COSTLY YES, BUT OH WHAT FUN YOU’LL HAVE IN MAZDA MX-5 RF
Despite an underwhelming engine, with top down on an empty and curvy road, nothing beats it
The Mazda MX-5 is not a car for the relentless grid of the city. Sure, it rides with satisfactory softness and its lustrous Soul Red metallic gives the little Mazda loads of curb appeal. But its magic just can’t be found on city streets. During its nearly 30-year production run, the MX-5 (née Miata) has become a household name for car enthusiasts. It’s loved by flat-brim-capwearing high school students, retirees and seemingly everyone in the middle who wants an affordable droptop sports car. Never particularly fast, but always fun, the Miata seemingly prides itself on its lack of power. Our test car is the RF model, which Mazda says (with a straight face) stands for “Retractable Fastback.” Notably it comes with a power folding Targa-style hardtop that doesn’t encroach on trunk space when the top is up or down. It can be raised or lowered at idle or on the go below 10 kilometres per hour.
With the top down on an empty road with lots of curves, nothing beats it. It begs for gear after gear of redline shifts. The rear end rotates playfully around sharp turns and there’s actually a lot of body roll in the equation. The tires are ho-hum passenger-car spec units, measure just 205 mm across the tread, and afford predictably meagre amounts of grip. This is good! The whole point of an MX-5 is that its limits are low and easily explored. If you put semi-slicks on, it just wouldn’t be as fun.
Altogether, the MX-5 chassis is absolutely brilliant. In my opinion you’d have to go all the way to something like a Porsche 718 to get a chassis this competent. It is an absolute joy to drive fast.
Sadly the engine is another matter altogether. While it must be commended that Mazda has made this car very fuel efficient, the 2.0L DOHC I4 in the MX-5 just doesn’t impress. At 155 horsepower, it’s not particularly powerful, though it does make a high-for-small-car-standards 148 pound-feet of torque. The low power was to be expected, but the low 6,500 redline is a disappointment, and the engine doesn’t make any soul-stirring noises. In fact, it hardly makes any noise at all. With the top down you can faintly hear the exhaust back there, but this is a two-seat sports car and I think we could all do with a bit more volume.
But once the fun driving for the day is done you have to grapple with the sheer price of the thing. The RF starts at $39,100 and our well-optioned tester featured the Grand Sport package that jacks the price by a full $3,600. The amazing red paint is also a $450 option, but one that’s well worth it.
And those nice options bring the total MSRP to a staggering $48,145 for our tester. $48,000 for 155 hp. True, the RF packs a world-class chassis, a well-appointed interior and a sophisticated folding hard- top, but nearly $50,000 is a hard pill to swallow for an MX-5, even if it is this good. But on some lonely back road in Ontario’s Muskoka district with the top down and the revs up, it might just be worth it.