A recipe of driving purity refined and honed over decades. I drove two variants back to back and confirmed that the MX-5 is still one of the most perfect driving cars.
Review and photos by Tom Sedens. There are always more photos at the end of my reviews.
I had the opportunity to review two MX-5s and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. “MX-5” and “summer” belong in the same sentence. For the reader’s reference in the pictures, the lower GS-P trim is the grey one and the high-end GT trim is the red one.
Pricing: 2024 Mazda MX-5
Base price (GS-P trim): $38,900
Options: $300 Aero Grey Metallic paint
Freight: $1,995
A/C tax: $100
Price as tested: $41,295
Pricing: 2024 Mazda MX-5
Base price (GT trim): $45,000
Options: $3,600 Grand Sport Package, $500 Soul Red Metallic paint
Freight: $1,995
A/C tax: $100
Price as tested: $51,195
Exterior
The shape of the MX-5 is familiar to almost anyone, as it is an evolution of the Miata that was introduced to the world in 1989. It’s still tiny, but has grown significantly and matured along the way. Although the friendly face remains, the overall package is not nearly as cutesy-wootsy anymore, and there are hints of aggression and the flared fenders look awesome.
The red GT car is the RF (that stands for Retractable Fastback), which adds a power-retractable hardtop roof and a significant price bump. Thanks to the Grand Sport package, the top is a contrasting piano black and looks stunning. Behind the vertical rear glass are flying buttresses sweeping rearward. They are structural as well as beautiful, and help with aerodynamics. In my opinion, the RF’s side profile is stunning, top up or down.
All exterior lighting is LED and both front signature and the tail lights are quite attractive and interesting.
The wheel wells are filled with black 17-inch rims shod with 205/45-sized tires – in the GT, they are forged BBS wheels and the Brembo red brake calipers are very eye-catching. The GS-P’s grey paint (a new colour in the available palette by the way) is perfect for the MX-5 but you also can’t go wrong with Mazda’s famous Soul Red. I personally would choose the grey because it’s far less common.
Interior/Tech/Convenience
The last time I reviewed an MX-5 was a while ago, and I’m older now. There – I said it. This car is small, and there is no doubt that the ingress and egress will be challenging to some. You have to watch your head, otherwise it will bounce off the convertible top, and even the door opening is smaller. Once you’re in, the cockpit is wonderfully intimate and spartan, although there’s really nothing missing.
The materials are fine. There’s plenty of hard plastic, but it’s often beautifully textured. The GT has tan trim on the underside of the dash and middle of door panels resulting in a far more luxurious and brighter interior. Both trims have paint-matched upper door panel trims which I loved!
As one expects from any Mazda, the steering wheel is fantastic. It feels good in the hands, it’s grippy and is just the right size. Behind it is a set of analog gauges – the GT integrates a 4.6″ digital screen here as well. The large central tach is nice.
The heated seats are upholstered in two ways. The GS-P gets a combination of fabric and suede elements with some grey stitching while the GT has stunning tan Nappa leather upholstery. Either way, the nearly-perfect seats are comfortable and hold the driver and passenger in place beautifully without being overbolstered. They are manually adjustable forward and aft, for a bit of recline and the angle of the front of the seat cushion for the driver’s seat.
Sticking out of the dash is a 8.8-inch screen that is controlled by Mazda’s HMI rotary knob on the console. The user interface is fine, but isn’t aging gracefully anymore and needs to be updated as digging through nested menus with a control knob to find stuff is so 10 years ago.
As is the case with basically all Mazdas, you’ll also find some hard buttons there along with the volume knob. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto work nicely. They are wireless in the GT but the GS-P requires a wired connection – interestingly, the screen becomes a touchscreen when these smartphone systems are activated. The BOSE 9-speaker sound system has headrest speakers and a subwoofer but is still not that great. And frankly, the real music is under the hood here anyway. The GT adds satellite radio and navigation.
Below the screen is the climate control system using three chunky rotary dials – the GS-P is manual, the GT’s is automatic.
There’s a fair amount of driver assistance technology – a back-up camera, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control and adaptive high beams. The GT adds traffic sign recognition and adaptive headlights.
Storage
I’ll just get this out of the way – there is basically no storage here. You’ll find an open space under the centre stack – it fits a phone, but won’t really hold it in place during aggressive driving. There are also two USB-C ports above that.
A hilariously tiny storage compartment can be found under the armrest. There’s a deeper lockable bin at the rear of the console between the seats. It’s hard plastic, so anything you put in there will be rattling around.
The cupholders are equally funny in that they probably had engineers figure them out. They are removable things that can be slotted in behind the driver and passenger’s elbows at the back of the console. That puts anything in those cupholders basically out of reach.
If the driver wants to actually access a drink, they can remove the passenger side cupholder and slot it in in the passenger footwell on the other side of the parking brake lever, which puts it within reach.
