Next Week: Our Date With the New Mazda MX-5

I know a guy who would love to be involved in this. He might even be able to add some depth to the story.

Which motor? The North American version?? BTW: If you also need an average current Miata owner review, I'll help out.

Thanks for doing this. It was fun to drop by and do car stuff on a Thursday night. Not sold on the new Miata. Not sold on any sports car with a video screen bolted to the dash. I guess it's just my generation. Having seen the new Miata and my friends new Boxter I came home wanting to keep my NB Miata and my 924S running forever. :)

In reply to BillBall:

I haven't seen the new Miata yet. But I consider Sports Car and video screen in the same sentence a true dismissal of all that a SPORTS CAR was ever intended to be! I'm positive the new, if it is truly E-connected Miata, isn't for me!

T.B.T.G. I'M OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE ENJOYING ROAD TRIPS WHEN WHAT A CAR COULD DO AND HOW IT PERFORMED WHILE DOING IT, WAS FAR FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAT WHAT A CAR DRIVING THE SPEED LIMIT +/- 3 MPH COULD LINK TOO!!!!

And also T.B.T.G. I'm old enough to remember when you could travel pretty much coast to coast, except in the far north eastern US at whatever speed you chose to travel. (Providing of course that you chose to travel in the middle of the night when Smokey and the most of the rest of the local populace were in bed and asleep!) And thankfully, out of the way!

I fondly remember driving for hours at a time on a long distance trip averaging 100mph+ between about 01:00 and 06:00 on straight and clear two lane roads before interstate highways ever were built in the southwest. The only traffic on the road was usually the occasional Montfort Meat Packer truck. And the speed at which they traveled, especially on a long downhill run, explains why for several years even after the advent of the interstates, the far left lane was often called the "Montfort Lane."

Those crazy kids with their hi-fi radios and their automatic engines! A real sports roadster gives the driver full control over his engine's timing and has none of these distractions such as portable phonographs. Don't get me started on these pneumatic tires and moving suspension that rob the pilot from his fundamental connection with the roadway.

Seriously, the fact that there's a screen on the dash does not invalidate the rest of the car.

You know if you make it as far as DC, I know someone very tall that could help!

In reply to Keith Tanner: This time, I hope you are right! And no, I'm not that much of a luddite.

Though I do think using any hand held phone or other device while driving should be illegal. And punching into a windshield mounted GPS or a screen on the dash while moving should be illegal too. Why do I say that? Once I was side-swiped while stopped as far as I could get off the rural two lane road without going into the creek by a 17 year old going the other way who was calling her coach to say she was late for softball practice. I saw her coming from the other direction, she never saw me! And her dad, a Sheriff's Deputy asked me why the hell I was driving on a side road like that since I didn't live there!

The other time I was rear ended by a woman driving her BMW while texting who almost rear ended me while I was forced to stop behind a stationary School Bus. The when I moved up exactly one School Bus length, I was rear-ended by her. She told me I was out of her vision so she was sure traffic was moving again. Why didn't I get out of her way? Because there was nowhere to go!

YOU EITHER HAVE CARS TO DRIVE OR CARS THAT YOU LET DRIVE YOU.

Keith Tanner wrote: Those crazy kids with their hi-fi radios and their automatic engines! A real sports roadster gives the driver full control over his engine's timing and has none of these distractions such as portable phonographs. Don't get me started on these pneumatic tires and moving suspension that rob the pilot from his fundamental connection with the roadway. Seriously, the fact that there's a screen on the dash does not invalidate the rest of the car.

I just watched the Grassroots filmstrip. That screen isn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. It reminds me of the one in my 2014 3. That screen is not a show stopper for me. One similar to what's in a Tesla would have been.

Flight Service wrote: You know if you make it as far as DC, I know someone very tall that could help!

That was our biggest regret of that trip: not enough time to make unlimited visits. We left South Bend, Indiana, around 3:45 on Tuesday--only about 45 minutes behind schedule. We knew that we had to be in Daytona at 6:00 on Thursday. Those two points pretty much defined our trip.