But what about the baby?

The 1.5-litre engine also gets revisions – essentially, piston shape and combustion chambers – but the gains are tiny: power up by a single kilowatt, (now 97kw); torque up by 2Nm (152Nm). Driving in cool morning air versus a hot afternoon would make a greater difference. Take up of the 1.5 in Australia is minimal; just 5 percent, hence it’s only offered in base Roadster form.

As for the automatic (add $2K), it wasn’t available to drive at the launch, but Mazda advises the final-drive ratio of the 2.0-litre slusher is shorter (from 3.24:1 to 3.58) for more lively acceleration.