Road Test: 2026 Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring 6MT

A Driver’s Delight!

The 2026 Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring isn’t the fastest sports car on the road, but you will be hard pressed to find anything that, dollar-to-pound, offers and delivers as much fun. The experience is more than a good time with accurate steering, a precise manual transmission and smooth clutch. The MX-5 Miata is the poster child for the old saying—“It is more fun to go fast in a slow car than slow in a fast car.”

Clean Fleet Report is a big fan of the Miata; we’ve never being disappointed with it in any way.

Classic Roadster

Over the years the Miata has been called cute, which is okay, but hardly begins to describe the classic design of this two-seat roadster. If you really want to draw attention, go with the Soul Red Crystal Metallic ($595 option), which in our opinion is the best looking red in the industry.

Here in Southern California cold is not the concern, so making the decision to own a car where the top will be down much of time doesn’t take too much thinking. However, if you live in cooler climes, topless cruising isn’t a problem either, because of the heated leather seats and excellent heater.

This classic sports car has a long hood and a short trunk (both made of aluminum for weight reduction), short overhangs, a cropped cabin pushed far back on the body and large wheels pushed as far as feasible towards all four corners.

Standing only 5.9-inches off the ground, you get an instant go-kart feel of seeing the road and world from a far different perspective than the more conspicuous SUVs on the road. The clean front end starts with LED headlights, which allowed the designers to take up as little real estate as possible. Gladly, the grille is right-sized and does not suffer from being overly large.

The nose leads to a low, sloping hood and a laid-back A-pillar. The sides are smooth, ending at the short trunk deck with a shark fin antenna, dual exhaust with bright tips and round LED taillights. Badging is kept to the absolute minimum on what is a great looking sports car. Top up or down it is classic roadster all the way.

Performance

The smiles begin before even climbing in. Getting behind the wheel of a MX-5 Miata is always greatly anticipated. The top-down feeling of this two-seater never gets old. It welcomes revving the engine high, aggressively shifting through the gears and pushing the rear-wheel drive handling to the limits. Albert Einstein said “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” We can thank Mazda’s engineers and designers for their creativity and intelligence to give us such a fun car to drive.

The rear-wheel drive 2026 Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring is powered by a smooth and responsive 2.0-liter, four-cylinder, DOHC, 16-valve engine producing 181 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. Clean Fleet Report’s Miata had the six-speed manual transmission, which is near perfection with short throws and a buttery smooth clutch. The EPA rates the miles per gallon at 26 city/34 highway/29 combined. In 339 miles driving through Southern California, we averaged 32.1 mpg. Considering how we were driving, exceeding the EPA numbers was not expected, and doing so was a pleasant surprise. The optional automatic, with paddle shifters, is rated at two more miles per gallon on the highway.

Mazda’s Skyactiv-G engine technology is designed to maximize power, fuel economy and owner safety, or as Mazda says, “providing the driver with a more connected, enjoyable experience.” No argument there, because when driving the Miata you certainly feel connected to the road, thanks to the balance of power, torque and handling.

The Fun of It

The Mazda MX-5 Miata is known as a true driver’s car, making owners’ smile whether using it as a grocery-getter or hitting the twisties.

Clean Fleet Report’s 2026 MX-5 Miata Grand Touring, with the manual transmission, weighed in at a lean 2,467 pounds. With a near 50-50 front-to-rear weight distribution, the Miata was sporty, confident and nimble. The 6-speed manual transmission is arguably the best on the market with short shift throws and a clutch that is absolutely seamless in its operation and feel. The most fun is in the 2,500-4,500 rpm range, keeping the engine high in the rev band. Please stay away from the 7,000 rpm redline! The quick up-and-down shifts were a joy, making the driving experience one that everyone needs to try at least once.

With a low center of gravity, the quickness and accuracy of the handling response is excellent. The sport-tuned suspension pieces on our Miata included Bilstein shock absorbers, a shock tower brace for stiffness, a double wishbone front with a multi-link rear, electric power-assisted rack & pinion steering and stabilizer bars at both ends. The dynamic stability control (DSC) automatically controls braking and torque to manage side slipping—or in real world driving—the rear wheels breaking loose when pushing too hard. There is also a Track Mode setting.

