Published:
28 March 2024At the launch, Mazda’s engineers said that the 1.5 was the mechanical specification that shows the MX-5 at its absolute purest. So that is the version we chose to focus on when we road tested the ND originally. We've since driven every version, however.
In a modern context, the MX-5's engines are quite special – both the 1.5 and the 2.0 – because where else can you find an engine that spins so freely, and with gathering force, to its 7500rpm redline, short of much more expensive Porsches?
For the 1.5, we’re not talking about a particularly quick full stride, although needing little over eight seconds to hit 60mph from rest, the car is appreciably faster than the 1989 original and close enough to hot hatch pace for respectability.
And yet this MX-5 plays perfectly to arouse your excitement and seize your enthusiasm as a willing hostage. It hardly matters how fast you’re going.
The temptation starts with an unexpectedly rorty exhaust note, which sounds playful and offbeat even at idle. Blip the accelerator out of gear and the revs flare with promising urgency, then engage first and the MX-5’s mechanically detailed and supremely positive shift quality announces itself. You’re already having an absorbing and special driving experience – and you’ve yet to even turn a wheel.
Gearshift aside, the car’s controls are light and, being so obliging to control, fairly short-geared and revving cleanly from very low revs, it moves away from a standstill with a pleasing lack of inertia. Add some throttle and you’ll pick up speed gradually at first, with limited mid-range torque on tap but with perfect response and a supremely linear delivery of it as the revs rise.
