Motors North

Mazda MX-5 Roadster/Coupé 2.0i Sport

CAN it really be more than 20 years since Mazda launched the MX-5?

It hardly seems possible that this reincarnation of Colin Chapman’s legendary Lotus Elan of the 1960s has clocked up more than two decades – but that’s a fact and it is still as fresh as a proverbial daisy.

The sheer genius that came up with the idea of recreating the front engine, rear drive Elan in a similar looking package with all the reliability of a Japanese car has never been properly saluted.

Whoever that person is should have his own niche in the mighty Mazda organisation.

The other week I laid hands on the latest version of this 20-year-old two-seat sports car – arguably the best version to date with a seriously quick heart, genuine comfort and the holy grail of sports car drivers in Scotland, an electrically folding two-piece hard top.

The 158bhp two-litre petrol injection Sport Tech Roadster Coupé is the most expensive MX-5 in the family at £21,770, but by far the best choice if you want that elusive combination of power, agility and year-round usability.

Compared to the similarly powered 2.0i SE, you receive a bill for an extra £1,850 that delivers excellent heated leather seats and a slick six-speed manual transmission in place of the SE’s five-speeder.

The Sport Tech pack also gives you Bluetooth, BOSE sound, front fogs, brushed alloy style bars, 17-inch alloys, uprated Bilstein dampers, cruise control, and an engine compartment brace bar to stiffen the car and sharpen its handling. It’s a generous package.

If you are so minded, the Sport Tech can be equipped with a six-speed paddle-shift automatic for £585 more and metallic paint at £395.

But the six-speeder is MX-5 in the raw. It suits the car perfectly and its rifle bolt action makes flicking up and down through the ratios a real delight on a twisty West Highland road.

The MX-5 makes so much sense. If you want a sports car, you really can’t make a better choice.

And until the end of June Mazda dealers, including Macrae & Dick at Inverness, are offering the entire MX-5 range with customer savings of £750 and a zero per cent finance deal to highlight its appeal.

The car is meticulously well assembled and, in recent years, has gained a level of refinement and sophistication that has motored it well clear of the early models that were – let’s face it – a bit hard on the buttocks and pretty noisy.

That no longer applies. The 2011 model year MX-5 is a comfortable little roadster that will soak up mile after mile with ease.

The car’s affordability is its biggest attraction. The soft top may be the “classic” model, but for us in the north of Scotland the trio of powered folding roof MX-5s with their standard climate control makes most sense.

It turns a great sports car into a great snug sports car. In 12 seconds the two-piece hard top motors neatly into a space behind the seats and is so well designed that it makes no meaningful impact on the – admittedly small – 150-litre boot space when it is stowed.

The cheapest Roadster/Coupé is the modest 125bhp 1.8i at £18,870, followed by the 2.0i SE and my 2.0i Sport Tech test car.

There’s nothing wrong with the 1.8i or its performance – but it comes without the two-litre’s standard ESP and, for real driving fun, the 158bhp two-litre with a close-ratioed six-speeder takes the biscuit.

To be honest, the MX-5 does not need the two-litre’s high revving power or its 138lb.ft of torque.

The 1.8i has the perfect balance – but you get so much more with the Sport Tech package and the 158bhp delivery puts the icing on the cake when you have that magical combination of open top weather and a Highland single-tracker snaking up an alpine-like hill such as the Pass of the Cattle towards Applecross.

With the car’s standard wind deflector in place there’s very little buffet at sensible speeds, and the wind-in-your-hair experience is wonderful.

And when the inevitable happens and skies darken or the temperature drops, it takes just seconds to pull over, hit the dash control buttons and restore the MX-5 to a solid-roofed coupé complete with heated seats to take the chill off the coldest day.

The little Mazda – just four metres long and weighing in at 1.13 tonnes at the kerb – is superbly balanced and thanks to its rear drive can be placed accurately on a demanding road.

It is also light to drive, easy to park and offers great visibility – apart from the small rear glass window that gives the cabin a hemmed in feel.

But with 158bhp, and maximum torque coming in at a rather high 5000rpm, the 2.0i Sport Tech can bite.

That’s why it comes as standard with dynamic stability control, traction control and a limited slip differential.

Without these essential driving safety systems, it would be easy to lose the back end with the kind of power-to-weight ratio this superb sports car delivers.

Even with these devices the 2.0i can be lively. I was able to beat the traction and dynamic stability controls on one section of deserted twisty single-tracker.

It was still safe and perfectly balanced, but it underlined the potency of this fine mix of lightweight roadster and perky two-litre.

The car’s brakes are an all-disc ABS set up with electronic brake force distribution. They cope perfectly with the demands of this delightful roadster and stop the car without fuss and in an impressively short time.

Few cars have stood the test of time quite as well as the MX-5.

It’s become a legend in its (second) lifetime by following the brilliant Lotus Elan that, sadly, was about as well constructed and reliable as a paper parasol designed for use in a gale.

Mazda’s little sports car is renowned for its lack of problems. Mazda service centres don’t like it because it rarely breaks down and, because of its relative simplicity and proven technologies, it demands only modest servicing every 12,500 miles.

I’ve used the term “born again” to describe this superb little roadster – nothing is more fitting. The MX-5 is beloved by sports car fans of all ages and both sexes.

It’s been wowing the market for more than 20 years, and in today’s rapid turnover car world that’s something rather special.

If you want to know why, take one for a test drive. But beware – you’ll be easily smitten.

Rating: 9/10

FINAL THOUGHT: Nothing comes close to the sheer brilliance of Mazda’s MX-5 – a born again Lotus Elan from the late 1960s and remarketed as an affordable modern sports car that is reliable, comfortable and a delight to drive. Simply the best in its class.

Mazda MX-5 Roadster/Coupé 2.0i Sport

Price: £21,770
Capacity: 1999cc
Power: 158bhp
0-62mph: 7.9 seconds
Maximum speed: 121mph
Economy: Combined 37.2mpg; Urban 26.9mpg
CO2 emissions: 188g/km
ESP: Standard DSC
Insurance: Group 26 (New 1-50 insurance grouping)

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Mazda MX-5 Roadster/Coupé 2.0i Sport