2018 Mazda MX-5 vs 2019

What's the difference?

The Mazda MX-5 RF Limited Edition dials up the performance character of a car that's already a pure pleasure to drive. The extra tech and spec is great, but we're not convinced the additional dollars add up.

That said, there are only 110 of these, and little doubt they'll go to enthusiastic owners, rapidly.

This latest face lift for the fabulous Mazda MX-5 may not be revolutionary, and indeed some if it is just fiddling at the edges, but the improved safety, rear-view camera and nice black wheels may impress a few buyers, while the extra zest and reviness from the engine will most certainly attract fans of this car's core ingredient - fun motoring.

This limited edition is based on the RF GT, which means a 2.0-litre, naturally aspirated petrol engine, in this case paired with a six-speed manual gearbox (only).

Car spotters should look for an aero-influenced body kit, with pieces selected from Mazda's existing optional sports pack; specifically, a larger front spoiler, side skirts, and a rear 'under spoiler' trim piece.

Slip the car into a wind tunnel and prove me wrong, but I'd be amazed if that alleged spoiler under the car's backside makes a scrap of difference to aerodynamic efficiency. Looks decorative, but a diffuser it ain't.

The standard 17-inch alloys are swapped out for black BBS rims of the same diameter, and Recaro Alcantara and leather-trimmed sports seats dial up the focus on the inside.

There are five colours to choose from – 'Machine Grey' metallic (as per our test example), 'Soul Red' crystal metallic, 'Snowflake White' pearl mica, 'Ceramic' metallic and 'Eternal Blue' mica. You can have the folding roof panel in any colour you like as long as it's black.

Changes to the look of the MX-5 would best be described as singular, because there is only one - a swap from silver wheels to metallic black ones, in a bid to "emphasise the car's visual impact".

Even the base model roadster gets the new black look, albeit 15-inch versions, while the RF gets 17-inch alloys. the range-topping GT, strangely, gets 17-inch silver wheels.

Other than that, the looks of the MX-5 remain the same, and that's a very good thing, because this is, far and away, the angriest and sexiest looking version of the classic two-seater ever to roll out of the Hiroshima factory.

Apparently there are people who find the latest look too sharp, too Japanese and too anime, and would prefer a look to the rounded, happy-puppy looks of old. But those people are simply wrong. This is a fantastic looking vehicle, no matter which colour wheels it has.

When it comes to paint colours the same six remain on offer - 'Soul Red Crystal Metallic', 'Machine Grey Metallic', 'Snow' aka 'White Pearl Mica', 'Ceramic Mica', 'Eternal Blue Mica' and 'Jet Black Mica'. So no green, yellow, orange or gold. Soul Red is clearly the choice here.

There is a body kit available as part of the optional Kuroi sports pack ($4220), which also includes a rear diffuser. Roof racks are not an option. Floor mats will also cost you $166.23 extra. Ouch.

Practicality and the Mazda MX-5 are like oil and water... and that's par for the course in this kind of pure sports car. Forget prams and loads of luggage, it's a cheeky weekend getaway machine at best.

Boot capacity is 127 litres (three less than the roadster), but that's adequate for a couple of decent soft bags. No spare wheel by the way; repair kit only.

The glovebox sitting in the bulkhead behind and between the seats is as easy to reach as that bag of peas at the back of the freezer. And a pair cupholders sitting below require yoga-like contortion to even reach.

There's a small lidded oddments box lower down, a tiny cavity at the leading edge of the centre console, and that's about it for cabin storage.

There aren't any door pockets or bottle bins, but you will find a pair of USB inputs, and an aux-in audio socket in the centre console, plus a 12-volt outlet hidden in the top of the passenger footwell.

With the hardtop in place there's enough room for my 183cm frame, including acceptable headroom (which increases dramatically with the roof folded away).

Once again, the changes inside the MX-5 are not huge, but one of them - the addition of telescopic adjustment for the steering column - will be very welcome to fans who have long wondered why they couldn't be just that bit more comfortable at the wheel.

