Mazda MX-5

Fourth-generation MX-5 heads back to Mazda's roadster's roots, surpassing its predecessor in every area While everyone was swooning over the new Toyota GR86 and subsequently getting worked up that you can’t actually buy one, some might have forgotten that if you want a lightweight, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car with a manual gearbox, you could simply go to a Mazda showroom and buy a Mazda MX-5 all along.The current generation of the Mazda MX-5, codenamed the ND, was brilliant when it launched in 2015, and because it’s such a timeless concept, it hasn’t aged a day. It also helps that Mazda has kept it fresh with model-year tweaks here and there – some small, some quite significant.Other long-running nameplates, such as the Mercedes SL, have markedly changed in character throughout their run, but the MX-5 still fulfils much the same role as it did when it first went on sale in 1989.It came about as the result of an American wistfulness for cheap British roadsters on the one hand, and a Japanese firm’s readiness to speculate and innovate in order to make its global reputation on the other. ‘Mazda Experiment, Project Number Five’ would go on to become the world’s fastest-selling sports car.The idea of an affordable open-top was hardly new to Japan. Preceding decades had seen oddities such as the Datsun Fairlady, Honda S500 and Toyota Sports 800 emerge, often as their fledgling makers’ first production models. But by the end of the 1970s, with the demise of such icons as the Triumph Spitfire, MG B and original Lotus Elan, the segment was assumed to be in decline. It was these models, though, that Mazda dissected during the MX-5’s development, and they are among the reasons why it emerged in 1989 as a small, sub-one-tonne, front-engined, rear-drive, perfectly balanced home run.Ironically, the MX-5’s success found a counterpoint almost immediately in the lukewarm reception and ailing sales figures that greeted the all-new Lotus Elan, which emerged only a few months later, lumbered as it was by a higher price, lumpier looks and front-wheel drive. The first MX-5 – the NA – was arguably the model’s dynamic high point. Its successors were generally very good too, but they became progressively more powerful, bigger, heavier and that bit less exciting to drive. Until the current ND generation, that is. It was a return to the old template: shorter, lower, wider and – most importantly – lighter than its predecessor, the ND MX-5 comes with a choice of either 1.5 or 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engines and the promise of unparalleled ‘Jinba ittai’ – the manufacturer’s catch-all term for oneness between car and driver.Range at a glanceEver since its launch in 2015, the ND-generation MX-5 has been available with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder, both naturally aspirated. In 2018, both got updated, but while the changes for the 1.5 were mild, the 2.0-litre got an extra 23bhp and a 700rpm-higher redline. All MX-5s come with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, but the 2.0-litre can be optioned with a six-speed torque-converter automatic.Through the years, trim levels have come and gone, and there have been more special editions than stars in the universe. In 2017, Mazda added an RF (for ‘Retractable Fastback’) model with a metal folding roof to the line-up. It can be had with both engine options.

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