Category: Roadsters 
Price Range: £15,000 to £19,695
Entertaining drive regardless of driver ability, style, "wind-in-the-hair" ability, no true rival, folding hard-top roof now available.
Limited standard kit, soft-edged suspension.
Mazda returns with a thoroughly modern interpretation of the classic sportscar, and with nothing else to compare it to, you really can't go wrong.
The MX-5's light weight of 1080Kg and rear-drive layout make it an extremely nimble little car, entertaining the enthusiastic driver with the odd tail-slide if you so wish. The only chink in its armour is the relatively softly sprung suspension and squidgy tyres, which bring about more body roll than the real hard-driver would like.
The softness of the suspension, however, does make the MX-5 ride with impeccable efficiency, riding over pot-holed patchwork tarmac without fuss. Sport models receive stiffer Bilstein suspension components, which improve the body control mildly, but do affect overall ride comfort.
The hydraulic power steering carries over from the old model to give amazing feedback as to what's happening under the front wheels.
Both manual gearboxes have a short throw, allowing you to snick through the gears in double-quick time. A paddle-shift automatic gearbox is offered in some markets, and may make its way across to Europe in 2006.
The MX-5 won't deliver balls-out acceleration and massive top speed, so look elsewhere if you're a regular traffic-light grand prix racer. What it does deliver however is more than enough poke to take you up and down a mountain pass, or across your favourite stretch of countryside, with a perma-grin slapped on your face.
The 124bhp 1.8-litre engine has just 123lb ft of torque at 4,500rpm, so needs working hard to make the best progress. 0-62mph takes 9.4secs and top speed sits at 122mph.
An extra 31bhp is delivered by the 2.0-litre, with 139 lb ft of torque at 5,000rpm. Again, the engine needs working to deliver full performance, but if you step back from pushing the MX-5 too hard, it will still deliver plenty of thrills. 62mph is dispatched in 7.9secs and the 130mph top speed should be more than adequate.
The additional 36.5Kg of the Roadster Coupe's roof hinders performance only a little, with the 2.0-litre taking an extra 0.4 seconds to reach 60mph, the 1.8-litre an extra 0.2 seconds. Top speed is actually higher thanks to the improved aerodynamics of the solid roof.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mazda MX-5
wrote on 12 09 2007
wrote on 27 02 2007