1.5 Arctic

I'll keep this car as long as I can get in and out of it, and have a driving licence.

You don't need a 2 litre for the road if you want a car you have to drive. It's a shame we have hardly used the car since 2019, owing to the pandemic, but prior to that we have done several decent trips in the car including some touring in Holland, Lake Garda and back, and Scotland's North Coast 500.

Now on 18,000 miles, there have been no problems other than a rusting driver's window guide cover, for which Mazda issued a TSB and which was fixed under warranty.

Driving the 1.5 will be a shock for anyone used to anything with a turbo - this is almost a 70's style performance car, with a high revving four cylinder twin cam engine that needs to rev to produce meaningful power. A steep hill can mean changing down four gears at once. But adapt to driving it and it is superbly rewarding. Not to say that you have to scream around all the time - use 2000-3000 rpm and whilst you'll be driving a 50hp car in that range the engine is superbly flexible.

The steering is direct and quick by the standards of the average hatchback, and whilst some have criticised its feel as is almost obligatory with electro-mechanical PAS, it can be steered with precision and I have no difficulty in sensing the grip level. Electric assist means it could be programmed exactly as the development team wanted, and the steering weights up very nicely at motorway speeds.

I love this car and it pleases me that it is effectively identical in size, weight and power to a Mk 1 1.8. Mazda intended to go back to the roots of the MX-5 and in that they have succeeded. To achieve the same weight while including up-to date levels of safety and driver aids is impressive. Without driver this car weighs under 1000Kg and one can feel that in the agility and on the brakes.

Economy is good, and 45 mpg is easy to achieve. It isn't necessary to use all the performance to enjoy driving the MX-5, just to put the roof down and revel in the feel through the seat and the controls.

Every time I get in this car it feels better than I expected, it never disappoints.

Weaknesses? Leaving aside practicality, as it has no pretensions to being a load lugger or people carrier, one can't ignore the fact that it is not a fun motorway car. From the driving point of view it's fine but the traffic noise especially on busy UK motorways is very wearing, roof down or up. And of course all the vehicle surrounding one are bigger and taller. Continental autoroutes aren't quite so unpleasant, being typically less crowded, but you'll still want to get off the motorways and onto some decent national routes where they exist.

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