I love the 2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata. It’s hard to beat a small, rear-drive roadster that provides a ton of fun no matter how fast or slow you drive it. The Club trim level that I’m driving this week kicks things up a notch with a sporty appearance package and a limited-slip differential, which are nice. But I found a few other features that I love and a few that I don’t.

Love: The 2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club’s Brembo/Recaro package is a nice touch

My 2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club tester for the week came equipped with the optional Brembo/Recaro package, which is valued at $4,500. The package includes sporty features like Brembo front brakes, red calipers, 17-inch BBS dark metal forged wheels, an aero kit, and heated black Recaro seats.

Even if you’re not the type to autocross your car on the weekends and actually use it, the supportive seats and grippier brakes make driving on normal roads more fun. Some packages in the market cater more to form over function, but this package function over form and is definitely worth the money.

Love: The Bose 9-speaker sound system

The MX-5 Miata Club edition comes equipped with a Bose 9-speaker sound system. It sounds amazing to my quasi-audiophile ears, and that’s good enough for me. It’s also great at louder highway speeds while the top is down.

Love: The one-handed convertible soft-top

In the past, I tested the MX-5 Miata RF with the hardtop convertible roof, so I’m used to putting the top up and down at the touch of a button. However, when the car is equipped with a soft top, it requires manual operation with your right hand. The process is easy; you unlatch the top, pull it back, and then lock it into place when it’s folded. The whole affair only takes a few seconds, which I like.

Don’t Love: The wireless Apple CarPlay feature is nice but slow

The Miata Club edition comes equipped with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Since I’m an iPhone user, I used the former. Its wireless capability makes it super convenient but also very slow to boot up. It took about a minute to finally connect to my phone after starting the car and driving for a short bit. Compared to other systems in the market, the Mazda infotainment system is lacking.

Don’t Love: The cupholders. Yes, the cupholders

It may be petty to complain about cupholders, but it’s good to know if you plan to drive a Miata every day. The cupholders are two plastic brackets that sit in two slots in the center console. They are situated between the driver and passenger and behind their shoulders.

That means that if you want to grab your drink while driving, you must reach over with your left hand and twist to reach the drink. As you can imagine, this is unsafe and hard to do if you’re not that flexible. I ended up not touching my drink the whole time I was driving, which made me sad because I really wanted to drink it, and the ice ended up melting.

Our favorite and not-so-favorite features in the 2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club

The 2023 Mazda MX-5 Club is a great deal for $31,000. It’s fun, sporty, and it looks great with its optional package. I highly recommend this trim level if you’re in the market for a Miata.