The best colors come from Porsche and VW, not sorry.
Here is my absolute favorite Mazda color:
Or maybe:
I'd have to see them both in person to judge. Pretty sure it is the top one. My wife may paint a Karmann Ghia that color with a white painted top.
Also:
Has anyone else noticed that more cars on the road lately are colors.
Pre Chip shortage lots were full of white, black and silver cars.
Now more cars and trucks are built to order, guess what, people are ordering colors. Until the OEMs change their strategy form overproduce and discount to streamlined produce to order, we will get bland colors.
Dang, I have a pearl buick and a sliver ford. Offset slightly by a red Mustang. History my cars have been colorful.
In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :
I just saw an NB in that color yesterday. And a 30AE ND, which coincidentally was a very similar orange to the DeTomaso Pantera and McLaren something-or-other that drove by a few minutes apart.
If my ND RF had been available in something like metallic British Racing Green I would be driving that instead of Soul Red Crystal. I like the red, but it wouldn't have been my first choice from a full palette.
In reply to akylekoz :
I think that is right. But I've been paying attention to the Ford Maverick almost all of which are custom orders, and there's still a ton of the that are black/white/silver. I've seen a handful in person at this point and none of them have been in good colors. So certainly the customers are partially to blame as well.
I have been waiting on a ND in British Racing Green. If prices ever get back to something like normal, I may just buy a Gray ND RF and have it painted BRG.
A real bright blue would work too...
I have a red 2. I wanted the funky metallic green they offered, but there were only three 2s in the state at the time and only one manual. The red one. Hence the license plate (Wedge). I'd like to see more variety as well. And it's not just Mazda as others have pointed out.
In our driveway is the red 2, yellow fortwo, black I3 with yellow vinyl to help it stand out, and the light teal safari.
In reply to tester (Forum Supporter) :
Wrap it? It's amazing how good a solid-color wrap can look.
I like soul red metallic. It was part of what sold me on this for my new daily driver.
I just kept thinking of this chart reading through this.
also kudos to FCA/stellantis? (dodge, lets be honest here) for all the browns and weird ass colors that I have come to enjoy. Bright ones and muted tones.
In reply to Type Q :
My CX-9 is Soul Red Metallic, and while I had nothing to do with choosing it (that job fell to my wife and elder son) it really does get some compliments.
In reply to fidelity101 :
That's a really well presented chart.
Color charts for the world, 2021.
If you like brown cars, you'll love Russia.
David S. Wallens said:In reply to tester (Forum Supporter) :
Wrap it? It's amazing how good a solid-color wrap can look.
Have you ran across a good BRG wrap? I'd love to see how my ND would look with it, but I haven't found one yet. Only almost-BRG-but-Matte or Pearl kinda things.
You can get a free 3M swatch book by asking. Or at least you could, the website is acting wonky.
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/graphics-signage-us/1080-wrap-film-series/
There's a PDF of a poster there as well that has all the 3M colors.
Then you google (for example) "3m gloss green envy" and you find loads of pictures of it on cars. Like this one.
Or you google "3m pine green metallic" and get this.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
And here I was just wondering how the ND would have looked in that awesome green Mazda offered on the 2... It's almost becoming a challenge to find a bold color the ND doesn't look good in.
I still haven't come across a wrapped car that doesn't look obviously wrapped. Somehow wraps never t look as "deep" as real paint, like there is a limit to their glossiness. Does anyone else notice this?
Mazda has one of the worst color pallettes for their line-up of any manufacturer. Honda isn't far behind although they rolled out their smurf blue and bright yellow for the final year of the 11th gen type R just like they did for the CR S2000. They do throw some interesting colors into the Si mix every now and then too.
I still think the Germans are the best with colors these days so long as you're willing to pay for it. Can't forget Dodge with their Charger/Challenger/Jeep offerings either.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:Mazda colors are the best! I know this because I said they are dull and uninspiring a few years ago here and I was told I was wrong. SUV colors are perfect for sports cars! You'll get SUV colors and you'll love it!
!!!!! SUV colors are best!
We all want to be able to order our cars ala carte like in the 60s, but those days are gone to never return. Porsche will paint a car any color you want, but you have to pay for that privilege.