TheBridgestone Potenza S001, 205/45 high performance summer tires, on 17-inch aluminum alloy wheels, “blend high-speed agility with a comfortable ride for maximum sports performance.” We agree with the Bridgestone statement as we didn’t lose grip after repeated fast cornering on a warm day. Add-in the torque-sensing limited slip differential, dynamic stability and traction controls, and the urge/need/requirement is to find an open stretch of long drawn-out sweepers or tight corners to fling it from side-to-side.

Stopping was predictable and consistent with front vented and rear solid discs, and 4-wheel ABS with electronic brake distribution.

Tidy Interior

With an interior designed with driver-centric ergonomics in mind, Mazda says it will allow for “an even greater number of drivers to be able to experience the MX-5 Miata.” Translation: America is the top market for the Miata and the interior has grown over the decades to accommodate the expanded size of Americans. I am 5’9” and fit easily in the Miata, but so did friends that were six foot.

The MX-5 Miata Grand Touring comes with manually adjusted, leather-trimmed, heated sport seats. Ours were in black with white top stitching. While there is some travel in the seats and they recline a bit, the bottom cushion padding should be increased as it felt thin. There was no lumbar adjustment. On longer drives at freeway speeds your lower back and butt can get a bit sore.

The dash layout is simple and clean with lots of very welcome buttons, switches and control wheels. The 8.8-inch color touch-screen display erupts from the dash and, along with the deep set round gauges which are protected from glare by a hood, everything is pretty bright and easy to read. Because performance is always top-of-mind with the MX-5 Miata, the tachometer is in the center of the three gauges, the largest of the three.

The excellent nine-speaker (including one in each of the seat headrests) Bose sound system (with a subwoofer) delivers deep bass and crisp treble for the AM/FM/CD/MP3/AUX HD radio, two USB-C inputs, SiriusXM and internet radio integration. Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Alexa Built-In are standard. Mazda has designed-in enhanced audio for a clear and balanced sound.

The Mazda Connect connectivity system includes navigation. There are telephone, Bluetooth and audio controls mounted on the three-spoke leather-wrapped steering wheel that tilts and telescopes.

A Noise Surprise

Mazda has worked hard on reducing noise inside the cabin when the top is lowered with technology that adjusts the sound based on background noise. While driving 70 mph on the freeway, I received an incoming call, which I took using the Bluetooth hands-free feature accessed by the steering wheel mounted controls.

Taking a call at this speed with an open top was an experiment, as I was positive the caller would hear nothing but a roar and not my voice. To my surprise not only was the call crystal clear, with no wind noise, but the caller said it was as good as quality as any call they could remember. Also of note is the caller’s voice was sent through the speakers in the seat headrests, which kept me from thinking I had to shout. So, three cheers to Mazda’s sound engineers for a great job on reducing interior noise levels.

Convenience comes your way with remote keyless door locks, power windows with one-touch down, power door locks, rain-sensing windshield wipers, frameless rearview mirror with Homelink, removable cup holders, power and heated side mirrors, push button ignition, A/C, carpeted floor mats, glass rear window with defogger, cruise control and a small lockable storage area. There is a mesh aero screen located between the upper seats for wind flow.

One last thing is the trunk, which intuitively would seem to be diminutive and a second thought. This is far from the case.

It can hold just enough luggage for a long weekend for two. Obviously you will not be bringing golf clubs, visiting wineries and lugging home cases of wine, nor will you be doing any antiquing. But if we are getting real here, why would you be buying a MX-5 Miata if you wanted to do any of those things in the first place? Managing expectations is the key when driving a two-place roadster.

Safety

The 2026 Mazda MX-5 Miata comes with an extensive list of standard and optional safety features, including four airbags, dynamic stability control, traction control, a tire pressure monitoring system, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert, an anti-theft alarm and engine immobilizer.

Warranties

The Mazda MX-5 Miata comes with these warranties:

Pricing

The 2026 MX-5 Miata comes in three trims. All prices include the $1,235 delivery, processing and handling fee.

Observations: 2026 Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring 6MT

The Miata, introduced in the 1990 and now in its fourth generation, continues to offer renowned top-down pure driving experience

The 2026 Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring has superior performance and is a blast to drive. You will enjoying tossing around this lightweight convertible sports car, knowing it is by far the lowest priced two-seat, rear-wheel drive convertible on the market, therefore offering the most topless fun for the money. There is that smile again.

Go here to find your local Mazda dealer, where there will be a MX-5 Miata enthusiast on staff, maybe in parts, service or sales. Look for them on your visit as they will be eager to answer all your questions about owning one of these wonderful cars.

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Story and photos by John Faulkner

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