Sort by simple volume, and the humble Mazda Miata is the king of this issue’s hill. Miatas, in various forms, landed on more lists of more people’s most memorable drives than any other car. These lists are expressions of peak experience, with practical considerations ignored and the door flung wide open to race cars or playthings of the superrich. And still we have a simple, affordable, fuel-efficient, ubiquitous little roadster with an economy-car engine rubbing shoulders with giants.
If the real joy comes from revving the engine to 7500 rpm, what if we keep going to 11,000? It turns out there’s an intensity that resonates in the adrenal gland, flooding the bloodstream with an uncontrolled release of jitters, distorting your sense of speed and danger. The sound of the engine convinces your brain you’re going faster than you are, amplifying the perceived significance of every input you feel, of every change in surface texture, of the unknown lurking around every blind corner.