This Mazda already had a fantastic, low-slung driving position that made you feel like part of the car, but it's even better now that you can have the wheel exactly where you want it.

There's also been a slight tweak to the design of the sun visors, for better coverage, and the gaps between the detachable cupholders - of which there are two - have been optimised to allow easier attachment and removal. They've also been made more rigid, "to suppress wobble", because no one likes a wobbly drink, particularly around fast bends.

In yet another example of paying attention to every detail, the levers you use to adjust the seats have also been made slightly thicker and more rigid, just so they feel better.

In terms of practicality, of course, it's not really a key selling point of any MX-5, nor has it ever been. There's limited oddment storage behind the gear lever and a tiny kind of lunch box behind your left shoulder, and a very small glove box as well, with no room for bottles, or anything else, in the doors.

There's not a lot of room, generally, in the MX-5's tight and glove-like cabin, but that's just the way it's supposed to feel. Small and perfectly snug.

The boot is deep-ish, but narrow, and it's overnight bags only in its 130-litre space (boot capacity in the RF is an even smaller 127 litres).

While shoulder and elbow room are limited, headroom is quite good, even in the hard-topped RF version.

Prices have risen $750 across the entire range for this new update to the MX-5, but Mazda Australia claims that's more than made up for by the extra new safety kit, plus the reversing camera, the new wheels and, in the case of the 2.0-litre models that 95 per cent of people will buy, more power, torque and revs on offer.

The base model Roadster, at a very temping $34,190, will still appeal to some purists who hate the idea of big, heavy roofs (70 per cent of buyers will go for the RF) and big, powerful engines.

Standard kit at that level includes that new reversing camera, 16-inch alloy wheels (now black metallic for extra visual menace), a cloth soft top, LED headlamps, power mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, climate-control air (but who needs that, with a convertible!), black cloth seats, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with 'MZD Connect', an audio system with six speakers and DAB+ (but no CD player), Bluetooth streaming, internet radio integration, satellite navigation, 'Smart City Brake Support', or AEB, in both forward and reverse, 'Traffic Sign Recognition', 'Driver Attention Alert' and reverse parking sensors and blind-spot monitoring.

Step up through the trim levels to the GT Roadster with the 2.0L and you're quickly over $40K at $41,960 (add another $2000 for the auto, if you must), and you'll score 17-inch alloys, adaptive LEDs headlights and DRLs, black or tan leather on your seats, which are now heated, a 'Premium' Bose stereo with nine speakers, 'Advanced keyless entry' and lane-departure warning.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto gadgets are not available yet, but a dealer-fit fix is expected very soon, at some extra cost.

If you want the folding hard-top RF version, and most people do, then the basic spec will set you back $39,400, the GT $45,960 or the RF GT with the optional black roof $46,960.

It's still a lot of car, or at least a lot of fun in a little car for the money, but you'd have to consider whether you'd could be just as happy in a car that's almost as more fun but has five doors and a decent boot, like VW's Golf GTI.

What price, though, a roof-down drive on a summer evening? On its day, the Mazda makes a compelling argument against buying a Porsche Boxster. Which is high praise indeed.

Largely because the RF tips the scales roughly 50kg heavier than the corresponding soft-top it side-steps the latter's sweet 1.5-litre four cylinder base engine, and sticks with the big-banger 2.0-litre only.

The all-alloy 'Skyactiv-G' powerplant is a double-overhead cam design featuring direct-injection and variable valve timing and produces 118kW at 6000rpm and 200Nm at 4600rpm. Power is fed to the rear wheels via six-speed manual gearbox.

So, let's start with the engine that almost no one - other than rusted-on purists apparently - will opt for; the 1.5-litre engine lurking in the base-model roadster, which is still seen as "the ultimate expression of the MX-5", by the marque's hardcore, old-school fans.

Small tweaks to this engine - which will make up just 5 per cent of total sales - have seen power rise by a single kilowatt to 97kW, and torque bumped from 150Nm to 152Nm.

