Track Comparison: 2024 Mazda Miata RF vs. Lotus Emira V-6

MotorTrend

7/18/2024

For decades

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00:00This comparison is something of an enthusiast's special. We've got the brilliant Lotus Amira

00:26pitted against that other most charming of driver-focused vehicles, the Mazda Miata.

00:32Which one of these two provides a more pure and wholesome, exciting and invigorating driving

00:37experience? Let's find out.

00:40A little bit of warm-up here. I'm going to see what this Amira can do. Coming on to this

01:00rear chicane section, this is kind of where this track gets interesting. Deep into the

01:05brakes, we'll turn in. And I can tell already that this chassis is really, really well balanced.

01:13Of course, it's a mid-engine, rear mid-engine with near perfect weight distribution.

01:20And that really is the makings of a great track car, isn't it? 400 horsepower, by the way,

01:27from this V6, 310 pound-feet of torque, beautiful snappy six-speed manual transmission.

01:36And a red line at about 6,800, I would say, RPM, which is lovely. Really nice. Nice long gears.

01:45You can kind of sit in second a lot of the time, find third if you need to. Mind of the supercharger.

01:52The fact that I can see that beautiful little throttle cable heading to that accelerator.

01:59I can see that working. I think that's so cool.

02:04Sounds good, no? It's not overpowering, but on the track here, it comes alive.

02:11As a car, you can drive to a racetrack, put some laps on and drive home, take your partner out for

02:17a meal without them having to climb over a foot and a half of carbon fiber tub. This is pretty

02:23much on the money. And speaking of money, you will be able to get an Amira with a four-cylinder

02:30engine for around $77,000. This one being a first edition comes in at around about $100,000. It's

02:37quite a lot of money. Having said that, as we've just said, this thing can do a bit of everything,

02:43which I think is very impressive. Push the Lotus hard on the track and you'll be rewarded with a

02:48level of confidence not felt in the likes of the Elise or Evora, both of which were stunning cars,

02:54but both also had a tendency to act like a wild animal at a moment's notice.

03:00Who's going to win out in the battle of the enthusiast specials? Well, the Amira has put

03:07up a damn good showing, but now it's the turn of the mighty Mazda Miata.

03:19This is the Mazda Miata Club. Let's see what you can do. So the Lotus Amira had a three and a half

03:29liter V6 with a supercharger, produced 400 horsepower, 310 pound-feet of torque. The Miata

03:35has an inline-four, naturally aspirated, and that gives you 181 horsepower and 151

03:42pound-feet of torque. It's literally got half of the Lotus. However, it's got, again, like the Lotus,

03:49spectacular weight distribution, and as a result, gorgeous dynamic feel. It really is a really,

03:57really, really impressive car to drive. The Miata is probably the purest example,

04:02and we're going to use that word a lot, pure, purity. It's the purest example of a car that

04:08just connects you to the road, just gives you what you need to go out and have fun,

04:13and that is exactly what we're doing here. Now, this track battle was never about which

04:19car could set the quicker time. What it was about was which car was more fun to drive, more

04:24engaging and dynamic and interesting. That's what it is. If you're an enthusiast, after all,

04:31what you want is a car that's going to interest you, make you want to drive it. With that in mind,

04:36let's feel out the little Miata a bit. There's definitely more body roll in the Miata.

04:43It's quite a lot lighter, of course, but still, I think the weight transfer is a little bit more

04:48apparent. Again, the gears are nice and long. That is obviously a blessing in a manual car.

04:53You don't want to be switching up and down like you're in Fast and the Furious.

04:58Between every corner, and again, I think Mazda have done a really nice job of making this car

05:05completely serviceable, really nice on the road, really nice to drive around town and whatnot.

05:12On the track, you kind of go, oh, okay, this little thing's coming alive.

05:19Heel-toe action. I just love how you can get a little bit overzealous with the steering inputs

05:25utilizing that weight transfer. It's just unsettled the car ever so slightly.

05:33The whole time, you know you can catch it. You know that it's going to be all right.

05:37Now, you've heard of a BBL. This car has what I like to call the BBR. That is Brembo, BBS,

05:44and Recaros. It's got all the nice little shiny bits, all of that, again, enthusiast-grade stuff.

05:51The seats are really nice and comfortable, decently supportive. Overall, this car looks

05:57mega, don't you think? I love this color, and I love the fact that the color comes through on

06:00the inside. I know that's not what we're here to talk about, but it's a really nifty-looking

06:05little thing. The Miata, well, it's a Miata, isn't it? Therefore, it is the antidote to all

06:13things modern day. One corner down in the Miata, and you are transported to those first days of

06:19driving and of experiencing those elemental forces that we all love and lust over. The pull

06:25of the acceleration, the G when you brake, the understeer, the oversteer, the body roll. I love

06:31all of it, and the Miata always provides. Which one of these two driver-focused masterpieces is

06:39best? Look, the Lotus is a lot more car. It's certainly closer to a baby mid-engined supercar

06:48than it is to, say, a road-going sports car like this. Of course, all that engineering, all that

06:56power, all those luxury materials, that comes at a price. You can get a Lotus Emera up to about

07:01100 grand. This starts in the 30s. You can get a really, really nice one like this in the 40s.

07:08Look at me. I'm like a kid in a bloody candy store or what have you. I'm right on the edge,

07:15and I'm not even slightly concerned. It's so pin sharp and infinitely workable and malleable. You

07:26can get into a corner and go, hold on a second. I need to give it a little bit of break here.

07:32All that's going to happen really is you're just going to unsettle the rear end a bit,

07:35which is great fun. There's a reason that enthusiasts have fawned over this car for

07:43three plus decades. I bet Colin Chapman would have liked it. I think that speaks volumes.

07:51We're talking about here, we're talking about a car that's a Lotus now becoming something else,

07:58something more if you'd like to call it that. Certainly, something different to

08:02the Lotus Volvo. Then you've got this, which is a Lotus, kind of. No winner here. In fact,

08:09they're both winners. All I'll say is, if I had the money for a little track goer,

08:14well, I mean, I'd probably have the Lotus because the Lotus is infinitely more pleasurable to have,

08:19but the Miata is spectacular. Best value for money car on the market.

08:23Certainly offers the most value of all the cars that we have here.

Track Comparison: 2024 Mazda Miata RF vs. Lotus Emira V-6

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