Mazda MX-5 Video Reviews

Mazda has made small changes to the MX-5 to bring it up to date, so we test the sports car on the road and on track to find out if it's still the best value top-down sports car around.

The Mazda MX-5 is a bit of a legend in the automotive world, but the fourth-generation, 'ND' model has been around for nearly seven years now. So, the Japanese brand has used its electronic smarts to try and make it even better. Have the changes worked?

Mazda has given its legendary MX-5 convertible fun box yet another face lift, with most of the effort this time going on making its 2.0-litre engine more powerful.

Mazda's MX-5 continues to stand as a pure two-seat sports car, designed to reward its driver with a finely tuned and connected drive.

Malcolm Flynn was among the first to drive the new Mazda MX-5 RF at its Australian launch. His expert review includes a road test, specs, fuel consumption and verdict. Hardcore MX-5 fans would have you believe that simply adding a heavy set of floor mats could spoil the purity of the light-weight roadster formula, and

Marcus Craft snow tests the Mazda MX-5 Miata Club at Crested Butte, Colorado.

Richard Berry road tests and reviews the Mazda MX-5 2.0-litre with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.

It's been over 20 years since Mazda released the first MX-5 and it's still going strong. Now in its 4th generation, the designers have remained true to the car's original DNA.Sadly though it has suffered from price creep over the years, with the entry level model now $44,265 before on-roads. Our test vehicle, the hard topped sports coupe, is $49,805 putting it perilously close to the $50K mark.Of course Mazda would argue and we would agree that you get a lot more for your dollar these days. But it's still a heck of a long, long way from the $29,550 that the car kicked off at in 1989.These days you get a high revving 2.0-litre DOHC petrol engine that produces 118kW of power and 188Nm of torque, together with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic with paddle shifts. That's not much power you might say and you'd be right, but it's not all about power  it's the power to weight ratio and tidy dynamics of the car that are most important.The manual is rated at 8.1 litres/100km, same as the auto.MX-5 gets four out of five stars in crash tests. That's not bad considering its size but it could be better (suffice to say we feel a lot safer in one these days). The roadster is fitted with driver and passenger front and side airbags, dynamic stability and traction control systems, as well as anti-lock brakes. The manual also scores a limited slip rear diff.The coupe allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds, with an electric folding hardtop that opens or closes at the touch of a button in just 12 seconds. The hard shell makes it more secure and also a lot quieter inside the cabin.The current model dates back to 2009, but you may still find a few special editions kicking around with Bilstein suspension (200 were released priced from $47,200). The sports coupe adds Recaro seats and a set of great looking 17 inch BBS alloys over the standard model. Quality 200 watt Bose audio system is fitted, with an AUX input for iPods  but the six-stacker CD is overkill these days.Bluetooth for one thing and there's no trip computer to help you keep track of fuel consumption.Great fun. The drive is engaging and will have you searching for winding roads where the car can stretch its legs. The steering is direct, the clutch action light and the short shifting close ratio box is child's play to use.Keep it revving to get the best out of it. Unfortunately the Recaros are a bit narrow for mature backsides (we're working on that) because the side bolsters press into your thighs and tend to become uncomfortable after a while. Not a great range of seat or wheel adjustment either (tilt only).

A shiney scalp middle aged bloke biffs through the traffic in a roof-down roadster. Not a good look, is it? And I should know.Pity, because at a time when some states seem poised to levy fines and demerit points for so as much mentioning "fun" in the same sentence as "driving", the Mazda MX-5 remains an unadulterated dose of jollies.It's become easily the world's most popular roadster largely because of its affordability, but this perennial Mazda is also a dynamic classic and an almost unique experience among new cars. If you've the least drop of petrol in your veins, you must drive one at least once.Nothing to touch it at this price. The alternatives we suggest aren't entirely comparable except in so far as they will drop their tops.The base soft roof touring, which really is all the MX-5 you need, starts at $42,460, the Roadster Coupe range with it's foldaway hard top of lightweight composite materials begins at $47,200. Our "special" edition gets nice silver paint ( metallic blue or black if you prefer), beige seats and grey stitching around the wheel and handbrake with Bilstein shocks.Otherwise it's stock. Moreover, it's gift that'll keep giving. Well-maintained MX-5's with more than 150,000km on the clock are not uncommon.Simplicity is the key. Although the folding hard top folds up or away at a button's touch, still it needs to be manually latched.  The revable, willing and able 2.0-litre atmo four is driven through a short throw six-speed manual. There are auto MX-5s and these are not bad, but they remove some of the interaction which is central to the roadster experience.For once "classic" isn't a misnomer. The MX-5 remains all of that  a (still fairly) lightweight, low slung, rear-wheel-drive two seater that exists to be driven for the sake of it.Generation three has been with us for six years, but the diminutive shape shows no sign of ageing. That's what comes of being (sorry) a classic.Time has been less kind to the inside which is looking distinctly last decade. Some of the plastics, especially around the centre storage bin serve to remind this is a budget sports car. If you want opulence, by all means spend at least twice the money on a German roadster for nothing like the return in terms of what one of those brands bills as sheer driving pleasure.Four crash safety stars is not of the top drawer but acceptable. Anti-skid brakes bolster discs, ventilated up front solids on the rear. While the limited slip differential allows you to burst out of corners, it's equally a safety measure for the distribution of power to the driving wheels.Dynamic Stability Control, Mazda's take on what most car maker's call an electronic stability program, is among the most sympathetically tuned in the business. It cuts in deftly when called upon, but you need to be speaking loudly.The absence of a spare tyre is acceptable in a tiny roadster, though that's no consolation if you cop a flat.As ever, a delight. The MX-5 has never been about outright power, though at under eight seconds from standing to the 100km/h mark it's handily quick and, being so sweetly petite, almost always feels fast.Rather, as cars become more cosseting and forgiving, this remains about intimacy and instant response to your inputs. Yes, the MX-5 has acquired heft due to modern necessities as airbags and (unforgivably in the eyes of purists) that folding hardtop, but there is nothing, repeat, nothing, quite like it at anything like the money.Turning through that wonderfully alive and accurate steering is paper cut sharp. Though a joyous device when pushed, perhaps the greatest thing about the MX-5 is that under the ever more draconian enforcement regimes of our revenue hungry state and territory governments, you need not chart extremes to enjoy it.Top up or scalp scorchingly down, it gives you something back on a suburban roundabout or dodging through city traffic.The iconic yet completely contemporary sports car.

