Ten Lessons From Driving An MX-5 Across America

Driving an MX-5 to see an MX-5

I’m always up for a good road trip. Heck, I’ll even go on a bad one. Put me in a car, point me in a direction and I’ll set off like a carrier pigeon on a mission.

So when Mazda announced the world debut of the 2016 MX-5 would be taking place in Monterey, Calif., my first thought was “let’s drive!”

For anyone living on the west coast, this may not seem like a big deal, but I was coming from Toronto, Canada via Harrisburg, Penn. In all, over 3,300 miles would be driven on this journey that would take me through eleven states and one province. Over the course of a four day period, I would test both man and machine as I soldiered westward like a modern day pioneer.

But rather than use horse and buggy, I decided to grab a slightly more entertaining ride for my journey: a 2014 Mazda MX-5 Club PRHT. What better way to see the unveiling of the fourth generation Mazda roadster than to drive in one of the final third generation cars?

SEE ALSO: MX-5 to Monterey: A 3,000 Mile Journey Begins

You might not think the MX-5 is a great long distance road trip vehicle and I wouldn’t fault you for saying so. But like a New York City apartment, the MX-5 becomes quite livable once you acclimatize to its diminutive size and interesting quirks. After 3,300 miles, four days and temperatures that ranged from 48 to 108 degrees, here are 10 things I learned about the 2014 Mazda MX-5.