they let me sit in the ND, but sorry to say that did not happen.

Two buddies at the reveal with official press credentials did get to sit in the car and they had positive things to say, but both quite a bit shorter than my 6'2 height. Designer insisted no less room than NC, hope that is accurate.

Please keep us updated on this Brian.
I'm also excited on how us "not-to-small" people fit into the car.

Embargo on ND Reviews lifted here in the USA.....

Car & Driver
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/201 ... est-review

Motor Trend
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/con ... omparison/

Road & Track (warning: the R&T review is a bit harsh about the NC)
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/fi ... rst-drive/

Grassroots Motorsports
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articl ... rst-drive/

Autoblog
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/06/01/2016 ... ve-review/

Jalopnik
http://jalopnik.com/the-2016-mazda-miat ... 1708078866

Driving Canada
http://driving.ca/mazda/reviews/road-te ... mx-5-miata

Audoguide (video review)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_5z15gA8K4

Consumer Reports (video review, which I already shared)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O908JUXgiwk


http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/dr ... ub-review/

0-60 in 5.9 is really fast for an MX-5

The thing that amazes me the most about the ND, now that the press has been able to measure and drive the 2.0L version, is how light it came out. I always figured that the promised 100 kg weight savings would drop to half of that, at best, when the car finally hit the streets.

I imagine that you could make an absolutely insane "ND light" project car out of one of these in a couple of years when used ones drop a bit in price. With a complete carbon fiber body, no soft top, lightweight exhaust, and stripped interior, it should be pretty easy to get it well under 2000 lbs, and you probably wouldn't even need to swap in a 2.5L to turn it into a rocket ship!

CD tends to subtract a half second from their 0-60 times. I believe the Edmunds guys are closer to reality with their 6.3 second measurement. Still a nice result! Thanks to the Mazda NAO guys for sticking their necks out for the 2.0L.

Got chance to do Helmet test today....will be needing taller bar...and lower seat!