By Paul Gover.
There is nothing to clear your head and open your mind like a Mazda MX-5.
In some countries the baby Japanese sports car is called the Miata, a German word for prize, and it’s always worked well for people who know the mighty mite.
Driving an MX-5, from the time if first arrived in 1989, has been a celebration of driving and old-school, open-topped sports cars.
This year, like most years, Mazda has given the MX-5 a tiny tickle to keep it fresh.
The latest update is about the suspension, but Mazda has also dropped the unpopular 1.5-litre engine so every MX-5 – and there are 12 individual models priced from $37,690 to $51,420 – is now powered by the latest 2.0-litre four-cylinder motor. The key to the suspension is called ‘Kinematic Posture Control’ – where do they get these names? – and is intended to give more stability at the rear end, especially under braking.
There is also an upgrade to safety, with land-departure warning, rear parking sensors, auto city braking, an auto dimming mirror and driver attention alter all fitted to the basic 2-litre Roadster.
Changing tastes mean the 12 models for 2022 include the ‘classic’ six-speed manual with folding soft top, but more and more people are going for the six-speed auto and folding hardtop. More and more women, too, are also buying into the MX-5 experience.
But the basics are just the same, because the car is intended to be driven. The boot is tiny, there is very little storage space, but that hardly matters when you’re out for a drive.
The latest MX-5 is one of the nicest I’ve driven, and I’ve driven a few over the past 32 years.
It feels a little more crisp, a touch more refined, and the basics are just the same. It also picks up some smart and necessary stuff, with brilliant HID headlights in my road-test roadster and the essential smart-phone connectivity for 2021.
There was little chance for top-down driving, but enough to remind me what I like – no, love – about the MX-5. The folding top is quick and easy to use, there is good wind protection at all speeds, and the flood of inputs – smells, sights and sounds – means that even on a trip to the shops I can be immersed in the countryside.
Even on the shortest drive, the mighty Mazda mite is an epic car because you have to drive. In a world and at a time when more and more people are becoming passengers, relying autonomous systems to backfill their shortcomings, the MX-5 exposes any weaknesses in a driver’s training and experience.
If you delay or a miss a gear change then the engine will labour. If you don’t spot a pothole the car will crash through it and bounce off your chosen line. If you fail to account for a truck in traffic you can expect to be intimidated by something that towers over the tiny Mazda.
Do it right and there is so much to like.
The manual shift is short and slick, with closely-spaced gears for good sprinting, the steering gets an instant response, and the brakes are powerful while easy to modulate.
There are very few rivals to the MX-5 – the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ are the most obvious – but nothing so visceral. It’s not a car for a long trip, unless you’re prepared to compromise on your packing, and it’s not a car for people who want a mobile coffee cup for their daily commute.
But if you like driving there is nothing short of a Porsche that delivers the same enjoyment, and nothing at all that matches the value package.
The MX-5 makes you smile, and you get smiles all round from people who see it. That alone, is an antidote to the troubles and challenges of 2022.
MAZDA MX-5
Position: old-fashioned sports car
Price: from $47,690
Engine: 2-litre four-cylinder petrol
Power: 135kW/200Nm
Transmission: 6-speed manual and auto, rear-wheel drive
Plus: great driving, fresh air
Minus: not much
THE TICK: As ever
Score: 9/10
