Mazda's MX-5 Available With Cherry On Top For 2018
Mazda is offering driving enthusiasts a late Christmas gift by touching up the Miata for 2018 with a bevy of welcome options and a handful of all-inclusive improvements.
Even though nobody complained about the fourth-generation MX-5’s on-road behavior, the manufacturer still tweaked its rear suspension and steering for 2018. It also says it made efforts to reduce undesirable cabin noise. However, the most noticeable alteration for the next model year is the addition of an optional red soft top for the North American market.
For the more-aggressive MX-5 Club, Mazda maintains the optional Brembo brake and BBS wheel package. But shoppers can now add heated Recaro seats if they wish. Available only with a six-speed manual, the brake and wheel package tacks $3,770 onto the Club’s $29,155 MSRP — or $4,470, if you want the sport seats included.
Downshifting to the base model, Mazda is giving the Sport trim a 7-inch infotainment system and advanced keyless entry as standard equipment for 2018. The model now sells for $25,295. While that represents an increase of nearly $400 over last year’s car, the media center wasn’t even available on the base Miata in 2017. In terms of the bigger picture, we’re considering it a good deal overall.
Color changes are subtle and welcome. The $30,195 Grand Touring trim is now available with an auburn leather interior, which ought to look great with black paint, for an extra $300. However, is black isn’t your bag, Mazda is now offering the MX-5 in Snowflake White Pearl Mica ($200), Soul Red Crystal ($595), and Machine Gray Metallic ($300), which was previously exclusive to the RF hardtop.
Pricing and packaging information for the 2018 Mazda MX-5 RF will be announced later, but we’re expecting to see similar options and fees. Soft-top models will start showing up at dealerships in January with both black and cherry-red canvases.
[Image: Mazda]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I have always liked the MX-5 but I fit better in the 2018 VW GTI. I am not sure if these 2 cars are cross shopped but wondered which would win in a track meet head to head. I think it would be very close. Has this ever been done? I think I might have an easier time convincing DW that the GTI is not a sports car (buckle up honey and hang on for dear life while I show you what this baby can do). Way back in 1987 when I bought my first GTI and my wife to be said "it doesn't look like a sports car"...that is exactly what I told her.
More paint choices, two of them grey-scale, on a car that is already limited to grey scale colors and red. Oh, and one blue, highest trim level only.