A Mazda you can drive all year long
RF’s hardtop makes all-season driving possible, but for some the soft-top still rules
Hard or soft, that is the question. No, I’m not talking about boiled eggs, matzo balls or massages; I’m contemplating the pros and cons of soft-top convertibles versus the folding hardtop kind. And specifically, since I’m also the owner of a soft-top, 10-year-old Mazda MX-5 GS (still known to everyone but the marketing geniuses at Mazda as the Miata), how much — if at all — I prefer the new 2019 MX-5 RF, the folding hardtop version of the iconic roadster.
This is no flip-a-coin situation. Angst is involved. I’m losing sleep, weighing the pros and cons. There’s the fundamental purity and simplicity of the soft-top Miata, versus the comfort and practicality — not to mention much more quiet top up — of the mid-range, $40,000 GS-P tester.
Look, I’m a car guy. Growing up in the 1960s, it was a magical time for a budding gearhead, the heyday of the muscle-car era. But I had a special affinity for the British sports cars — MGs, Triumphs, Austin-Healeys and, naturally, the Jaguar E-type. They were all “trouble,” which is a far more polite word than the one my mechanic father would use to describe them.
Now, the history of the Miata is well known to most enthusiasts. The short version is that Mazda wanted to build a simple and affordable roadster in the tradition of the British sports car, only one that always started when the key was turned and didn’t leak oil. Reliable, in other words.
Mazda has assembled more than a million Miatas since its debut in 1989, making it, says Guinness World Records, the best-selling two-seat sports car of all time. Yes, it has its haters, mouth-breathers who derisively call it a “chick car” and worse. Poor, misguided fools; they clearly have never spent quality seat time in the roadster.
My own MX-5 has power windows, cruise control and air conditioning, but the rest of the car is simplicity itself, which extends to its manual soft-top. Unlatch the locking mechanism, grab the roof and throw it over your head with just enough force for it to lock in place behind. About five seconds, on a slow day, and you’re ready for all the visceral sensations that come with al fresco motoring.
That much has been carried over to the current MX-5. In fact, the soft-top has been made even easier to open and close; it can be done one-handed from either seat. Top up, headroom clearance remains tight. Of course, the same could be said for the RF.
What might, under normal circumstances, seal the deal in favour of the soft-top is price and weight. Though Mazda hasn’t announced pricing for the 2019 soft-top Miata yet, there is a $3,000 difference between the 2018 soft-top and RF models. There’s also a 50-kilogram weight penalty which, when both models were powered by the same 155-horsepower, 2.0-litre four-cylinder, dulled the hardtop’s otherwise perky performance just a smidgen.
Here’s the game-changer, though: Mazda’s engineers have worked their magic and given the MX-5’s mill a significant bump in power for the 2019 model year. It now produces 181 hp at 7,000 r.p.m. — a 17 per cent improvement — plus 151 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 r.p.m. So while there is still the weight penalty, the extra zip under the RF’s hood more than compensates. The sports car hasn’t felt this lively since the days of the turbocharged Mazdaspeed Miata, some 14 years ago. RF could now stand for Reasonably Fast!
So I’m waffling. Roof in place, the RF — which is really more a targa top than a true droptop — has a clean and sleek look to it, kind of like a compact Jaguar F-Type coupe. And there’s less body flex over patched and potholed roads, though to be fair, the current soft-top is much stiffer than the previous three generations. The RF’s cabin is also quieter (though not completely so) top up or down, making conversation easier. However, if driving top-down and you encounter a sudden rain shower, the roof doesn’t go up unless the car is stopped. This is a potentially soggy situation if one is cruising down the highway at a buck-ten.
When Mazda introduced the RF some 18 months ago, I wondered why the company felt the need to add the retractable roof in the first place. It turned out the answer went back to the previous NC model: by the end of its life, the car with the optional retractable hardtop accounted for more than half of the sales, proving particularly popular with those who wanted allseason comfort and utility. Given Canada’s short summer season, the logic is hard to fault.
I’ve driven some 2,000 vehicles over the past 45 years, including a fair number of convertibles, everything from 1930s BMWs to the Ferrari California T. And while I admire and appreciate the sophistication and complexity of today’s modern cars and trucks, many are starting to lose their connection with the driver.
For me, spending time in my Miata — make that any Miata with a manual transmission — is to enjoy motoring in a more intimate form. As to whether I prefer the soft-top to the RF, the answer is yes. But I won’t take it personally if you disagree.
Driving.ca