[formerMiata]

They're good looking, have a fantastic chassis, and the Renesis is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. I bought mine with 60K on it and sold it at 160K with nothing more than routine maintenance.

The chassis is absolutely brilliant. In many ways it has a lot in common with the GR86.

 

[formerMiata]

I loved my 3rd gen. I wanted it to look like a 2nd gen, but once I sat behind the wheel, I stopped caring. Most fun car I've ever owned.

Yeah this thread is full of cars I disagree with LMAO. The MR-S is an ugly duckling but it’s basically a poor man’s Elise. Just a great car.

MR-S
A90 Supra
RX-8
2nd gen NSX

All great cars that are apparently very underrated in this day and age. I think a lot of the time, cars get killed because the new version is better than the old, but just can’t hold up to the nostalgia goggles.

 

[formerMiata]

Gt500. Used to be a purists dream. You could have it with any trans you wanted.... As long as it was a 6 speed manual. Then they went all soft and made it with an auto. To me it ruined the specialness to even offer it with an auto, but to go as far as making it automatic ONLY was a slap in the face of real mustang enthusiasts. Sure its faster, and blah blah blah. Spec sheet this and spec sheet that. Dont care. Mustangs get manuals and that is that.

Im not a pony car guy at all, so maybe I just “don’t get it”.

The way I see it, for an engaging sports car I use on the street or in the mountains, manual is the way. However, for a race car or a hardcore track day special, a really good modern auto or DCT is just better.

The GT500 isn’t really an ideal street car, it’s capabilities are just massively ahead of what’s usable on the street. It is Ford’s track day special, and for that purpose the DCT just makes too much sense to ignore.

 

[formerMiata]

You arent alone with that thought. "Better" is subjective. Sure it is faster. It is definitely easier to drive. The spec sheet will show numbers that make the old manuals jealous. I fully disagree with that logic though. I spent many years doing all kinds of racing. I am a firm believer that I want to see the drivers compete, not the cars. These days anybody that can spend the money on some high power super car with a DCT can lay down decent lap times. Just keep all the nannies on and point it in the right direction. The car will make you look like a rock star. Is that really competition at that point? Maybe its the who spent more money competition. Driving a manual on track is a whole different experience. That 1 change to cars that may be otherwise identical turns it into something different. That to me is what separates the men from the boys. If you want your racing to be easy and and post up lap times and brag about numbers, then an auto fits the bill. But dont claim to be a better driver than anyone until you can do that same thing with 3 pedals. Thats when the real competition starts.

See, I don’t agree that removing the third pedal takes away much element of skill. Stuff like braking zones, taking the right line, balancing with the edge of traction, and just plain willingness to potentially stuff a car into a wall are all far more important IMO.

I have passed way too many $150k cars in a stock power $5k Miata to think a fancy transmission and a fast car do much to eliminate the driver mod factor to going fast.