Holy Flying Buttresses!
Mazda, the people who build cars, with an uncanny eye for shaving grams off just about every car they make, brought us the first MX5 back in 1989. It was all a Lotus Elan was meant to be, but with legendary Japanese reliability. Light, nimble, simple and smaller than a glossy red pimple. So successful it was that over in Britain, some felt it was a ‘proper’ British sports car. Then anything with the word ‘proper’ attached to it, to the Brits, carries ‘proper’ importance… Like ‘proper’ pizza, ‘proper’ fried Mars bars. In this case, ‘proper’ sports car, with ‘proper’ engineering.
We have to say, that with the new hard top, exterior noises are kept at bay. Where a soft top would let in the sound of the street, most of the noise you’d be hearing is the drone of the 2.0 NA straight 4, which is longitudinally-mounted in traditional fashion, and sited as far back into the engine bay as possible, to keep a neutral balance.
There are some of us, who’d likely feel that more power and torque delivered from the 2.0 is a must, but after pitching the little Mazda around a series of tight bends, you’d realise that the 156Bhp maximum is really all you need. Power delivery is quite liner, and throttle response is accurate. Squeeze the throttle around a bend, and the rear responds, giving minor oversteer. Give it the beans and the traction control kicks in, keeping the rear well behaved. And yes, you can do doughnuts on a dime, once you knock off the traction control.
There is some difference though, when the roof goes down, you would experience some chassis flex when pitching the car around a similar series of tight bends, as compared to when the roof is up, even while the roof is held in place with a few moving parts; it is quite noticeable, from within the car, with slight movement between the steering column and dash.
What may not be a car for most, is certainly a car for those who want something that delivers a direct connection to the road. There are a number of cabriolets out there, but most are not this connected. The “Retractable Fastback” also gives you the best of both worlds. Mazda’s committed engineers have put their dedication in producing one of the best sports cars in the world, since 1989. Being awarded 2016 World Car of the Year, and World Car Design of the Year, speaks volumes about such simple fundamentals realised in a car this well built.
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