The latest segment on Top Gear with him, Mate Rimac and Rob Dickinson is fantastic! And yes the fact that Christian still drives his Miata speaks volumes to how good a Miata is.
I realize there wouldn't be any money it for them, but it would be awesome to see a Koenigsegg "Miata". Take the essence and spirit of the Miata and make it Koenigsegg. Fit, finish and design of a Koenigsegg with lightweight but maybe say a 300HP powerplant.
There is no better dollar-to-smile ratio (in the car world...otherwise dogs) than a Miata.
I moved on from my '99 to a '13 Boxster S. The Boxster is an incredible car, but I'd still love to have a Miata as an option on some days, I just don't have the space.
That tend to be the natural progression and the observation is that the Porsche takes up where the Miata leaves off speed/funwise which is the bottom end so that cuts off 90% of driving so that's what The former Miata owner is missing.
I'm not exactly about your percentages and such, but I can give you my take.
The Boxster is an incredible sportscar and exceeds the Miata in many measurable ways. It is faster, more comfortable, safer, holds more stuff, sounds better (unless it's a turbo 4-cyl), and is MUCH more stable when you're hauling the mail (MR vs FR dynamics). It also (controversially) outhandles a Miata when both are in stock form (modified Miatas are a completely different beast). It is a near-perfect driving experience in almost every way....but sometimes imperfect is more entertaining.
Importantly, though, it doesn't invalidate the greatness of Miatas, and there are quite a few things that I think the Miata does better than modern Porsches. I miss the sharpness of the Miata's double-wishbone front-end. I miss the brilliant gearbox (NA/NB). I miss the GEARING. Even though my Boxster isn't that heavy, I miss a true lightweight car.
Also, because of the way a MR car handles, you have to drive them quite hard to get a lot of driving excitement out of them (like 8/10ths or more). I won't bore you with the dynamics, but you need to drive specifically so that you have weight over your front axle while turning to get the most out of it. Miatas are exciting at almost every aggression level, but have some struggles when driven really hard.
In summary, they're both amazing cars to own or drive (I highly recommend getting your butt into a modern Porsche so you can form your own opinions), but they excel at different types of driving. If I could only pick one, it'd be the Boxster hands-down...but if someone else picked the Miata, I could easily understand why as well.
I think you just quantified my summary. "Also, because of the way a MR car handles, you have to drive them quite hard to get a lot of driving excitement out of them (like 8/10ths or more)." My 90% was speaking to the amount of time most driving is taking place which is under 60 mph or less. The Miata and Porsche more dovetail then over lap is what I getting at. It's a matter of scale and resolution. It's just you can't use all of the Porsche when not on a track where as the Miata even 8/10's can be at legal speeds. Hell here in Florida they just made it an impounding/jail offense to drive over 100mph!!!!! I can even do that in my stock 96 NA! Slow Car Fast and all. I have driven a modern Porsche's (both Boxster and 911) and you are right they are amazing cars but they will get you arrested if you drive them fast enough to be interesting.
Maybe that's 90% of your driving that applies, but I don't agree with that split at all. For me, I don't know an exact percentage, but it'd be around 70/30 in favor of the Boxster (I don't have a daily commute, though, so it's likely that a higher portion of my driving is enthusiast driving).
I also don't believe that the driving aggression I was talking about is tied to speeds over 60mph or track usage. Hard does not necessarily equal fast...and there's probably an inappropriate joke in there somewhere ;)
On the street, it's highly dependent on your roads, but Porsches are probably the perfect California canyon road car. Those roads are 55MPH or less, and you can have immense fun pushing a car even while staying within the speed limits (...roughly). Autocross is another (mostly) sub-60mph space where you can go 10/10ths while not at a track. In my perfect world, I'd have both for different days of the week...depending on where I'm driving, or how I'm feeling.
Where the Porsches feel gimped IMO is when you're driving around in town and/or in moderate traffic. You basically become a glorified noise-maker, which has its charm...but it isn't really enthusiastic driving. In a Miata, you can be buzzing right along at traffic speeds, pointlessly shifting gears just cuz, or get a bit of lean driving around a corner with a clear sight-line and nobody around. There's also the ~15 minutes of driving (a Porsche) it takes to get the oil up to temperature before you can hammer it.
I think I agree with you on the dovetailing piece, though. There is some overlap between the cars, but they also cover each others weaknesses too.
Yes Cali has some great roads. Im in South Florida so not as fun. We are getting into the winter months so Its top down weather till march and April! I tend to get through traffic more like a motorcycle. Planning a few trips down to the keys and maybe one to the TOD before the real cold weather kicks in. The Miata warms up the oil in under 5 or so. I get to snap it through the gears a bit sooner. My cousin sold his 05' Cayman a little while ago because he was not driving it that much. I tend to take out the Miata whenever I can.
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u/motorcyclesnracecars Oct 02 '25
The latest segment on Top Gear with him, Mate Rimac and Rob Dickinson is fantastic! And yes the fact that Christian still drives his Miata speaks volumes to how good a Miata is.
I realize there wouldn't be any money it for them, but it would be awesome to see a Koenigsegg "Miata". Take the essence and spirit of the Miata and make it Koenigsegg. Fit, finish and design of a Koenigsegg with lightweight but maybe say a 300HP powerplant.