C8 mid-engine corvette. GM loves their people.

ZCanadian

Having seen Miatas pass Caymans on track, I completely agree with your comments.

Driving a slow car fast is an accomplishment. Learning to do that is an education. Skills that you can transfer to more powerful vehicles as your career progresses

Driving a fast car fast is inevitable, and proves nothing about the capability of the driver. In fact, horsepower can do a lot to hide driver mistakes (it can also do a lot to cause small mistakes to become big crashes as countless YouTube videos will attest).

If you can wring everything out of Miata first, then you're going to be both safe and blisteringly fast in something with greater power (even despite its extra weight). Yeah, the Corvette, or Camaro, or GTR will blast down the straight way quicker, but "straights are for fast cars, corners are for fast drivers", and a (good, like the MX5) lightweight sports car with someone capable behind the wheel, can typically make up tons of time in the corners. So, it all depends on the track. If you spend time on the Nurburgring, forget it. My home track, OTOH, is a perfect example of one where low horsepower cars well driven can equal some much more powerful metal.

It's also more fun to go through all of the gears on the street (typical of a "slow car"), than to be limited to third or lower by speeds and traffic even on the highway. I have friends with 458's and MacLarens who cannot legally ever get above 3rd gear!

The fact that Rob Wilson has used a Vauxall Astra for years to teach more than half of the drivers on the Formula 1 grid how to go faster, is all the proof that I need to confirm this thesis!