My first impressions 2006 MX-5

Dropped my 2005 MazdaSpeed MX-5 Turbo off for its first free oil change
yesterday. Spent about an hour setting in the new ones in the showroom
while waiting.

Hope I don't offend any new owners, but I don't like them. I'll admit
they are very highly rated by the auto press and probably would run
rings around mine with their bigger engine. But a few things I don't
like.

They put a big 5 inch wide black shiny plastic cheap looking
rectangular piece along the top of the dash in place of the smooth mat
black convex vinyl of the 05, moved all the radio controls to the
steering wheel just where I like to rest my thumbs while I grip the
wheel, and changed all the gages. They look cheap with plasticy looking
bezels around them. They added a big coffee cup holder on the door
which means now I can't comfortably lean my leg against the door like I
do now when driving, and replaced the soft vinyl padded visors with
thin flimsy solid, no padding, cheap black plastic ones. Outside they
added big out of proportion bulbous fender flairs. These look great on
a larger car like the 350Z, but I think they're out of place on a sleek
little MX-5.

About the only thing I really liked were the new stainless shift knob
and shift pattern, and the Michelin 205-45R-17 tires. You have to press
down now on the shifter to engage reverse which is on the driver's leg
side up towards the dash where it belongs. And the tires look more
winter drivable than my Toyo's.

All in all, it's still a nice roadster but I'm really glad I bought
the last of the classic Speed MX-5's. And I'm still smiling about that
$6000 discount. There's just something about the new ones that
doesn't look and feel right to me.

On 12 May 2006 07:13:53 -0700, "laocmo" > wrote:

>All in all, it's still a nice roadster but I'm really glad I bought
>the last of the classic Speed MX-5's. And I'm still smiling about that
>$6000 discount. There's just something about the new ones that
>doesn't look and feel right to me.

My club spec suits me fine....Thanksgiving holiday traffic is the only
reason I'm not one of those smiling about the $6,000 discount. Might
be my size..after a couple weeks the cupholder isn't even noticed. The
one real gripe I have is with the gas cap....I don't like the idea of
it just hanging there or trying to balance it on the lid when filling
up.