2018 Mazda MX-5 RF GT-S

Toebra said:

Color is an almost entirely subjective opinion.  Mazda just decided not to offer them in what most would consider good sporty colors.  I just hope they don't get into trouble making unfounded horsepower claims again.

The exact opposite. NDs are making more power than they should. It's been what, 18 years since the horsepower claim problem?

If you think Soul Red is mediocre, you have definitely proven that color is subjective :)

I don't have any experience with the optional Recaros, but I've done both many many laps and 1000 mile days in the normal ND seats and I have no complaints.

Keith Tanner said:

They're metallic because that's what works well on the body shape. Mariner would wipe out all the surface detailing and make the car far less interesting, as would yellow. BRG just sucks on everything ;) This is a shape that rewards metallics, just like the NA was a shape that didn't work well with metallics.

I'm interested to see what the Golf R does in terms of custom colors. I hope it does really well. It would be great to be able to order some less pedestrian colors on more cars, even if they don't work well with the body shape.

Some people actually buy cars because they are available in a certain color (I'm looking at you, UNC Chapel Hill fans)

FYI, custom colors are harder than you might think. The manufacturer has to do testing to make sure that the colors look the same on plastics and on the metal, and check for durability. Even Porsche has two different price levels depending on if it's an "already tested" custom color or a new one. 

I would seriously consider painting "my" ND in Ultrasonic Blue.

I think Soul Red looks great. The RF looks great too. The ND is awesome. GT-S is a good choice. I think the GT-S is more important in the ST because the club is pretty loud at highway speeds with the top up, while the GT is livable 

If color was that big a deal just wrap it yourself over a day/weekend. The panels on this car are so small that wrapping it yourself would be cheaper than a custom factory paint upgrade. 

I've been playing with vinyl wraps lately and it isn't that hard with patience and attention to detail. 

Y'all are GRM'ers, right? 

Patience was never one of my virtues.

You're right, though. It's why I'm considering just getting my next car in white.

Brett_Murphy said:

Patience was never one of my virtues.

You're right, though. It's why I'm considering just getting my next car in white.

Black. Then the door openings and underhood fit in better.

I made myself a promise never to own another black car after I had one start to melt in a parking lot during the summer. 
 

But if you wrap it, it won't be black on the outside anymore!

Keith you guys do great work! 

 How about my favorite color?   Laguna Blue 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Mrs. Deuce says we should go look at RF cars the next time she has a Friday off. 

Hah, if Mrs. Deuce is on board, something tells me you guys are gonna end up with an RF soon enough.

I dare not drive one, I couldn't say no, I just know it. If I was without a couple decades of mortgage, perhaps I would go for it, but not for now. :)

Laguna might work on the ND. I’d love to see it. 

My standard line about the ND: don’t drive one unless you’re willing to buy it. 

In reply to AnthonyGS :

Some are and some aren't. I've seen very well done wraps and ugly ones, just like paint jobs. Blanket statements...le eyeroll.

AnthonyGS said:

Keith Tanner said:

Laguna might work on the ND. I’d love to see it. 

My standard line about the ND: don’t drive one unless you’re willing to buy it. 

And this is why I avoid test driving cars anymore!  I already have too many.  

If we drive one it would be for Mrs. Deuce as a commuter. As wonderful as the Volt it's crushing her soul to drive it every day. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I'll take the Volt

Where's the MX-5 GT-R

I can help you with that.

I don't care for red cars much, what can I say.  Velocity red is not bad

We live in a world where the overwhelming majority of cars are white, grey, silver, black. Even enthusiast vehicles. Any colour, of any description is an improvement. Even if you consider soul red to be boring because it's on other vehicles, it's at worst a top 5 percentile color. I'd put it in the top 1%.

I wouldn't call Soul Red Crystal a dark metallic, it has a serious highlight. It's one of the few colors that catches my eye on the other side of the interstate on a regular basis. It may be seen on SUVs, but it's also found on Daytona prototypes  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see more bright ND colors and I have been busting the balls of my Mazda contacts about that for a few years, but Soul Red is a legit good color.

Someone here described what it takes to change colors in a production paint booth a while back. It's not something you can do on the fly for one or two cars, because there are the awkward physical realities of having to get the old paint out of the system. I'm going to reach out to some of my industry contacts to find out just what's involved in bringing a new color online because now I'm curious.

I happened to be out in the shop and discovered we had Velocity Red and Soul Red parked side by side, so I took this picture for Toebra. It's a shame it's not out in the sun, but we were moving actual literal tons of stuff around the warehouse so that wasn't to be. This is under fluorescent lights, no flash.

Oh, here's one of those SUVs in Soul Red ;)

I like the blue offered on the GT cars, but Mrs. Deuce played with the configurator and chose black. 

Black RF is awesome. Debadge it and put on the right wheels, and a lot of people will think it's an exotic. I chose Eternal Blue for the FM car because of how it photographs, but I'd choose black for my own. Well done Mrs Deuce.

Interesting stuff about the paint. I'd love to know more about the actual process of changing colors in the booth, having cleaned out my fair share of guns.

Here's what's parked out back in the shop right now. I've driven all of these this week  BBR turbo, 2019 GT-S and a big lairy V8. Some days here are okay - although I was here until 11:30 last night working on the instrument cluster programming for the V8...

Here I am thinking the blue car on the gold wheels would be about perfect visually.