2004 Mazda Miata Ls Convertible 2-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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The Mazda MX-5 Miata is truly a four-season sports car

For all intents and purposes, the Mazda MX-5 Miata is a product of California. I know it says Hiroshima on the shipping container, but the car belongs to the Golden State as it was dreamt up in Irvine and honed its driving skills on the roads near Santa Barbara. And logic would dictate the Miata would be useless in any situation other than direct sunlight. That's what drivers from other states would think, anyway. It's the time of year when those of us from the west coast fly out to places where it's snowy and icy and everyone laughs at us because the cold and white stuff essentially shuts us down. Make fun of Californians driving in the rain or freaking out when the outside temperature dips below 55 degrees. What can we say, we're just out of our element. Perhaps, then, it's surprising the Miata handles snow a lot better than I do. I found this out when Mazda sent me to Crested Butte, CO, for a little fun on a frozen track. Yes, there was a lot of sideways action, but it had more to do with the two California residents inside than with the car. The company really invited journalists to Colorado to get an idea of how its all-wheel-drive crossovers perform when things get snowy and icy. But the real show was watching how we navigated the autocross course they set up for the rear-drive Miatas that Mazda brought along. The Miata had a good heater, but it was my laughter caused by immense admiration that kept me from freezing my fingers off. Armed with a set of Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires, the Miata performs just about how you'd expect it to – if you're light on the gas and quick with the steering and have a good amount of patience in you. It all works well if you're a pro driver, less so if you're not a frequent track visitor, regardless of the weather. But fortunately we were using the fourth-generation Miata, which has to be the most forgiving sports car ever. On pavement, it behaves like a compact hatchback. Put it in sixth and it's relaxed and compliant, with a ride that doesn't beat you up and an engine that knows when you just want to get where you need to go. Provoke it, however, and it rewards you with predictable responses from the controls. It does the same thing on ice, if you have a firm grasp on how a car responds to the frozen stuff. Starts are tricky, even in second gear, if you underestimate the power from the 2.0-liter four.

Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Luggage Test | How big is the trunk?

The Mazda Miata would not be my first choice for a road trip car. Would probably be in the bottom 10, in fact. The interior fits me like a coffin, the seats pinch my back and the amount of passenger legroom is laughable. It's not exactly the most serene car, either.  But hey, there are sadists out there who may want to venture somewhere in it. I work with some of them. So, as they were the ones who requested this, here is the answer to the question: how much luggage fits in the Miata's trunk? Alright, so on paper, the Miata RF has 4.48 cubic-feet of trunk volume. The regular soft top Miata, the one you should absolutely get instead, has 4.59. Does that different matter? Probably not. However, when talking about trunks in this diminutive size range, the shape is the ultimate factor. For instance, the Porsche 911's 4.6-cubic-foot frunk is basically the same as the Miata's, yet it's narrower and deeper. My BMW Z3's trunk is 5 cubic-feet, yet it's wider, longer and much shallower. On paper, they'd seem to be the same, but you can't fit the same items within them.  Usually, I'd now list all the bags I have to test, but dude, in the words of Jay Mohr in "Go" ... This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Go (8/8) Movie CLIP - It's a Miata (1999) HD   Here's what I could fit ...     This bag is 26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep and you'd have to check it in at the airport (remember those?!?). It BARELY fit inside the Miata. The ever-so-slightly larger gray version of this bag I have did not fit.   By contrast, it slid very easily into my Z3 and as you can see (below left), the remaining area was far more easily accessed due to the wider trunk opening. However, this bag wouldn't fit at all in the 911's frunk as the space isn't wide or long enough.      Alternatively, shown above, I could stack two carry-on roller bags (one 24L x 15W x 10D, the other 23L x 15W x 10D). This time, the tight fit came from height.    By contrast, these two would fit with room to spare in the deep 911 frunk as Zac Palmer discovered with his similarly sized bags (below left). They also fit in my Z3 (below right), but were side-by-side and just BARELY fit due to the trunk's much shallower depth. Basically, the Z3 was worst here.

Mazda is developing gas and diesel inline-six engines

Once the favored engine configuration for luxury and high-performance cars, the inline-six suffered a bit when the transverse (east-west) engine configuration became popular during the shift to front-wheel drive cars. The packaging benefits are obvious – no driveshaft or transmission intruding on passenger space or rear differential on cargo volume, plus turning the engine 90 degrees meant the front of the car could be shorter. But the inline-six is slowly, slowly crawling out of near-obsolescence, notably in BMW, Jaguar-Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz products. Add Mazda to that mix: An investor report first spotted by Jalopnik and confirmed by Mazda reveals that the company is developing a Skyactiv-X and Skyactiv-D inline-six that will be installed longitudinally (north-south) in a new "Large Architecture" platform. Before reading any further, let's catch up on the Skyactiv-X and -D technologies. The former basically burns gasoline like diesel, providing some benefits and advantages of both types of combustion - here's an explainer on how that all works. We drove a prototype 2.0-liter Skyactiv-X 4-cylinder engine in a Mazda3 mule, too. And the Skyactiv-D series of engines is a comparatively typical turbodiesel. Mazda has a 2.2-liter turbodiesel inline-4 that has had a long and convoluted development and certification process, but is finally showing up in the 2019 CX-5. Since Mazda has implemented these technologies in existing four-cylinder engines, we would assume that the new Skyactiv engines will be "modular" – that is to say, they'll essentially be the existing engines with two extra cylinders, rather than an entirely new design. Jaguar-Land Rover is doing a similar thing with its Ingenium engine family. Assuming the Mazda engines will be modular would mean they'll be roughly 3.0-liter units, which is a common displacement for modern inline-sixes. And as we mentioned eariler, they'll be arranged longitudinally, unlike any other Mazda save the MX-5 Miata (and the long-departed rotaries), in a new vehicle architecture. As part of a medium-term plan over the next six years, Mazda will develop some unspecified vehicles on what it calls the "Large Architecture". These vehicles will have 48V mild hybrid and PHEV capabilities, and be able to use a version of Mazda's i-Activ AWD system. Why do this at all?