Man, you guys are brutal. I just bought a 2003 Miata and I traded in my SVT for it. Sounds like the guy was just excited about his new car. In most ways I would be comparing apples to oranges but i have to say the build quality of the Mazdas is far greater than my SVT ever was. Like the SVT, everything has a nice sound when shut and the Miata's paint is thin like the Contour's.
The I-4 engine is tight and rev happy, but not as smooth as the V-6. The body panels are strighter and the body panel gaps gaps in the Mazdas are far more consistant and narrower than the Fords. All of the Materials in the Miata feel much better and are more soothing to the eye, theres no excess plastic flashing like I had experianced in the SVT. The dash lights in the Mazdas omit an even glow across the whole gauge cluster which was something that always bothered me about the SVT.
Since the two vehicles are worlds apart in design, I won't compare the driving experiances for both. Happy Motoring.
