Miata & Miata MX5

dolphin said:

Lynn,
I agree with foolish about the names. A Miata, MX-5 whatever, is generally an extremely reliable car, not to mention fun.

I also agree that any inexperinced driver should practice with the car to be able to use the car's capabilities to avoid an accident. The best and safest place to do that is at an autocross. Both of my children had to autocross for year after they got their driver's licenses. They have both become better drivers as a result. Eventially, I am sure they would have developed the same skills but autocrossing brings it out faster. Check out the sites in my signature and you can see the pictures.

Just my opinion.

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Foolish said:

No difference.

The Miata is badged MX-5 Miata in the U.S. and Canada. In Europe, it's the Mazda MX-5. In Japan, it'sthe Mazda Roadster, and it used to be sold under Mazda's Eunos brand, as the Eunos Roadster.

The '04 Miatas in the U.S. are still called MX-5 Miatas, except for the factory turbo model which is the Mazdaspeed MX-5. Rumor has it that next year they will no longer be called Miatas here at all, and will all be MX-5's.

They're great cars, and they last forever. They're also reasonably safe. If your son is a new driver, make sure he has some training or experience driving a rear wheel drive car in the wet before you unleash him on the streets. I'd suggest having him autocross it on a rainy day. I learned more about RWD and skid control in one day of that than I did in years of driving.

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