Stumble It!
Mazda MX-5 goes trendy
15/10/07 14:49 Filed in: Motoring
When the Mazda MX-5 was launched it neatly stole a sector
of the market that was, until the 1970s, as British as the Union
Jack. The UK was the past-master at producing open sports cars that
were in demand around the world. Buyers clamoured for Austin Healey, MG, Triumph and the Lotus Elan - the car that, apparently, provided
the inspiration for the original MX-5.
More than any other car, the Mazda MX-5 has taken over the market that the British motor industry, in a bout of corporate madness, abandoned. Now, in 2007, it continues to enjoy a dedicated following and its latest version - the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe - has joined the range.
It sounds an odd mixture. A traditional sports car with the fashionable coupé-cabriolet style folding steel roof. But, in reality, it works brilliantly. The lines of the MX-5 are not compromised in the manner of others with their enlarged boots. On the MX-5 Roadster-Coupé the neat roof hinges and folds into the well behind the cockpit in just 12 seconds. The main boot is not compromised and the boot space is unaffected.
Dropping the roof could hardly be simpler. You simply undo the windscreen header catch (other coupé-cabriolets may do this electronically, but how difficult is it to pull a lever!). The side windows don't automatically motor back up, so you do have to adjust them with the switches.
The electric roof adds £2000 to the price of the Mazda MX-5 2.0i. I can see that premium being quite attractive if you want the added refinement and security of a steel roof. Compare the cost with a separate hard top and the price looks all the more attractive. With the electronic roof, you can take advantage of rare bursts of good weather whenever they come.
Other than the new-fangled roof, the MX-5 Roadster Coupé is largely unchanged. It still has the clean, simple, unfussy lines of the soft top. The interior is also is very simple and all the better for it. Where some manufacturers would put a slab of wood to make it look more British, the Mazda does with a panel of high-gloss plastic. Indeed a lot of the interior is plastic, but the only items that feel rather cheap are the sunvisors.
The seats are very much like traditional sportscar seats you sit low down with your feet slightly offset to the right, which is more noticeable in an era of front wheel drive cars where there is no transmission tunnel.
The test car was an MX-5 Roadster Coupé 2.0i with option pack. The base price of this model is £19,530. Most significant of the options on this car was the 'Safety and Security' pack. This includes dynamic stability control, traction control, a limited-slip differential and side airbags. This is a pack that most prudent owners will want. Throw in heated leather seats and the on-the-road price of the test car comes to £20,250.
It is quite easy to break the traction as the car puts 160PS out of the rear wheels. This could of course trigger a lurid tail slide, but for that optional traction control and DSC. It does seem a little hyper-active judging by the ease with which the warning lights start flashing, but you can switch off. Do so and, of course, it is then entirely your common sense and skill that keeps the car out of the hedgerows!
Surprisingly in these days of six-speed gearboxes, the MX-5 retro feel is heightened by a short, stubby five-speed gearstick on top of a big power tunnel. Acceleration 0-60 time takes 8.3 seconds. As a sports car you do feel very connected to the road. There is good feedback through the steering, which feels sharp and precise.
Like the Austin Healeys, MGs and Triumphs of their day, the MX-5 is not the fastest car on the road. But, this is the type of car that you will really enjoy on those rare occasions that you find a reasonably quiet country road. If the sun is shining, too, you will want to drop the roof for the full sports car experience.
But, if much of your driving entails motorways or city roads, the great thing is that the MX-5 will prove perfectly practical - as long as you only have one passenger and a sensible amount of luggage.
The perfect gift - car calendars!
More than any other car, the Mazda MX-5 has taken over the market that the British motor industry, in a bout of corporate madness, abandoned. Now, in 2007, it continues to enjoy a dedicated following and its latest version - the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe - has joined the range.
It sounds an odd mixture. A traditional sports car with the fashionable coupé-cabriolet style folding steel roof. But, in reality, it works brilliantly. The lines of the MX-5 are not compromised in the manner of others with their enlarged boots. On the MX-5 Roadster-Coupé the neat roof hinges and folds into the well behind the cockpit in just 12 seconds. The main boot is not compromised and the boot space is unaffected.
Dropping the roof could hardly be simpler. You simply undo the windscreen header catch (other coupé-cabriolets may do this electronically, but how difficult is it to pull a lever!). The side windows don't automatically motor back up, so you do have to adjust them with the switches.
The electric roof adds £2000 to the price of the Mazda MX-5 2.0i. I can see that premium being quite attractive if you want the added refinement and security of a steel roof. Compare the cost with a separate hard top and the price looks all the more attractive. With the electronic roof, you can take advantage of rare bursts of good weather whenever they come.
Other than the new-fangled roof, the MX-5 Roadster Coupé is largely unchanged. It still has the clean, simple, unfussy lines of the soft top. The interior is also is very simple and all the better for it. Where some manufacturers would put a slab of wood to make it look more British, the Mazda does with a panel of high-gloss plastic. Indeed a lot of the interior is plastic, but the only items that feel rather cheap are the sunvisors.
The seats are very much like traditional sportscar seats you sit low down with your feet slightly offset to the right, which is more noticeable in an era of front wheel drive cars where there is no transmission tunnel.
The test car was an MX-5 Roadster Coupé 2.0i with option pack. The base price of this model is £19,530. Most significant of the options on this car was the 'Safety and Security' pack. This includes dynamic stability control, traction control, a limited-slip differential and side airbags. This is a pack that most prudent owners will want. Throw in heated leather seats and the on-the-road price of the test car comes to £20,250.
It is quite easy to break the traction as the car puts 160PS out of the rear wheels. This could of course trigger a lurid tail slide, but for that optional traction control and DSC. It does seem a little hyper-active judging by the ease with which the warning lights start flashing, but you can switch off. Do so and, of course, it is then entirely your common sense and skill that keeps the car out of the hedgerows!
Surprisingly in these days of six-speed gearboxes, the MX-5 retro feel is heightened by a short, stubby five-speed gearstick on top of a big power tunnel. Acceleration 0-60 time takes 8.3 seconds. As a sports car you do feel very connected to the road. There is good feedback through the steering, which feels sharp and precise.
Like the Austin Healeys, MGs and Triumphs of their day, the MX-5 is not the fastest car on the road. But, this is the type of car that you will really enjoy on those rare occasions that you find a reasonably quiet country road. If the sun is shining, too, you will want to drop the roof for the full sports car experience.
But, if much of your driving entails motorways or city roads, the great thing is that the MX-5 will prove perfectly practical - as long as you only have one passenger and a sensible amount of luggage.
The perfect gift - car calendars!
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