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2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata Drivers' Notes Review | A little power goes to our heads

The Mazda MX-5 Miata is nearly 30 years old. The current car — dubbed the ND — is in its fourth iteration and packs a number of updates for 2019, most notably a bump of 26 horsepower and 3 pound-feet over the 2018 model. The car now makes 181 horsepower at 7,000 rpm while redline has been raised to 7,500. That might not sound like a lot, but when you're moving fewer than 2,400 pounds of steel, aluminum and plastic, it feels plenty strong. Our test car was a Soul Red roadster with a brown top, an odd but striking combination. A power-retractable top is available as the Miata RF. This top-tier Grand Touring trim comes with features like automatic climate control, heated seats and leather seats. It might not be the most practical or versatile car on the road, but it might just be the most fun for the money. Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: I was excited when I woke up to the Miata covered in snow in my driveway. After all, this tester came equipped with Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires. By the time I could pry myself away from my work and take the car for a spin, though, the snow had mostly melted. I still had fun flinging this around on the cold, wet roads. The first thing I noticed was actually what I didn't notice ... I wasn't wishing for just a little more power, for once. Chalk it up to the conditions, or to the extra 26 horsepower Mazda added for 2019, but this felt appropriately potent. If anything, it's just enough to help get the rear end to wiggle a bit and the tires to more readily chirp in second gear. The Miata, fresh from the factory, has learned to do the cha-cha. Oddly enough, though, my wife, who has been salivating over this generation of MX-5 since the first time I brought one home, has cooled on it a little bit. We went out on a date night, and she was hyper aware of the noise and bumps, and I was, too, frankly. Something about bundling up under an icy soft top can kill the mood of this convertible. In the summer, the sound of the engine and telegraphic feel of the road beneath you blend with the warmth of the sun and the tug of the wind in automotive harmony. It's still fun to drive in the cold, but it doesn't quite turn on the charm like it normally does. Associate Editor Reese Counts: I've spent a lot of time behind the wheel of various NDs over the past few years. The weekend I got married, my wife and I drove a Soul Red roadster from Los Angeles to San Francisco for a brief honeymoon.

The Miata gives me a new perspective on the world

The Miata: making everything a new experience and turning low-beam headlights into high-beams since 1989. That's what happens when you're basically sitting on the ground, something I've become intimately familiar with when driving our long-term 2016 MX-5 Club. I am not a tall person. Far from it. In most cars I drive, I crank the seat height up close to maximum as soon as I get in. That's easy in the Miata because there's no height adjustment at all. Couple that with the facts that the seat is thin and the car barely hovers off of the pavement, and my eyes end up sitting at the height of most car's exhaust systems. That results in a lot of examining other cars' bumpers in traffic. And one day recently, it almost led to me missing my exit from Interstate 94, part of the route I take every day to work. Everything just looks different from down here – it is quite literally a different point of view from what I'm used to. And then there's the issue of night driving. When you're this low down and stuck in traffic, the headlights of cars following look extremely bright (and incredibly close). They're not, of course, you're just lower than every other driver on the road so it seems like you're staring down high-beams in the rearview mirror. I still love the Miata. It's just not the best commuter vehicle, which should come as a surprise to precisely no one. But when a hole opens up in traffic, the Miata and I are the first to fill it. I just hope the other cars see me. Related Video: Mazda Long-Term Garage Convertible Lightweight Vehicles Performance

Weekly Recap: Geneva's splendor reflects growing demand for ultra-luxury cars

Geneva is one of the most glittering auto shows in the world, but the list of high-powered and bespoke luxury cars was decadent this year even by the rich standards of the Swiss exhibition. It's great for enthusiasts to revel in the flame-throwing Aston Martin Vulcan, the racing-inspired elegance of the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept and the insane performance of the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce, but there's a reason for all of this opulence: the luxury market is big business. And it's growing. IHS Automotive forecasts that so-called ultra-premium sales will nearly triple this decade from 123,000 to 353,000 units around the world. The estimate includes brands like Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce, but doesn't count BMW, Mercedes and Audi, which offer less expensive models in addition to their high-end flagships. Though IHS includes Porsche and its relatively large volume in the study, the ultra-premium segment is still set grow at about the same rate, even without the German automaker's figures. So what is propelling all of this growth in the most expensive segment of the auto industry? Put simply, there's more rich people. IHS Automotive principal analyst Tim Urquhart pointed to economic expansion in China, market recovery in the United States and a surge in the lucrative technology sector as contributing factors. This dovetails with a research report by UK-based Oxfam, an international relief organization, which found the world's richest one-percent owned 48 percent of global wealth in 2014, and it's expected to increase to more than 50 percent by 2016. View 17 Photos Carmakers are moving quickly to capitalize with new products, expanding their portfolios with low-volume speedsters like the 800-hp V12 Vulcan at Geneva, and plans to enter new segments, like Rolls-Royce's strategy to make an SUV. "Ultra-premium carmakers are looking to explore ways of growing their product offerings, and thus their bottom lines, in this most potentially profitable of segments," Urquhart wrote in a report on the Geneva show. In a nutshell, there are more choices for people with more money. It's a good time to have expensive taste. Other News & Notes 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata production launches It won't be long now. The 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata arrives later this year, and it's officially in production. Mazda announced this week that the roadster began rolling off the assembly line at its Ujina factory in Hiroshima, Japan.