Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe nice!

For hardcore roadster people, the very notion of a hardtop is for soft centres - the sort of dilettantes whose deviation from the open-top ethos also allows such decadence as airbags and traction control.

Never mind that this lid is a rather ingenious thing that retracts/assembles at the push of a button, and the locking of a latch, in a little over seven seconds. No, anything other than a canvas cover or naked sky is simply sacrilege.

With its now iconic MX-5, Mazda reinvented the classic British roadster by imbuing it with such novelties as Japanese affordability - to say nothing of reliability.

But its 17-year success story - we're talking the world's most popular sports car here - has been driven by taking the verve and sheer hair-blowing fun of this form of motoring to the masses rather than appeasing the cheese-cutter cap and luggage rack on the boot brigade.

And if that's meant shoving in stuff such as power steering, air-con, cupholders and (egad!) auto transmissions, then so be it, old chap.

Equally, though, the essence of a roadster is in what it lacks - weight. And each of these cursedly modern conveniences can but add kilos.

Yet the fiendishly clever hardtop which changes the MX-5 into a part-time coupe (at least symbolically the most significant innovation of the model's three generations) is also notable for its unbelievable lightness of being.

With its three panels and various motors, the Roadster Coupe comes in at only 37kg over the current generation (and multi-award-winning) soft top.

The manual model is, in fact, a still fairly mere 1152kg. And at a claimed 7.9 seconds to 100km/h from standing, it would be barely one-tenth of a second slower than its limp-lidded sibling.

Combined petrol use - 95 RON unleaded is its minimum potency tipple - is 8.5 litres per 100.

So this hard hat is no tin hat. Rather, it comprises two composite materials - sheet moulding compound for the outer roof and glass reinforced polyproplylene for the inside running - that have, we're assured, the structural integrity of aluminium. This despite being 20mm thick.

Just as vitally in a car that could just about fit inside certain SUVs, this techo-marvel folds down without impinging upon the 150-litre boot. So the coupe passes the crucial test of daily useability.

But, of course, an engineer wouldn't be worth his digital watch nor a designer his skivvy and beret if the Roadster Coupe looked or drove even marginally less beguilingly than the soft top.

There are two additions to the colour range (including the luscious deep, deep green we drove) and some train spotter's deviations (anoraks should know that the brake light is white, not red).

The coupe somehow looks even better than its by now fretting and resentful older brother.

That 118kW/188Nm 2.0-litre S-VT engine sounds and delivers in abundance at 5500rpm with a growl fit to match its motion. It can be a job keeping the manual on the sweet spot, though, with the gap between 3rd and 4th slightly too tall - leave it in the former ratio too long and it'll sound like an infant being bottle fed wasabi.

Rigidity, already enhanced by thicker cross members, is even more pronounced with the roof up. When driven with the verve for which it was conceived, this serves the Coupe well.

It retains the marvellously chuckable nature and rear-wheel-drive dynamics that have made it a byword among those for whom rapid driving means more than mere speed.

It's only when leaning to - steering uploaded and a bend under attack - that you wish this generation MX-5 had slightly fewer options.

There are four drink holders, two of which have been specifically designed to grind into your thigh.

With a package so consummate, night has fallen for the iconic soft top.

The Coupe, with leather as standard, does it all at least as well and at a premium that's hardly Germanic - the manual comes in at $47,660, the auto $49,835. That's less than three grand each over top-spec soft tops.

Agonisingly, those prices also save 10 bucks on the optional hard hat that has long been popular among MX-5 buyers.

Of course, this device had to be stowed somewhere and manhandled into place, rather than raised with a fingertip.

So Roadster Coupe will surely appeal to people who have eschewed the MX-5 because of its manually moved soft top (they variously cite security concerns and chronic shoulder problems).

And there is no logical reason why it shouldn't also appeal to those who have always loved this Mazda.

To argue otherwise isn't a case of being hardcore, but confessing to a softness in the head.

Paul Pottinger is a senior reviewer on the CARSguide test team, and editor of the Sunday Telegraph CARSguide. A version of this review, as well as other news, reviews and analysis will appear this Sunday in the Sunday Telegraph.