Mazda MX-5 RF

evo’s new road test editor steps into our targa MX-5 for the first time

‘If you’re heavyhanded, the MX-5 will exaggerate your ham-fisted approach’

II AM NOT REALLY THE lucky type. If I call heads on a coin flip then you can guarantee it’ll be tails, and when my toast hits the deck it’s always butter-side down. So it was a bit of a surprise when my week or so in our Mazda MX-5 coincided with a heatwave, because usually my time in a convertible corresponds with less clement conditions.

As you’d expect, the roadster spent most of its time in alfresco mode, which really allowed it to play to its strengths. For starters, the 2-litre engine’s raspy exhaust note came to the fore and helped drown out some of this unit’s harshness at the top end (the smaller 1.5-litre spins far more sweetly), while the RF’S targa style allows you to enjoy the sun’s rays in relative calm, with little of the buffeting that can affect the fabric-roofed version.

Yet, as always with the Mazda, it was the chassis that sparkled brightest in the sunshine. Yes, there’s more body movement than we’d like, but this only encourages you to improve your driving. Be heavy-handed with the MX-5 and it’ll lurch around and exaggerate your ham-fisted approach. Be smoother with the steering, throttle and brakes and it flows down the road, scything from apex to apex with the smallest of inputs. Better still, it’s always relaying what’s going on beneath you – through the seat of your pants and, to a lesser extent, through the thin-rimmed steering wheel.

The Mazda is equally amenable when you’re not in the mood for fun. There’s plenty of motorway on my 100-mile round-trip to the office and back, but the MX-5 copes well. Of course, there’s plenty of road noise and a fair amount of wind roar with the roof stowed, but the powerful Bose stereo is easily a match for the elements – although you have to remember to turn it down at traffic lights, unless you want everyone within a mile radius to be treated to a John Humphrys grilling.

There are bigger niggles, though. The main one for me is the lack of headroom with the roof up. At 5ft 10in I’m not particularly tall, but even so, the top of my head is constantly in contact with headlining, which is something that doesn’t happen in the fabric-topped Mk4 MX-5. The fix is simple, however: just lower the roof for acres of space. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that my luck with the weather continues.