[Jeff Higgins]

I think you would be disappointed. They strike me as a modern day Shelby Cobra, albeit a bit more refined. All power and no handling.

I have never driven one, but I did have a chance to play along with one last summer on some local back roads. I was just tooling along in my 911 when this Miata comes out of nowhere and blasts on past me, making a most un-Miata like racket - a very distinctive V-8 bellow. So I gave chase. I damn near rear-ended him going into every corner and, had it been a racetrack, would have had no trouble out braking him and getting around him in any corner. We finally came to a passing zone with two lanes heading our direction, and I had no trouble just driving right on around him. He didn't have a prayer after that, started trying way too hard, and damn near lost it on several occasions. So I just pulled over and let him by, hoping he would quit pushing it.

Anyway, it looked like quite the ill-handling, overpowered little beast. I had the chance to observe both from behind and from in front (a little tougher in the RVM) and came away very much less than impressed. I'm convinced a stock Miata would have had little trouble with it either. Maybe a passable drag car, but not much good for anything else.