Best solution, find a Miata you like, buy a compressor and a paint gun and practice!
You have gone on and on and on about how Soul Red was awful because it was used on SUVs. Not everyone agrees, but I did acknowledge both the SUV heritage and the IMSA prototype heritage of the color in my first post because I knew you'd get wound up. Nobody has ever said the rest of the color range for the ND was compelling. Relax, it's okay.
Wraps are a good option because people don't trust repaints ("what are they hiding??") although there has been a repainted ND running high level autox for years. It's a Jaguar color, IIRC. I salute his commitment but I don't think he chose the best shade. I have a friend who wrapped her ND in orange years ago because she loves orange :)
It's my understanding that part of the difficulty in custom paint colors at the factory is not just changing over the color in the booth, but also making sure that all the plastics etc age properly. We've all seen cars where the plastic nose cone changes color over time while the painted steel does not. This is annoying when it's a Hyundai but far worse when it's a custom Porsche paint job.
Keith Tanner said:You have gone on and on and on about how Soul Red was awful because it was used on SUVs. Not everyone agrees, but I did acknowledge both the SUV heritage and the IMSA prototype heritage of the color in my first post because I knew you'd get wound up. Nobody has ever said the rest of the color range for the ND was compelling. Relax, it's okay.
Wraps are a good option because people don't trust repaints ("what are they hiding??") although there has been a repainted ND running high level autox for years. It's a Jaguar color, IIRC. I salute his commitment but I don't think he chose the best shade. I have a friend who wrapped her ND in orange years ago because she loves orange :)
It's my understanding that part of the difficulty in custom paint colors at the factory is not just changing over the color in the booth, but also making sure that all the plastics etc age properly. We've all seen cars where the plastic nose cone changes color over time while the painted steel does not. This is annoying when it's a Hyundai but far worse when it's a custom Porsche paint job.
Wild. You'd think these billion dollar corporations that charge quite the premium for a vehicle, would have the know-how or capital to invest in the R&D to solve that issue. Times must be tough, especially with how chemical tech is progressing at such a slow and trepid pace.
I have to ask has the choice of colors ever stopped anyone from buying a Miata. What is more likely to stop someone buying a Miata the colors or having the car cost a decent amount more to cover the extra cost of Miata specific colors? The GR86 (which is really the only competitor) doesn't have a many more choices for colors (one more choice of blue).
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I don't know how Porsche does its custom paint jobs.
But for mass production, a lot of the plastic parts come pre-painted from the supplier. So a lot of work goes into making sure, the suppliers paint matches the paint applied to the metal body and that can take some tuning due to differences in paint processes and materials. Additional colors mean you have to do this more times and time equals money.
Developing new colors isn't cheap and the economy of scale for sure applies to paint. When you look at the report you posted it makes it pretty obvious why car companies in general don't offer a ton of paint choices. Don't get me wrong I'd love more colors on the ND but it isn't as easy as just grab a new color and throw it on for an OEM.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I think you pontificated just now more than I did. Wraps are a great option for most people, but they never look as good up close as quality paint.
I just find it ironic after slagging on me yet again, you started a topic on Mazda's lack of colorful paint options. Enjoy.
93EXCivic said:I have to ask has the choice of colors ever stopped anyone from buying a Miata. What is more likely to stop someone buying a Miata the colors or having the car cost a decent amount more to cover the extra cost of Miata specific colors? The GR86 (which is really the only competitor) doesn't have a many more choices for colors (one more choice of blue).
Yep, I'm definitely part of the problem... In my defense, Deep Crystal Blue over White is pretty sexy on my 2021...
But I would have absolutely loved a good BRG over Tan. Or a vibrant blue. Heck, I would have gotten a Phantom Blue Mica like the Rx-8 that it replaced had.
Related: On the link that Keith gave above to the 3M wraps, does the "Order a 3M wrap Film Color Deck" link work for anyone else? I tried it in 3 browsers, but the contents of the page are blank.
There is no such thing as an "SUV color", or a "CUV color", or a "sports car color", or a "minivan color", or a "sedan color", or a "station wagon color", or a "hatchback color", or a "chep economy car color", or a "truck color", or a "racecar color" or any other such idiotic nonsense.
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