We recently purchased a 2009 Mazda Miata GT with retractable hard top. (Love it!) However, despite turning the "Audio Pilot" (ambient noise compensation) function "on," per the instructions, the audio level compensation does not seem to function or, perhaps, provides virtually undetectable compensation. This is my first encounter with ambient noise compensation, so I am not sure what to expect, but I am disappointed, as I was looking forward to its benefits. Neither the dealer nor Mazda USA said they had any knowledge of a malfunction or design bug. Can anyone shed any light on this issue?

 

I had a '08 Miata PRHT, and could not tell much difference with Audio Pilot. The only thing I noticed was that when I released the handle for the top,before even lowering it the sound from the speakers seemed to change from the doors to more sound from the center dash speaker. So, the top release handle switches it. Maybe that was supposed to compensate for the wind noise with the top down, I don't know. Overall I was not impressed with the sound from the Bose system in the car.

I just traded the Miata on a 2010 Mazda 3, it has a new system called "Centerpoint" which is supposed to be more sophisticated and adjust the speakers to ambient noise. The salesman commented that it was far superior to Audio Pilot, if that helps any. I've only had the car a couple days so I will have to determine if that's true or not.