The bigger and more exciting changes have been made to the 2.0-litre engine, which is the only choice you have anyway if you're opting for the RF - which 70 per cent of buyers will - but in the case of both engines the control units have been revised to give a feeling of more direct acceleration, a sensation further exacerbated by tweaks to both the automatic and manual transmissions to offer quicker response times, and less "jerk" during acceleration.

Yes, you can have your MX-5 with a six-speed automatic transmission, and a shocking 43 per cent of buyers are tipped to make that choice, even though it is the wrong one. The six-speed manual goes with this car the way tomato sauce goes with a pie, or soy sauce with sushi.

Revisions to the 2.0-litre power plant, including the use of a new, dual-mass flywheel, have increased power significantly from 118kW to 135kW, while the redline has also soared to 7500rpm from 6800rpm. Overall torque is up from 200Nm to 205Nm.

The engineers claim to have a delivered a sensation of "urgent, limitless acceleration", with linear responses all the way up to that new rev ceiling. Against the stop watch, that means a 0-100km/h time for the 2.0 of 6.5 seconds in the Roadster or 6.8 in the RF, against 8.3 seconds for the 1.5-litre Roadster.

Mazda says there's also more torque available across the whole rev range, while tweaks to the exhaust system, including a new inner silencer structure, also provide a more resonant, exciting sound to go with the extra power and revs.

The engine uses a timing chain rather than a timing belt. Oil capacity is 4.1 litres.

Claimed fuel economy for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 7.0L/100km (emitting 162g/km of CO2 in the process), minimum fuel requirement is 95RON, and the tank holds 45 litres.

On a previous test of the RF GT we recorded 8.6L/100 (courtesy of the on-board trip computer) over roughly 300km, spread evenly across suburban, freeway, and city running.

Fuel economy for the little 1.5-litre engine is 6.2 litres per 100km for the manual or 6.4L/100km for the auto, while the 2.0-litre version - which is naturally aspirated rather than turbocharged or supercharged and thus wonderfully old-school, returns 6.8 and 7.0L/100km respectively in the roadster, rising to 6.9 and 7.2 in the RF.

All of these figures reflect an ideal world, rather than the real one, where you will regularly push it all the way through the rev range in several gears and get nowhere near those numbers.

The MX-5 formula remains unchanged; a free-spinning, four-cylinder engine mounted in the front, driving the rear wheels. It's a reminder that driving fun doesn't have to mean ultra-high-tech and big power, because despite close to 50 extra kilos for the hardtop, the RF GT is still a relative lightweight at less than 1100kg.

The car feels light-footed, agile, and simply swapping through the manual's six ratios is half the fun. In fact, the gearbox retains the same 40mm shift stroke that's been carried through all MX-5's since the first-generation, and it's brilliant.

Peak torque arrives high in the rev range, but acceleration, while not neck-snapping, is still handy lower down, and really gets into its stride by the time peak power comes on board at 6000rpm (close to the 6900rpm rev ceiling).

The Bilstein dampers and extra bracing at the front have really tied the car down. The grippy Bridgestone Potenza rubber is a perfect match for the taut chassis, while the standard limited-slip differential ensures drive is going to the rear wheel that can use it most.

Signing on for a sports car like this means you should expect a certain amount of feedback coming up into the cabin, but despite the Bilsteins, ride comfort is surprisingly good. Far from limo-like, but easily good enough for relaxed B-road touring.

The steering delivers great road feel and turn-in response is beautifully linear and direct. At the same time, body control through quick twisting sections is really buttoned down. It's great to drive.

The Recaros are a step ahead of the standard seats, which look classy, but feel slim in the backrest as lateral forces start to build. And even though brakes don't need to be massive for a car in this weight division, the new rotors and Brembo calipers at the front are professional grade. The trick calipers also shave two kilos off the car's un-sprung weight.

