There's not a single body panel or fixture on the 2006 Mazda MX5 Miata that's the same as on the 2005 model. But just as with the second-generation Miata (1999-2005), the third generation is still unmistakably a Miata. This is even more telling when you factor in that the car is larger in every measure, from what's beneath the hood to the interior to the shadow it casts on the road.

Starting at the front, the central air intake is both enlarged and mildly reshaped and augmented by a smaller opening beneath. This moves more cooling air through the radiator and around the larger engine and combines with a more pronounced air dam across the bottom of the lower opening to give the Miata's face a stronger chin. So what if it brings to mind a largemouth bass when viewed straight on. It does what it's supposed to do. Compound, projector-beam headlights return but in housings that are marginally smaller, more oval than teardrop in shape, more deeply recessed and nearer to the car's centerline, all tending to emphasize the Miata's diminutive size. A taller, rounder hood wears a mini-bulge in the center, simultaneously suggestive of a scoop and of a similar bulge on the RX-8.

Differences between the new Miata and its previous generations show up more in the side view. Sharply sculpted wheel flares appear directly adapted from the RX-8 in a form the company calls Mazda design DNA. It clearly moves the new Miata away from the more cuddly look of its predecessors. The flares also spread wide enough to cover the new Miata's wider track. (Track is the distance between the left and right wheels). The new MX5's track is three inches wider in front, two inches wider in the rear when compared with the 2005 model. The windshield gives up a few degrees of rake, leading to a flatter, more classic top. The top, with a glass rear window, collapses into a well behind the seats cleanly and completely, in a way requiring no cover. That's good, because there are plenty of times when you'd like to drop the top but don't want to take time to snap on a cover.
Rollbar-like hoops rise out of the body behind the seats; Mazda doesn't list them as safety features, calling them seat back bars, but they're certainly more than merely surfaces to which decorative trim can be affixed. A mesh windblocker fits between the hoops. Small quarter windows, like yesteryear's windwings, fill the acute angle where the doors meet the A-pillars. The '05's concave side body panels have filled in on the '06, tumbling in a nearly sheer drop from the beltline to the rocker panels. Door handles are finger-friendly full rounds, instead of the previous model's top-hinged pull-ups. The hardtop (late availability) boasts a wraparound rear window, substantially reducing the convertible's rear quarter blind spots.

Taillights are evolutions of the previous generation's, retaining the basic elliptical outline but following the headlights' lead and sliding around the fenders toward the car's middle. The center brake light has been moved from the trailing edge of the trunk lid forward, right behind where the top folds into the body and where the hardtop will seat. The rear license plate housing is, like so much about the new Miata's contours, rounder and more crisply molded into the surrounding sheet metal than on the '05. A horizontal, black panel beneath the rear bumper echoes the front end's air dam, only this one is braced by twin exhaust tips, a spiffy step up from the '05's single tip.

The all-new 2006 Miata is bigger than before, which results in a marginally roomier cabin. It's still not accommodating for full-figured or especially tall sports car lovers. Most notably, and although the official yardstick records the legroom added by the longer wheelbase and overall length at less than a half-inch, the rearward seat travel is extended by about an inch. And the car's expanded girth yields an additional 1.4 inches in hip room. Otherwise, the 0.7-inch higher roofline boosts headroom by less than half an inch, and even without the spare tire, the trunk's 5.3 cubic feet capacity is but 0.2 cubic feet larger than the '05's, leading to the conclusion the spare tire was left out more to save weight than to add space for golf clubs.

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Overall, interior quality and appearance are way up the charts. Fit and finish is tight and smooth. Expansive, seamless panels and accents bode well for a long life free of squeaks and rattles. Materials are mostly impressive grade. Even the base cloth upholstery is nice, with tightly woven, smooth-finish bolsters and waffle-weave insets. Depending on the weather, the cloth upholstery's waffle-like weave can be more comfortable than leather. Which is a good thing, as leather doesn't appear until the top-of-the-line Grand Touring model. The standard urethane steering wheel and shift knob wrappings are obviously not leather, but they're not offensive, either. Likewise, in ergonomics, the interior of the new Miata rates both pluses and minuses.

Seats are neither overly firm nor too plush, properly bolstered for the type of driving the Miata invites but with only acceptable thigh support. Be ready for noticeable lumbar, too, for which there's no adjustment. Nor is there a seat height adjustment. The tilt steering wheel helps with this, at least a little. The properly stubby shift lever is where it should be. The hand brake isn't, ratcheting up out of the passenger's side of the drive tunnel instead of next to the driver's right thigh.

A single set of power window buttons is located in the center console aft of the shift boot, behind which a retracting cover conceals two cupholders. The center stack hosts intuitively positioned stereo and air conditioning knobs, buttons and recessed toggles that are easy to grasp and manipulate. A power outlet conveniently placed at the base of the C-stack waits for a radar detector or cell phone. Four air registers are spaced across the dash in a hard, shiny accent panel that changes to brushed aluminum for the Limited Edition.
All gauges are analog, with a large, round tachometer and matching speedometer straddling the steering column and shaded from all but trailing sunlight by an arched hood. Fuel level is reported in a small circle to the lower left, coolant temperature by one to the lower right and, thank you very much, oil pressure by a matching triplet positioned top center between the tach and speedo. Running lights are managed by a stalk on the left side of the steering column, windshield wiper and washer by a stalk on the right side. On the Touring model and above, cruise and secondary audio controls utilize the horizontal spokes of the steering wheel. The on/off switch for the stability control system shares space with a pair of switch blanks in the lower dash by the driver's door.

The premium sound system has a function Bose calls Audiopilot that goes beyond simple speed-sensing volume control by actually re-mixing in real time the sound coming out of the speakers to help the stereo punch through the ambient wind and road noises that accompany open-air motoring.
Oversize speakers dominate the forward part of the door panels. Water bottle holders are molded into the space between the speakers and the door pulls/armrests. Inside door latches are mounted up high and forward. There are no map pockets; Mazda officials say this is to make room for strengthened side impact protective hardware. For the most part, only the map pockets ready accessibility is missed, as other storage compensates. There's a lockable glove box that's surprisingly roomy for such a compact interior, a lockable, CD-size bin between the seatbacks, the pouch on the backside of the driver's seat, the bins behind each of the seats and on the Touring model and higher, a small net pocket on the center tunnel in the passenger-side footwell.

Trunk capacity is limited, but semi-functional, as Mazda says the floor is deep enough for a case of tall, 1.5-liter beverage bottles.