The Mazda MX-5 Miata is known to be the car that is fun to drive and fills up the posters that carry the “zoom zoom” mantra underneath. This is a car that offers only two seats and an active engine and suspension in a lightweight build that makes it tossable around any curve and a car that you can have fun with on the track. It may not be a serious speed machine with only 155 horses prancing under the hood, but the Miata is certainly a car we can love on any road or track for the dynamic performance it offers.
Is the Miata a green car? It seems the answer to this should be a resounding “No”. The Miata is a sports car. It’s not an EV, hybrid, plug-in or subcompact hatchback model. Should this make a difference? It should, but the Miata is a bit different from every other sports car on the road today and it offers us the performance we want but the fuel sipping enjoyment of being able to drive for longer stretches of time in between fill ups. The Miata can actually be one of the best green cars you will ever find.
To look at the numbers first, the Miata offers 27 city/36 hwy/30 combined mpg for us to admire and enjoy. It is also about 150 pounds lighter than the previous version of the car. This brings the total weight of the car to a miniscule 2332 pounds for us to be able to toss it all over the road. Not only is this car small and light, it’s not made from any engineered materials that would have raised the price astronomically compared to what this car costs. This makes for not only a great green car but one that is easily affordable as well.
Even though you don’t find expensive carbon fiber on the Miata its lower weight is mostly due to the high strength steel that was used for the chassis and the aluminum that was used for the body. The weight savings on this car wasn’t just done in one area, Mazda pulled out weight a gram at a time from every component to ensure we would have a car that could continue to perform the way we want but also give use the longevity that we look for in a car that is going to be our favorite roadster to drive.
You may still not be convinced this car is an eco-friendly car, but with the use of fewer materials, smart engineering, attention to detail, good fuel efficiency and a fun to drive dynamics it would be hard to argue the Miata is anything less than a great eco-friendly machine. Not only is it great for the way it’s built and the lowered weight but it also comes in at a very reasonable price for you to be able to afford this beauty. As long as you don’t plan on taking the Miata off road or do any towing with it you can have a great time driving the car you love for as long as you would like to, knowing it is a choice that is environmentally responsible, but don’t tell the fun side of the car that.
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