An acrylic 'Aero Board' wind blocker helps reduce cabin turbulence, and the 'Induction Sound Enhancer' amplifies intake growl via a tube running from the throttle body to the windscreen cowl. The result is satisfyingly raucous.

Sports car purists are more likely to opt for the soft-top, for the full, wind-in-the-hair roadster experience. But with the roof down, the RF is still a blast.

The roof can be raised or lowered at speeds up to 10km/h, and it's 13 seconds from go to whoa, which is agreeably quick. A three-layer headliner helps keep things quiet and secure when you need them to be.

Several niggles. Surprisingly, the steering wheel still only adjusts for height, but not reach. A digital speedo, as per other Mazda models, would be welcome. And the previously mentioned shortage of storage space around the cabin is annoying.

Almost every time you drive an MX-5, of any generation, you find yourself doing a little glee face. There's something innocent, old-school and almost childish about how much fun they are.

The magic is in the simplest of set-ups - light weight, rear-wheel drive, short wheelbase, sharp steering, slick gearbox - and it's one that has only gotten better over the years with the addition of better technology. And, vitally, more power.

Every time you drive one, however, it's hard not to wonder how much more enjoyable it could be with just a few more herbs under the bonnet. The current iteration of the car, with its sharp, sleek lines and mean, take-me-seriously face, has been offered with a 2.0-litre engine for a while now, and it did make the MX-5 feel more potent than ever before… and yet you had to wonder if there was still a bit more lurking under the bonnet, waiting to be unleashed.

And now, finally and wonderfully, it has been. The upgraded version of the power plant produces more of its 205Nm of torque (up 5Nm) throughout the rev range, which now stretches all the way to 7500pm (up from 6800rpm), and power has taken a serious step up from 118kW to 135kW.

It's still not a huge number, but in a car that weighs just 1035kg (1087kg for the RF), it's enough to produce more than just the sprightly performance we've come to expect from this zippy Mazda.

The power now on tap means you can really up your pace if you want to, and go-to-jail speeds are now most assuredly an option for the keen/crazy driver.

What has always made the MX-5 one of the great sports cars, however, is that it's so much fun to drive even at lower, legal speeds, and that remains the case here. The way the car corners, the connection it seems to have to your core, through your hips and via your finger tips, remains as visceral and vital as ever.

It is telling that the engineers made no changes at all to the chassis or handling of this version, because they realised it was damn close to perfect already.

This MX-5, then, is just as much of a huge hoot as the one it replaces, it's just that it's now faster, and perhaps even a tiny bit louder, than before, and that is a very good thing.

The standard safety offering is another area that's had the facelifting magic applied to it for this upgrade, with more 'i-ACTIVSENSE' technologies now coming as standard across the range, and, finally, a 'Rear Monitor', or reversing camera, now standard, tucked away in the centre of the rear bumper.

New safety features include 'Smart City Brake Support', or AEB,  forward only on the base but also in reverse on GT and above, 'Traffic Sign Recognition', 'Driver Attention Alert' (GT spec only) and reverse parking sensors. Blind-spot monitoring was already included.

If all that fails you'll be protected by four airbags, two each for driver and passenger. The MX-5 received a five-star ANCAP rating when it was most recently tested, back in 2016.

The MX-5 is covered by Mazda's three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Scheduled maintenance is due every 12 months or 10,000km (whichever comes first), and the first five years of the 'Mazda Service Select' capped price serving program breaks out as - $299 for the first service, $341 for the second, then back to $299 for the third, another $341 for the fourth, and, you guessed it, $299 for the fifth. You'll also need to replace the brake fluid every 40,000km or two years at $91 a throw.

Mazda's Australian website also allows owners to enter their vehicle's VIN and calculate current service pricing.

As well as being good value you can bet this car will have good resale value. Check out our problems pages to see if there any automatic transmission, clutch or engine problems, faults or issues.

The warranty is now five years/unlimited km, which is pretty good for a sports car, but you will have to service it every year/10,000km. The first service is $304, the second $347, then back to $304 for the third and fifth. You get the picture.