#NYIAS: We Get Up Close And Personal With The Mazda MX-5 RF Miata — What Is ALL The Fuss About?

This week the 2016 New York Auto Show (NYIAS) had a couple of surprises. One of them was the Mazda MX-5 RF Miata. While we knew that Mazda had something up its sleeve, we weren't exactly sure what it had in store.

We were expecting a true coupe. Instead, we got a retractable hard top that seems to take a page from the Porsche 911 Targa.

2016 New York Auto Show

**READ all about the Mazda MX-5 RF Miata HERE!

The motoring press has been going crazy over this thing. I talked to a few of my friends in the space and they're all going ga-ga over this Miata. Agent 001 and I examined it up close and we walked around it and, frankly, it does zippo for us. From the beltline up the greenhouse looks bulbous and tacked on. Walking around the back end you'll note it has narrow hips and the buttresses aren't elegantly executed.

What's the ALL the fuss about?

Can someone let us in on the secret here?


The 2016 New York Auto Show photo galleries are sponsored by Lexus.

2016 New York Auto Show

cidflekken - 3/26/2016 4:32:09 PM

+2 Boost

I feel like the design of the roof will work better on the Fiat. It just doesn't feel cohesive on the Mazda and it looks like a shrunken Toyota 86.

TheSteve - 3/26/2016 5:21:25 PM

0 Boost

The buttresses don't work stylistically speaking. Ditto for the front end and the rear. The original Miata was more sincere. This looks like it's trying too hard to be a somebody.

MDarringer - 3/26/2016 6:14:41 PM

+1 Boost

Throwing a rotary under the hood and making this an RX5 could be genius. This car has a buzz because it has transformed the awkwardly styled Miata into something quite lovely.

jeffgall - 3/26/2016 6:40:33 PM

0 Boost

Feel like a fast back design with a rear hatch giving more storage would have been a better play. Add to it a removable roof that fits in the hatch.

carloslassiter - 3/27/2016 8:45:46 AM

+2 Boost

I got a kick out of this line: "the buttresses aren't elegantly executed" - as if the author is the arbiter of automotive design.

As for me, I think it looks fine, though I'm not a buyer of something like this. The Miata is about the only affordable, reliable roadster on the market and that's it's only appeal to me.

If I want something with a roof I have plenty of other cars to choose from.

Agent00R - 3/27/2016 12:27:06 PM

+2 Boost

Never said I was a design thought leader but it's pretty clear to anyone that has seen elegant buttresses on small cars — Ferrari 246 Dino, 360 Spider, McLaren 650S Spyder, etc. — that the MX-5 RF's buttresses are not well done.

MDarringer - 3/27/2016 12:46:29 PM

0 Boost

Apples to oranges comparison.

carloslassiter - 3/27/2016 8:38:29 PM

+2 Boost

More like apples to orangutans.

cidflekken - 3/27/2016 8:49:04 PM

+2 Boost

The biggest offense of the design is that fake window outline, which coincides with 00R's comment about the buttresses. At least from what I can tell they serve zero purpose besides faking you out. I would have much rather Mazda gone for the look of the Mercedes SLS instead, whose wide B-pillars were unapologetic about it.

mini22 - 3/30/2016 6:42:14 PM

+1 Boost

Having had time to think about it I think Mazda's primary reason for doing this is to make a higher profit on the Miata. My guess is they are going to have to charge around 32 grand minimum for one of these. It will have inferior performance and handling due to its approximate 110 LBs of extra weight all at the top. A simpler solution would have been to make a fixed coupe/targa with a manual removable roof. It would have made the car stiffer as well as lighter. In addition it would have been cheaper. Why they chose a more expensive engineering solution akin to a Porsche 911 is a bit baffling to me. With a low HP car like the Miata a 110 LB weight gain is a significant hit on performance and perhaps handling. A Miata has always been a rather simple car to own and drive. Mazda should have kept to the basic formula.