2003 Mazda MX-5 Miata See your car's value Information shown for entry-level Convertible. 's car classifieds to view the new and used Mazda MX-5 Miata vehicles for sale near you. First Pics: 2017 Models Unveiled 10 Best SUVs Under $25,000 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards New Car Buyer's Guide 16 Best Family Cars of 2016From the April 2004 Issue of Car and Driver Perhaps the biggest surprise we got from the new Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata—other than its remarkable bargain price—is how much of the elemental Miata flavor has been retained. We suspected that a higher-output Miata would require heavier transmission components, a harder ride, and a heavier feel. But the car doesn't manifest any of those characteristics in enough quantity to dilute the essential charm of Mazda's iconic roadster. From the moment it appeared in 1989, we've been big fans of the little Miata. It made our 10Best list in its original form, and then again when the fixed-headlight version debuted in '98.

The Miata was never a powerful car, but it has always been light and nimble—and very entertaining. Evidently, we were not alone in our admiration. From the car's debut until last New Year's Day, Mazda has sold 311,666 Miatas in the U.S. But here's the best reason ever to buy one: an IHI ball-bearing turbo blowing seven-and-a-quarter pounds of boost into combustion chambers with fractionally reduced compression ratios (9.5 versus 10.0:1). That gives the Mazdaspeed Miata 178 horsepower—36 more than its tamer sibling—to spur it through the quarter-mile in 15.2 seconds. The turbo car has a redline 500 rpm short of the standard model's 7000, but it rips to the red in quick blasts. We recorded a 6.7-second sprint to 60 mph and expect slightly faster results from production cars. We had to promise to be gentle with the prototype vehicle you see in these pictures, but even so, the car was 1.4 seconds quicker to 60 mph and over a second faster through the quarter than the last Miata we tested.

Mazdaspeed's Miata is based on the normal model's LS trim level and is equipped with the optional six-speed transmission. Beefing up this gearbox for its bigger job involved shot-peening of internal gearwheels along with a fourth-gear ratio change so slight you have to go to three decimal places to appreciate it. The action is thus as light and direct as it has ever been and preserves one of the car's most important entertainment assets. Gear shifting is critical in a car that gobbles ratios during hard acceleration like a bear in a Burger King Dumpster, and the Miata can be shifted as fast as is humanly possible. But since midrange engine response is stronger in the turbo Miata, too, there is less call for downshifting on the open road. A top-gear 50-to-70-mph time of 7.6 seconds is pretty respectable and four seconds better than the 142-hp model's. On a purely subjective level, the Mazdaspeed car feels wholly transformed, capable of top-gear traffic slaloms at just a jab of the pedal.

The turbo itself is virtually transparent—you can't even hear it with the top up—and it suffers so little lag that the car mostly feels naturally aspirated. Unlike the Mazdaspeed Protegé, which has a turbo kit supplied by Callaway, Mazda's hot-rod Miata wears a factory-developed and -installed turbocharger kit, as well as a heavier-duty clutch and revised suspension. glass shower doors north vancouverBoth cars are big fun, but we've observed the Protegé's performance to fluctuate from one vehicle to another, hinting at production variations. upvc french doors supplied and fittedWe doubt this will be a problem with the Miata.round outdoor dining table costco

The installation is what you'd expect from a big-name factory: tidy and professional, with neat touches such as induction resonators to cut obnoxious noise. Certainly, the car is endowed with a wonderful sense of integration, offering crisp throttle response and clean transitions even when being shifted violently at the redline.garage doors lima ohChoice Auto Body Shop added 6 new photos.2014 4 door jeep wrangler towing capacityFLASHBACK, This Is How The Ford F-150 Svt Lightning Used To Look Like.front door canopy with pillars2008 Volvo S40 4-door Sedan 2.4L Man FWD Side Exterior ViewLike a modern day version of The Black Death, this plague has already ravaged Europe. Despite published reports of rampant mechanical problems and ridiculous engineering compromises not seen since the Eisenhower Administrationpeople are yet again being suckered into buying hard top convertible automobiles.

Each year as summer arrives many people find themselves being overcome by the notion of owning a convertible. The purchase of a convertible car is the least practical automotive proposition bar perhaps a Lamborghini Murcielago (although that vehicle does come in an even less practical convertible guise as well). While you buy an SUV for your family and your duties, you buy a convertible with your heart. Convertibles, like sports cars, are the purest form of the automotive art. If a convertible is no fun to drive and ugly what is the point? Sacrilegiously enough, some people are trying to turn convertibles into a quasi-rational proposition with highly technical hard tops that fold into the trunk. Or I should really say, what is left of your trunk. Hardtop convertibles may look cool when the metal roof folds into little pieces of origami but it will still leave you with no trunk space. Essentially the only time you can use the trunk is when the top is up. So who do we have to blame for this?

Well, in this country Mercedes started the trend anew (Lincoln used to sell a hardtop Continental in the 1950s) with the SLK but on the global stage it was Peugeot who took the lead. As the SLK is a pricey luxury car and not a low budget French compact it has taken a while for competitors from BMW, Lexus, Infiniti and Volvo to follow suit with inevitable copycats. Currently selling 2 varieties of hardtop convertible around the world, the first Peugeot to use the technology was the low priced 206 hatchback. This regular version of the 206 that had a roof wasn't very reliable or rigid in the first place so once they turned it into a hardtop convertible it turned out to be a downright tart French lemon. But that didn't stop Peugeot from selling these convertibles by the absolute boatload. The fact that the hardtops had a habit of getting stuck as customers pulled off the dealer lot was beside the point. Oddly enough, this summer we are seeing a huge influx of new hardtop convertibles on U.S. soil.

No, Peugeot isnt coming back to the United States yet but who knows? If Fiat can buy Chrysler then why cant Peugeot take over GM? I dont think we need Escalades assembled by unionized French employees. They already hate us enough. Pretty much all of these new convertibles are from the luxury spectrum with the new Infiniti G35, Lexus IS350, BMW 3 series and Volvo S40 all making entries. The only mainstream manufacturers to offer them are VW with the Eos and Mazda with its hardtop version of the Miata. (Another act of heresy but I will get to that later.) Many buyers rationalize the purchase of a hardtop convertible by saying that it affords them the quietness and security of a coupe mixed with the fun of being able to put the top down. Well, if you haven't driven a modern day soft-top then you would be shocked by how quiet they are at freeway speeds. And if you are worried about car security, why aren't you demanding shatter proof windows on your next car? A thief can put a hammer through a side window as easily as he or she can use a knife to cut open your soft top.