Mazda MX-5 review

Fourth-generation MX-5 heads back to the roadster's roots, surpassing its predecessor in every area, write Illya Verpraet and Murray Scullion

- Illya Verpraet and Murray Scullion

While everyone was swooning over the new Toyota GR86 and then getting worked up that you can’t actually buy one, some might have forgotten that if you want a lightweight, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car with a manual gearbox, you could simply go to a Mazda showroom and buy a Mazda MX-5 all along.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?

The current MX-5 generation, codenamed the ND, was brilliant when it launched in 2015, and because it’s such a timeless concept, it hasn't aged a day. It also helps that Mazda has kept it fresh with model-year tweaks here and there — some small, some quite significant.

The MX-5 came about as the result of an American wistfulness for cheap British roadsters on the one hand, and a Japanese firm's readiness to speculate and innovate to forge its global reputation on the other. ‘Mazda Experiment, Project Number Five’ would go on to become the world’s fastest-selling sports car.

The first MX-5 — the NA — was arguably the model’s dynamic high point. Its successors were generally very good too, but they became progressively more powerful, bigger, heavier and that bit less exciting to drive.

Until the current ND generation, that is. It was a return to the old template: shorter, lower, wider and — most importantly — lighter than its predecessor, the ND MX-5 comes with a choice of either 1.5 or 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engines and the promise of unparalleled Jinba ittai — the manufacturer’s term for oneness between car and driver.

Size and weight were major preoccupations for the project's engineers. No one would describe the original MX-5 as large, yet this latest model has been made 55mm shorter still. It’s the most compact MX-5 yet and, save for the original, the lightest.