Mazda MX-5: the best driver’s car of 2015

In my mind, and that of many average car enthusiasts, the ideal garage would be composed of the following: (1) a reliable, fuel-efficient and comfortable everyday car, (2) a tall-riding diesel-powered pickup or SUV for the commonly occurring flash floods and out-of-town drives, (3) an MPV (sort of) for the missus to take the kids to school, and finally (4) a real driver’s car that one can geek out on and embark on a long-term (even lifelong) relationship with.

The last car you can tune/modify, get in contact with other like-minded people through a car club, and on most weekends drive  to the track or beautiful and circuitous mountain passes just for the sheer thrill of driving.

The problem is that the fourth car is probably the most impractical, expensive and least-utilized car.

And yet like most car enthusiasts, I don’t care because I love cars and driving. It will probably be the last one ever to be  replaced.

I’m sure many readers feel the same way, too.

Mazda’s latest MX-5 is the archetypal fourth car one would have in the garage. It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s well within the realms of the budget of  most average, dual-income households.

It’s very engaging to drive, proof that you don’t need to go stupid fast to have fun (or to scare yourself silly, if so required).

Antidote

The MX-5 is THE antidote to a boring (motoring) life.

Fast forward 25 years and almost a million MX-5s sold later, the cute Mazda is the world’s bestselling sports car.

Brand snobs will quickly tell you that such a hairdresser’s car can never be considered a true-blue sportscar.

But get behind the wheel of the latest, fourth-generation ND-Series MX-5, and all is forgotten, save the massive rush with aural pleasure, akin to orgasm at a cosmic scale that hits you fully and thoroughly as you bask in the glow—tickled pink, and completely enveloped in motoring rapture.

The fourth-generation MX-5 is 4.1 inches shorter and, crucially, 100 kilograms lighter than its predecessor, bringing the weight to roughly 1,041 kg for the 2-liter direct-injected four-cylinder that pumps out 160 horsepower and 200 Newton-meters of torque from its twin-cam 16-valve engine.

The torque curve is full, progressive and doesn’t taper off. It also has a conscience, emitting a very low 139 grams per kilometer of carbon emissions when mated to the six-speed manual, which is essentially supermini 1-liter, three-cylinder territory.

The compression ratio is a sky-high 13:1, but thanks to direct injection, it manages the mix well when filled with high-octane fuel, preferring 95 RON or better.

The fabric roof is a manual affair which can be easily opened and closed. The front A-pillars have been pulled back some 70 millimeters to allow the roof to be smaller, and makes it easier to manually reach for and to open or close.

It also helps give the MX-5 the short rump, long-bonnet proportions with the small cabin size of the classic roadster silhouette.

The MX-5 loses the spare tire; all you get is a sealant. It’s a true front midship platform, i.e., the engine and all its heavy bits are moved 15 mm further back, well behind the front axle and steering gear, lowering yaw and improving (and lightening) steering feel, giving it a delicate yet rich steering feel despite utilizing electronic power steering—a system which is more efficient versus a traditional hydraulic setup, but tends to desensitize feel.

In the MX-5, those worries are unfounded. The front fenders, the  hood, and, underneath, the suspension uprights and bumper supports are aluminum to help reduce weight at the ends, which further reduces yaw and inertia, improves handling and response, and gives it a true 50:50 weight distribution. The SkyActiv six-speeder is also 7 kilograms lighter than its predecessor.

Proper sportscar

It’s a proper sportscar, too: double-wishbone front suspension, a multilink rear, a slick-shifting six-speed manual that is light yet feels sniper-rifle precise, a light but springy clutch that absolutely encourages double-declutching, and heel-toe downshifts for the sheer joy of getting it right every single time you do so.

Yes, the MX-5 might be slow, objectively speaking, in a straight line, but that misses the whole point of the MX-5 by a few galaxies and solar systems.

Floor it, and the MX-5 produces a throaty exhaust note that, if you listen carefully, sounds a bit like carburetor. It’s a nice overlaid audio that sweetens the overall experience.

Mazda engineers even added 5-kg worth of specific damping materials to the rear differential carrier and subframe to create the right sort of feel-good frequencies that excite your pointy bits in the right way, apparently.

It’s also a pretty safe car: dual front airbags are standard, as are four-channel ABS brakes with EBD, plus dynamic traction and stability control to keep you down the straight and narrow path to motoring nirvana.

Motoring nirvana

To drive the MX-5 is to experience a revelation, an epiphany of the motoring kind, making you realize that basic is best, that everything else is overpriced, unnecessary and overly-complicated.

Yes, the MX-5 is the very best of its kind, should you forget to consider the objective performance parameters. But it’s no slouch: Every dynamic performance test the MX-5 has undergone in the United States (drag racing, slalom, skid-pad and track times on a short track) has seen it whip the Toyota 86, Scion FR-S, Subaru BR-Z, thanks to it being close to 200 kg lighter despite being down on power and supposedly possessing a less-than-ideal platform due to its open-top (flimsier) nature.

On the open road, the MX-5 is brilliant. The brakes are firmly weighted, the throttle surprising eager and responsive, singing all the way to redline all day, every day.

Compliant ride

The ride is surprisingly compliant, considering its running on large 17-inch wheels with low-profile summer Bridgestone performance tires sized 205/45R17.

I feel the 17s are too big. They should slap on some slightly smaller (and lighter as well as wider) 16s with really nice and sticky rubber, firmer coil-over suspension, stainless-steel brake lines and more aggressive brake pads, a nice intake and exhaust upgrade, a reflash, and voila!

Well, that’s how I would fix my MX-5, and it’s different for everyone else. But it’s the car that inspires you and me to dream about what we’d do, how we’d use it, and how it will become an inseparable, important part of our lives, like family.

Handling is progressive and friendly; it feels really good. There’s noticeable lean, but the MX-5 takes a set, and grips and rotates with confidence that’s missing in many of today’s electronic safety aid-riddled performance cars.

The brakes offer impressive modulation and offer equally impressive fade-free braking performance—despite lacking sophisticated carbon-ceramic brakes and large multipiston-forged calipers—thanks to the light weight.

There’s none of the unnatural front-pulling from an AWD car, or that equally unnatural sliding then catapulting resulting from torque-vectoring, amazing as these driving aids are.

No, the MX-5 stops, grips, turns and accelerates like an honest-to-goodness feel-good hero car that is basic and free of the bullshit we are forced to accept in today’s politically-correct, overprotective, overly-sanitized and viciously controlled, moderated and policed society.

If there is one fault I will levy on the MX-5, it’s that it’s tight getting in and out: You stumble out with the grace of an elephant in a tutu, and you clamber in much like  trying to get back into your mother’s womb as a fully grown adult.

But once seated in, you truly feel part of the car, jinba ittai (horse and rider as one), as the chaps from Mazda would say.

It was so good that even my wife, who drove it briefly, entertained the idea of us getting one. And the best part? The fuel gauge hardly moved when I had it for the better part of a week.

It seems like I got close to 12 km per liter in purely city driving. Is that practical or what? After four generations, with close to a million cars sold and 25 years later, I finally understand what the fuss is about the MX-5.

It’s simple, honest, invigorating, exciting and inspiring to own and drive. Everyone should own one before they die. I truly, really, honestly, sincerely want one right now!