There’s very muted chat on here and most of the other U.K. based 5 forums except one.
Conversely our cousins on Miata.net have been in overdrive mode for months and now the cars are being delivered it’s picked up a gear again.
Is it because of the long lead time and the drip feed of news over quite a period that there’s less noise on the various forums?
I would have thought that once people had seen the car at the preview events that the noise level would have increased
I saw the car at the preview event last weekend and ordered one on the spot, as did at least one other person. It’s often said that pictures don’t do a car justice, this is particularly true in this case, it is gorgeous…
I have been a serial 5 owner now for over 11 years, most recently acquired one was last December, a 3.5 PRHT, lowered on 18" wheels, in black. Looks the dogs dangly bits and goes nicely, just never really bonded with it, I was seriously looking for a new import MK1 to get back to the dynamic agility when the MK4 became an option…
Its been a long haul, perhaps we have got a bit weary! However the UK Press Launch is this coming Monday, so things may well ramp up then.
So far I’ve seen it at the Spring Rally, driven it at Goodwood, and driving it again somewhere in the Cotswolds in 3 weeks time, and spent hours reading rumours, reviews and looking out for info.
But, I think the hype has been way more so far than for the NC. And i think possibly more deserved as well…
To the best of my knowledge no member of the club, this forum or the public has actually driven one on the road in the UK yet. Maybe when we can get some reports from real people we will get a bit more excited.
correction, actually at Goodwood to get back down from the drive up the hill the cars all had to go out on the public road for a few hundred yards, so yeah, a few done it already…
Currently in the US; new Miata ads shown nightly on the TV, but I’ve yet to find a Mazda dealer with any stock. Miataforum is rather odd; a lot of the posts are generated by people who have been very long term Miata owners; many brought the car in 1989. Mazda pretty much coordinated the LE launch in San Diego. I’ve met a few San Diego Miata Club members, and they qualify as fanatics. We don’t have the same sort of owner here, nor owner loyalty. You can probably compare the profile of join dates between here and Miataforum, and come to a very different conclusion.
A year ago and I was fairly excited about the forthcoming ND. But that changed because there is only so long I’ll give a damn about something I couldn’t have if I wanted and hyped marketing does not work in the UK as well as in the USA. So zero marketing at my local Mazda dealership, the same YouTube videos, using the same buzzwords and nothing more. What lets the MX5 down is that Mazda act as if they have the latest iPhone, when in fact they have a niche market car, which nobody who might, can yet buy.
It’ll be a slow burn that will fade. Me? I’d take a soul red NC THANKS.
Have we seen any UK spec versions yet, I believe the answer to that is no. All the demos are Japanese spec I believe, they could arrive here with 4 inches between tyre and wheel arch now that would be a disappointment
My local dealer comments that he has two types of buyer for the MX-5, the enthusiast (likely to be a club member at some point) and those who buy it for how it looks.
I was not sure until I saw it in the flesh, pictures don’t really do the lines and how it all flows together justice.
Agree on that, Soul Red is very nice though, I swore previously I wouldn’t buy another red car having owned several in a row… changed my mind, SR is the best of the options available IMHO, the blue and one of the whites are also pretty nice.
I think the car is gorgeous, I would swap the 5 me and the Mrs currently own for one tomorrow.
However, being brutal, do you think this club is the target market? Yes it might amount to a few thousand people, but the majority of them just happen to own the car. You only have to see the comments above to realise that the sales will come from elsewhere. Even if everyone in this club bought one, while it would be nice for Mazda UK, it is far fewer that the sales they will need over time.
It’s been driven enough across the pond and I don’t think we’ve heard any horror stories yet, in fact most reviews have been very positive. They just need to get some on the road to attract the public’s attention and I just cannot see this happening in any numbers until next spring.
I really like it, far more so than the NB & NC in fact. I’m looking forward to in being out and about.
But.
It’s a bit like when my girlfriend shows me a really nice house she’s seen that £500k. It may as well be £500 million! She enjoys looking and imagining specifics, I don’t see the point. One day, many years from now when the mortgage is paid off and the children have flown I might find myself with a 25 year old ND to sit on the drive next to my 50 year old NA. Until then it’s just another new car I’m looking forward to seeing in the metal, not something to obsess about.
We are let loose in one two weeks today in the Cotswolds, hope it’s a 2.0l as that would be my choice purely because we have 2.0l NC3 now.
The LSD is nice and I think the larger wheels look better but would I prefer a 1.5l? I know someone else taking one out at the same time and location, if we have different spec’s perhaps we will be able to do a comparison.