This is an article posted by member of the forum Snail about his experience at the Soul of Motion Mazda driving event.
Woke up early Saturday morning to a slushy sleet of a rainy 3*C day. Thankfully, that wasn’t quite enough to slow down Mazda’s Soul of Motion event at PMG Technologies Center, just North of Montréal, in Blainville.
Attendance was surprisingly strong for such a gloomy day. We had to be escorted in a convoy to Mazda’s reserved test area through a private test track. A signature here, a bagel there and we’re in the Mazda classroom, where they sales pitch their cars a little, give us a run-down of the event and show us where and how to drive.
We’re split into 2 groups; the CX group and the MX group. I’m in the CX group.
I get outside and head over to the 5 Miatas idling pretty under the cold rainy Saturday morning.
Three line ups are made; 2015 MX-5 MT / 2016 MX-5 AT / 2016 MX-5 MT. I’m in the last line-up. I literally can’t get my eyes off the car I’ve been looking forward to drive since it came out.
I must have ran the 2016 MX-5 MT 6 times, the AT twice and the 2015 MT only once. The NC is actually quite disappointing next to the newer, smaller, lighter, more responsive, tighter, quicker, lower 2016. The ND is easily the best car I’ve ever driven in my life. It’s so perfect. We even got the tops down after the rain stopped, for the real experience. With the adrenaline rushing, you don’t even feel slightly cold.
The engine doesn’t even feel, sound or develop power and torque like my (identical) 2.0L in my 2014 Mazda3. It’s amazing what a little performance tune and different headers can do, but I think the weight difference is the biggest factor here. It hits a home run in every aspect, and the body lean isn’t a bad thing. The instructors who sit shotgun are very lenient and understand why we’re there. It loves to rev, it’s very tossable, and I got the ass out a few times. Power is perfect and suits it like a glove. Mazda truly understands what fun behind the wheel is supposed to feel like.
Oh yea, I also drove a CX-3. It’s a good car. I then went back to the MX lineup again.
