New York 2015: 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club Unveiled
For those looking for a track-day special that can driven to the track, the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club just might be what you need.
Performance upgrades found in the Club model include limited-slip differential, Bilstein shocks, and shock tower brace, but only if one opts for the six-speed manual. Those who choose the six-speed auto will only have 17-inch gunmetal wheels, front air dam and rear lip spoilers going for them.
An additional package — pulling from the MX-5 Global Cup race car — adds Brembo brakes, functional side aero, and swaps the standard wheels for 17-inch black BBS forged alloys.
Other features include Mazda Connect, seatback bars, and piano black side mirrors.
Pricing and other details will arrive closer to the MX-5 Miata’s showroom debut this summer.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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Barring physical handicap, those that choose the automatic club edition should also be publicly ridiculed.
There is a problem, though, with the auto/manual sigma for people like me: I'd love to own a Miata, but don't know how to drive stick. I don't have a friend with a manual who can show me. I've looked to see if driving schools in the area offer manual training and they don't. But I'd feel ridiculous driving Miata with automatic....which means I guess a Miata ain't in my future. So - even if people really would prefer a manuals - if there is no one willing to show us how we can't get one. I think that's part of the reason why manual sales are so bad with Millennials. I also think this is why sports car companies are ditching manuals in favor of DCT-only or auto only: They know they're customers might feel ridiculous driving a non-stick sports car but yet they may not know how to drive stick. Only offering a DCT eliminates the sigma - "Oh ya, I would have bought the stick version, but don't you know they don't offer it." Dignity saved, lol.
Anyone learning to drive stick needs to know about how gear reduction trades speed for power, and vice versa, about engine power and torque curves, about THEIR engine's power and torque curves, how to match revs and downshift, etc. I know too many people who know how to get a car started from rest, and to go up through the gears, and some idea that they need to downshift when slowing for curves, intersections, etc., but no real idea how to shift to extract the appropriate performance for the kind of driving they're doing. These folks are a hazard - they're in the merge lane on an entrance ramp trying to find a hole, and because they're doing 60 they're already in top gear and they're staying there. They can't pass anyone on a two-lane road. They ride the brakes all the way down a long steep hill, in top gear. Even if you removed the clutch from the equation, they would still drive a DSG in manual mode the same way. The actual mechanics of smooth clutch engagement are the least of their problems. Rather than send these folks out to practice clutch engagement, I would send them out with an automatic and tell them to mix up their driving environments, and watch the tach-pay attention to what the transmission is doing, closely, for like a week.
Adding non-adjustable Bilsteins seems like a wasted effort. I don't get why they bother upgrading the dampers. Most serious drivers (even half-serious autocrossers, like myself) just replace them with adjustable KYBs or Konis (or, if you have money, Motons or Penskes).