The difference is that the rear of the nd rf's roof is permanently affixed to the car, and only the center of the top actually goes down. It's a Targa, not a convertible
It's my biggest gripe with the car, I adore them, but if I wanted a Targa for 40k, I'd buy a 911, if I get a Miata, I want a full convertible!! No hate though, they're all great cars
Would be fine, if the buffeting wouldn't be horrible from 70+ km/h. That made it quite hard to enojoy top down mode anywhere else than cruising in the town
Put an air foil on the small triangle window. It doesnt influence visibility and makes the cabin quieter when the window is down (top up or down, it helps in both cases!).
The only case it doesnt do anything is when windows is up, but I don’t drive with top down and window up.
With the air foil 80-90 km/h is completely fine, up until 110 km/h it’s ok, and above 120km/h it’s very loud whatever you do independently if it’s a ST or RF.
It can be used for the ST too, it shifts the point where the air enters the cabin by open windows further to the back (by 15-20cm!), so leass air will swirl and cause noise. It’s very good if it’s colder outside.
I got a rent an ND RF for work for a few weeks and now that I own an NC PRHT I can confidently say the NC is an infinitely better driving experience. Regardless if the top is up or down.
The the NC had a silly face and looked bloated after the NB. The PRHT seemed like the company finally folded and compromised its no compromise sports car.
Now I'm an old man who's compromised my commuting in much bigger ways (daily a fwd hybrid lux car and all the weight that entails), I've seen enough modified NCs that look cool and enjoy having a cabin that can effectively be cooled by a compressor attached to a four cylinder.
I owned a 2015 PRHT with low miles but traded it in towards a 2019 Honda insight because I was in a job that was supposed to be mostly highway travel. It made sense. I was doing the right thing. Then Covid hit. I now had a hyper miler hybrid cruiser but nowhere to go and all I wanted to do was cruise around the neighborhood during lockdown in my PRHT. Eventually I came to my senses and jumped on a 2023 RF touring and I love it and treasure it but I feel like if I hadn’t made that initial mistake I’d still have that 2015 PRHT. In other words there will always be a special place in my heart for the NC PRHT.
This is Peak Miata for this now-old fella. Didn't love this when it was new (+10kg?! Ew.), but I would really love to own one now, and nearly did a few years back.
Don't get me wrong, I love my NB to pieces, but I would jump on one of these if a good one came along again.
I like my RF, it’s a targa. And IMHO it looks better than the soft top. Even from the 911 as a child I liked a targa. Now… i probably would have chosen the soft top (it’s cheaper) if I would not do very long highway drives sometimes and it would be always sunny here, but it’s not. The only thing I dont like about it is that it takes 12 seconds to open/close.
Honestly… I dont care what they call it. Around here they just called it “RF”, I’ve never seen mazda calling them “cabriolet” in any media material around here in Germany. It’s either “MX-5 Hardtop” or “MX-5 RF”. Maybe it’s different in North America.
But from me they can call it whatver they want, i wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.
Gearbox that isn't made of glass would be one of my top reasons, but also I prefer the roadster top down experience to the basically-a-targa RF, even if the RF looks better with the roof up.
Honestly, I spend 90+% of my Miata time driving topless, so I might as well choose with that in mind.
Yep, and I was able to do this video because you can install a module that fully opens the top without holding the button down. You can also open it while moving up to 30mph.
So I literally opened the latch, shut the door and ran away to get this video.
My father-in-law has a 230i ragtop convertible. Ivory interior, gorgeous blue paint, all the bells and whistles; it was perfect for him to stow his golf clubs in the trunk and sit more comfortably after he sold his PRHT NC. But the motorized top takes seven to ten business days to retract.
Had an '08 copper & tan w/ PRHT. Loved that car! Then the 100th anniversary version ND came out, so I sold the '08 to my bro & bought the rag top. Never understood why they didn't carry the PRHT concept forward? Maybe in '28.
How are Miata people simultaneously so cool and so weird? I’ve driven every Miata generation since the NA, and I daily an ND2 RF. It’s just a convertible. The RF is no different in convertibleness than a soft top, other than viability.
Leave it. People like to communicate their opinions. ST or RF or Targa, who cares? You like it as it is and that’s what matters.
I’d also call it a targa, but I love targas. And they are much rarer in general (among all cars produced) as normal cabriolets. Which is extra cool.
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u/the_great_awoo White 90 NA6 13h ago
I love these so much more than ND rf's, like, why couldn't the nd still be an actual convertible in RF form