u/GTRnism_o

Hello all. Today, I drove an ND Miata for the first time. It was an ND2 GT model with a manual transmission.
My god. I understand why these things are as popular as they are. This is GENUINELY the most fun car I've ever driven in my life, and I own a 2020 Supra. For one, I'm not the best manual transmission driver. I never owned one and have only driven manual like a dozen times over the 6 years I've been driving for. The ND is THE easiest manual I've ever driven. It's easy to start from a standstill and the 1-2 shift that I always mess up on other cars is basically a piece of cake with this car. Secondly, it has a perfect amount of power. My Supra makes 350 whp so I've been pretty spoiled with power, but at the same time you can't really ring it out and have fun with it without risking your drivers license. With the Miata, it's very usable and fun to ring out without being so slow that you hold up people behind you on the highway onramp. For being a 2.0 NA, it's plenty quick, and it also doesn't ruin the cars amazing balance. Finally, the way it just feels so CONNECTED. You truly feel like you're DRIVING the car. The steering is so direct, the car goes wherever you want it to go without complaining while providing a perfect amount of feedback through the wheel, the throttle is easy to modulate and feels very direct, the clutch tells you exactly where the bite point is, the shifter is one of the best I've ever used (The only one better is the shifter in my friends NB), it truly feels engaging to drive. The Supra is fun in its own way, but it doesn't have that same level of direct engagement that the Miata has, and that's the main thing I look for in a "fun car".
Sorry about the long wall of text, just wanted to compliment this engineering masterpiece from Mazda.
Who knows...maybe I might join you guys haha, that car left THAT good of an impression on me.