The giant grin already seen on the Mazda3 has been slapped on the world's best selling sports car to mark the change to a 2009 model, but the car drives a long way different from a simple cosmetic tweak.There is nice new comfort stuff in the latest MX-5, but there have also been some significant — and worthwhile — improvements to the mechanical package. The basic body is stiffer, there have been changes to the steering and suspension settings, and even the carryover 2-litre engine has been freshened and given a sportier note.The bottom line still looks good, with recommended retail prices from $43,850 through to $51,455, covering the basic soft top through to the loaded Roadster coupe sports that picks up Recaro seats and BBS alloy wheels.The spread of MX-5 models now gives Mazda buyers more choice against the latest rage of of hardtop convertibles from other brands, from the Mini Cabrio and Ford Focus CC through to the Renault Megane, as well as BMW's raunchy 1 Series droptop. But it is still only a two-seater, and a tight one too.The move to a folding electric hardtop helped to pull back some lost ground and now Mazda is going softer again with the improvements to noise levels and all-round harshness. But, thankfully, the softer touch is also sharper in the driving.The new car is an update to the third-generation body that arrived in 2005 with more cabin space and a look which reflected the thinking behind the then-new 3 and 6. It's still the same in the basics but Mazda points to everything from a 'soft-touch' pad on the centre console and a new storage net on the passenger's side to new valve springs and a forged crankshaft in the engine.This year is the 20th anniversary of the MX-5 and the numbers look good, from 855,000 worldwide sales and 15,000-plus deliveries in Australia — no-one is sure of the exact number of 'grey' imports, some even carrying Eunos Roadster badges, which have landed — to 178 worldwide awards.Mazda Australia is still forecasting 500 sales a year, which reflects the ongoing popularity of the car and the proven appeal of a REAL sports car in a world of hot hatches and soft-stock coupes.It's still a car people buy to reward themselves and, despite the popularity of CC coupes, has the sort of driving enjoyment that is impossible to match below $100,000.To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much from the latest MX-5. Just that big grin on the car and a grin for me after seat time with my favourite baby sports car. I already knew the MX-5 is no straightline match for a Mini S Cabrio and lacks the space of a Megane CC, and the update work on the '09 car looked like the usual bla-bla-bla stuff that's so common from carmakers.Then I rolled through the first kilometre. And then five. And then ten. And I was won.The new MX-5 feels like a totally new model after the last one, which was the first model I drove with the folding hardtop. The superseded MX-5 was — to be honest — a bit slow, too noisy, and missing the sparky edge which had been a hallmark since 1989.Now it's back. The new car has instant-response steering, is a lot quieter and more refined, has an engine which sounds and feels more responsive, and even benefits from things like Recaro seats with better comfort and support.I had to find out what has happened."It's all about the stiffening. They've put a lot more strength into the chassis and that is why you can feel all the other stuff," says Allan Horsley, motorsport manager at Mazda Australia.Horsley has been responsible for the SP range of upgraded Mazda models, including a rorty little MX-5, and knows his stuff.For technical types, the tweaks for '09 include a lower front rollcentre, sharper steering settings and changes to the suspension, while the engine has a redline set 500 revs higher, stiffer internal parts and some tweaking to the induction.The result is a car that feels more like the 1989 original than the 2005 tweak. I still miss the rifle-bolt action of the original five- speed gearbox — lost when Mazda when to a Toyota six-speed — but even the gearshift is a little more direct than before.On the downside the headlamps are dismal and the engine is still way behind the best 2-litre fours, and I wonder about the need for the electric hardtop. Then again, I don't live in an inner-city ratrace with slash-and-grab thieves who love softtop convertibles.The driving experience on the '09 MX-5 is sharp and rewarding and the engine has enough pull from 2000 to 6000 revs to make any twisty road fun. The brakes, as you'd expect, are great.Surprisingly, there is even enough space for a couple of nights away with a partner who is eight months pregnant, although several pieces of luggage had to be tucked down inside the cavity below the folding roof. I also love the Recaro seats in the MX-5 Sports pack, for support and comfort, but have to complain about the boring steering wheel and a system that does not adjust for reach.But those are little things and, for my money this is the best MX-5 since the first one in 1989. I've driven them all and I like this the most.