The trunk is, at 130L (127L for the GT), tiny – but far from useless. We actually did a Costco trip to see if we could and made it work. Obviously if you’re picking up a bundle of paper towels, etc. that will take up the whole trunk. There’s a tire repair/inflation kit and some tools and nothing else in there.
Under the Hood
All MX-5s are mechanically identical, regardless of the trim. They are motivated by a 2.0L inline 4-cylinder putting out 181 HP @ a soaring 7,000 RPM and 151 lb.ft of torque at 4,000 RPM. The power is sent solely to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission. An automatic transmission is available – but why would you?
Fuel economy is rated at 9.0/7.0 L/100 km (city/highway). Between the two vehicles and a total of almost three weeks in them, we averaged 7.6 L/100 km spending much of that time commuting and some of it stepping on the go pedal more than necessary. Premium fuel is recommended, but not required.
The Drive
On paper, the MX-5’s numbers aren’t impressive. The weight of the car is of course part of the charm, and therefore the power is perfectly adequate. The car is not slow by any means, but I would love a bit more torque. The engine sounds absolutely fantastic when wrung out, and sending the revs soaring is addictive.
The short-throw manual transmission is very precise and the clutch is not as forgiving as something like a Honda, but the system feels much more mechanically precise and thus becomes more enjoyable in a performance situation. That said, it’s not as much fun or quite as easy to commute with as something more pedestrian like a Honda manual transmission.
None of this is nearly as important as the MX-5’s ability to put a smile on the driver’s face when it’s slung into curves and corners. The staggering responsiveness and agility make the car feel as though it’s not turning into a corner so much as rotating on the spot. It is so responsive and precise that you can simply point it in any direction and that’s where you’re headed. On top of all that, the ride is surprising as well – it is far more compliant and comfortable than one would expect considering the car’s handling chops.
There is a weight penalty for the RF’s power roof – it’s 113 pounds (51 kg) heavier, and with a car this small and light, you actually do feel that as a very slight difference in the car’s tossability. I’m not sure that’s a real word, but it works here. But it’s a very minor trade-off compared to the security, looks and sound protection that the hard-top provides.
The dynamics and incredible stability when it gets pushed are further enhanced by the car’s steering feedback that feels natural and alive – a wonderful surprise in today’s world of dead electronic steering. Manual transmission equipped MX-5s also get a newly developed asymmetrical limited slip differential.
Brembo brakes are standard and provide plenty of stopping power.
There aren’t any driving modes, but you can hold down one of two traction control defeat buttons for a DSC-Track mode. This allows for wheelspin and oversteer and only steps in when the vehicle goes into a spin that the driver can not control. Of course, you can completely defeat all traction control as well.
Visibility out of the car is pretty good with one giant exception – shoulder checking with the convertible top up in the GS-P is a nightmare. And let’s just get it over with – shoulder checking with the top on or off on the GT is terrible. Those flying buttresses look really nice, but that mass of metal really gets in the way of visibility. A small price to pay.
Convertible Details
The convertible top is a soft-top black cloth affair with a glass rear window. I have never experienced such a simple and effective way to put down and put up a soft top. A simple latch centered above the windshield is released and then you just grab one of the handles at the front of the top and swing it back over your head and push it down to latch it away into its recess. It honestly takes about 3 seconds and no effort. Putting it back up is just the reverse of this – unlatching it with a big handle between the seats, swinging it back into place and clamping the latch shut. Delightfully easy and fast.
As with most soft-tops, it’s noisy. Wind noise is quickly noticeable, and around town, you can hear essentially all the ambient noise around you. It’s actually surprising how loud it can get until you get used to it.
Conversely, the RF’s top takes 13 seconds to fold away or put back up, done simply by holding a console-mounted toggle until it’s done. Watching the top in action is like watching an origami sculpture come to life. It’s fascinating!
When it comes to sound insulation, the RF’s hardtop makes all the difference. It is as quiet as a normal car with the top up and so would be far more enjoyable for road trips.
The Verdict
WAF (Wife Approval Factor) was extremely low. She is not into small, noisy and cramped cars with tiny trunks. She is definitely not the target market for this car.
I, on the other hand, love almost everything about the MX-5. It’s easily a top contender for affordable fun with flawless handling characteristics on top at any speed. I’m not sure it would work as a primary vehicle, unless you really don’t ever need much space and are never transporting more than two people. But if that’s your situation or you are looking to have a blast in a secondary vehicle, this needs to be at the top of your list. This thing is one of the most nimble, grin-inducing vehicles you can put in your garage. Although it’s a snug, not-so-practical car on one hand, it’s like a big, comfortable go-kart too. You just have to look at it through the right lens – you can focus on the compromises or you can focus on the fact that this is one of the purest, most effortlessly entertaining rides on the road. I choose the latter, since that is exactly why Mazda developed it in the first place.
Disclosure: Vehicles were provided by Mazda Canada.
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