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2016 Miata - Holy Bodyroll, Batman!!!

22K views 79 replies 45 participants last post by  BRealistic 
#1 ·
Earlier today, a first drive review of the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata was posted by a Swedish (or Dutch?) auto mag on YouTube ahead of the Friday embargo. The video review has since been made private, but a few translations provide some insight into the new Miata, as well as this screenshot from the review:



Having seen the video before it was made private, body control does not seem to be the ND's strong-suit, and from the reviewer, neither does the electrically assisted steering (to be fair, he drove it back to back with an original NA).

Here are some key points translated as copied and pasted form the miata.net forum:

"First translations:

- 1.5 is the preferred engine according to Mazda
- 7500 rpm redline
- this is a prototype, production cars available in August
- electrical steering is a bit 'light' around the center
- car weighs 997kg only 30kg more than the first NA
- 1.5 has 131hp
- price (for the 1.5) will be similar to NC"

997kg is just under 2,200 lbs, but I believe someone translated that as dry weight, not curb weight.

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=566603
 
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#4 ·
True. Not every car has to handle like the coils are filled with rocks:sly:


This was firm suspension 4 decades ago



 
#3 ·
Of course, body roll isn't much of a problem except in transition. If you're building a slalom racer, you want immense stiffness, but in a sports car? Sure, control is important, but if the suspension keeps the tires upright and in contact with the road throughout its travel, it will handle bumpy roads much better without too much roll stiffness.

All of that being said, this screenshot makes it look as if the driver is seriously hammering it.

Also, I seriously doubt Mazda screwed the pooch when it comes to this car and suspension settings. I'm far more confident in their engineers than in a web site trying to get hits because it broke the embargo. :beer:
 
#5 ·
The NC wasn't much better with body roll, even with the sport suspension. I honestly feel my NB (with the "Hard S" suspension) is more planted. Other than 2nd gear being too short with the 6-speed in the NC, it was something I and a lot of other Miata-philes were looking to see improved with the new generation.

But I'll save judgement until either I or Chris Harris drives it haha...
 
#8 ·
How on Earth is a Miata with body roll more fun than one without it? :confused: Why don't they just make it an automatic hybrid as Crimping-spec! :facepalm:
I refuse to answer your question because I find you dreadful.
 
#10 ·
997kg is just under 2,200 lbs, but I believe someone translated that as dry weight, not curb weight.
OK, so let's start adding up the things we know the engine uses. Let's say it needs about 1.5 gallons of coolant, 4 quarts of oil, and 12 gallons of gas. That should be about 92 pounds or so additional, so you're at 2290 pounds, and that's for the 1.5 liter version. I had seen the estimate of 2320 pounds thrown around as the minimum curb weight for the US model and at this point that sounds plausible. I guess we can say it won't be long before we know for sure now if the car goes public on Friday.
 
#11 · (Edited)
The suspension and steering tuning will be completely different for the US, the article being discussed has little relevance

And body roll is intentionally engineered into the car as it creates more sensation of speed. Any stock car with this level of performance is going to roll like that.



.
 
#12 ·
Pretty sure stock cars are engineered with a little bit of body-roll, so the suspension can do its work and it doesn't oversteer too easy. Especially a light rwd car.
I have driven examples of the same (rwd) cars, and find in some cases an overly stiff car isn't as fun (can't flick the weight around that easy).

What I will never understand is why people make fwd cars overly stiff for track use (or street). Doesn't let suspension do it's work, and catastrophic understeer is the result.
 
#13 ·
Stock Miatas have always rolled quite a bit. If you remember the Top Gear review on the last new one, they claimed the engineers knew they could make the car handle better, but decided against it and instead fitted softer suspension to make the car feel more lively like the original car.

Additionally, despite being one of the most popular spec and autocross cars, these cars are not designed with that end user in mind. Far more will be purchased by middle aged women so they must maintain some quality of a decent ride.
 
#14 ·
Additionally, despite being one of the most popular spec and autocross cars, these cars are not designed with that end user in mind. Far more will be purchased by middle aged women so they must maintain some quality of a decent ride.
Haha, no.

TorqueNews said:
According to a study by TrueCar in 2010 (well into the Miata’s third generation,) the Miata does not even make the top 10 cars purchased by females as a percentage of overall ownership. Those female favorites include the Volkswagen New Beetle, Kia Spectra, Nissan Rogue, Volkswagen Eos, Hyundai Entourage, Volvo S40, Jeep Compass, Honda CR-V, Nissan Sentra, and Hyundai Tucson.
I see two VWs on that list and no Miatas. The article also quotes Mazda as saying that 66% of Miata buyers are men.
 
#15 ·
Roll stiffness doesn't directly translate to real-world handling. If you want a car to handle well on real roads that aren't perfectly smooth, a moderate amount of suspension compliance may be an advantage. Miatas are built for the street, and if you want to make a track machine the aftermarket will gladly help with that.
 
#20 ·
Is the body roll a key component to the "feel" that the Miata people are always talking about? Everyone I've ever talked to has said that the Miata has the best steering feel of any car out there ever and ever, maybe the feel is actually coming from their asses as they get pitched over in a turn.

Also, there's the discussion of roll centers to be considered. A high roll center gives less body roll but poorer road feel and its harder to sense the available grip so snap oversteer and terminal understeer are more likely. Low roll centers roll more, but you can "feel" the grip better. You can then just tune the lean away with sways and dampers.
 
#24 ·
Body roll huh? :confused:






:(
That looks like an old car in pretty rough shape. The suspension could be really worn for what we know. Not exactly a direct comparison with the new Miata.
 
#40 ·
ITT: butthurt lounge.

People will defend the miata to the grave no matter what happens. Say these pics came out of the Lexus RC (probably one of the more hated-on cars here recently) - there would be pages of bashing how bad it is and how much body roll sucks. When it's on the miata everybody loves body roll and thinks it's fun. :rolleyes::screwy:
 
#44 ·
Seriously. If we could stop feeding known trolls, that would be awesome. Also, when you quote them, I can then see their useless drivel.

To get back on topic, I don't mind a little body roll. In fact, if you remember the point of the NA Miata, it was to provide the driving experience of a British Sports car without the maintenance issues. A little body roll perfectly captures part of the charm that those cars possessed.

Chris
 
#47 ·
my in-laws had an '01 for a while. The car was a blast to drive. What body roll was there certainly didn't take away from the driving experience. YOu never got going very fast, but it was quick, with immediate response to inputs... just a simple drivers car. I was always smiling when I got back from a joy ride.

If I can have the same impression with the new one, I'm happy. I don't need a rocket ship, there are plenty of other options for that. Give me that simple mechanical connection to the road. I was not pleased to hear that they were using electric steering, but that'll be a wait and see thing.
 
#48 ·
If I can have the same impression with the new one, I'm happy. I don't need a rocket ship, there are plenty of other options for that. Give me that simple mechanical connection to the road. I was not pleased to hear that they were using electric steering, but that'll be a wait and see thing.
It can definitely go either way. Some cars do it really well - like the BRZ. Hell, even my dad's Fit isn't terrible. But other cars' electric steering racks are so disconnected it's laughable.

Mazda knows the Miata market pretty well, so I would hope that they take the time to do it the right way.
 
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