If there’s anything about the new 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata that might turn loyalists off and keep new customers from buying one, it’s the front styling. To meet European pedestrian crash compatibility standards, the new MX-5’s hoodline needed to be raised significantly over the old car. The result is a long, flat hood and round, bulbous front end that looks like a Japanese cartoon character more than it does anything else. Mazda tried hard to soften the appearance forced by the tall hoodline, but the headlights and grille sit too high in relationship to the wheels, and while the odd blistered wheel arches serve to break up the acreage between the tops of the wheels and the crest of the hood, they look just as strange here as they do on the RX-8. Look at this car, and now look at a Pontiac Solstice or Saturn Sky. Which one do you want to drive? Or be seen in?

Mazda has been hyping the simplicity of its new top on the 2006 MX-5 Miata, but it’s not really easier to use. With the new car, a single header latch must be released, and then the top folds down behind the seats. To secure the top, it must be latched by pushing down on its leading edge. Raising the roof requires that the latch be released using a lever on the bulkhead, and then the driver must reach back over the high rear bulkhead and pull the top up. In the old car, you flip two latches and toss the roof over your head. Sure, it lies in an ugly pile of glass and fabric unless you snap the flimsy tonneau cover on, but so what? Raising it is just as simple. The rear bulkhead on the old car is also lower, making it easier to grab the top’s header bar, yank it back over your head, and snap the two latches into place. Wind buffeting is reduced with the new car because the driver sits lower than before, but the old model did a fine job of reducing drafts, too.