People
call those small convertible sports cars as "Roadsters". In
history, the most successful roadster was MGA and MGB series,
which sold no less than 600,000 units between the ‘50s and the
‘70s. Another roadster, Lotus Elan, also worth mentioning. It
had fabulous performance and great handling to keep its fans
love it until today. Enter the ‘80s, the most successful
roadster was a Japanese car, Mazda MX-5.
The success of MX-5 is contributed by great handling, cute
styling, good quality and modest pricing. If it were made by
Fiat, it would have been even cheaper but build quality would
have certainly been below standard. If it were made by Lotus, it
might have been even more exciting to drive but few people could
have afforded. If it were made by Ford, it would have been a
boring car. Perhaps other Japanese car makers also have the
ability to build such car, but in the following years none of
them repeated the success of Mazda. Why? because making such car
does not depend on ability, instead, it is "idea", or
"imagination", or "innovative mind", plus the "bravery to try
new ways". In then, I'm afraid only the engineers of Mazda had
such quality. Unbelievable? look at MX-3, RX-7 and Eunos 500 and
you'll know.
MX-5 is a rear-wheel drive roadster. Such drivetrain layout
helps it to out-handle most then and now front-drive competitors
(except the complicated Lotus Elan II). Its steering is nearly
neutral and full of feel. Corners agilely and balance well.
Driving line is highly throttle-adjustable. Apart from winning
this crucial aspect, MX-5's winning hands also can be seen in
its cute styling (the original car was penned by British studio
IAD), beautiful and ergonomical cabin layout, colourful paint
scheme and near-perfect assembly. Driving it, owning it and
watching it are real fun !
The first revision
Perhaps because of huge success and few competition, the first
upgrade came as late as 1997. It added a new 6-speed manual box,
revised engine to boost 140hp, tauter suspensions and steering
setup and replaced pop-up headlamps by fixed ones in order to
reduce cost.
The second revision
The second revision was made in late-2000. Main purposes include
updating crash-protection and emission level, but the arrival of
Toyota MR-S also forced Mazda to upgrade the car’s handling and
performance. The 1.8 engine now gets Sequential (continuous)
variable Valve Timing (S-VT) to boost power up to 160ps and a
little bit more torque throughout the rev range. That’s for the
Japanese version. Tighter emission regs in Europe and USA lead
to 146 and 142 horsepower respectively, still more than a Rover
VVC engine. Unfortunately, the early US imports were incorrectly
rated at 155hp thus had to be recalled. Luckily, most buyers are
hard-core fans and were more than happy to accept a generous
offering for free warranty or a $500 cash back instead of
recall.
Autocar
tested the car and recorded 0-60 in 8.2 seconds, which is slower
than the 7.7 seconds I estimated here earlier. Although my
estimation was based on the Japanese version, the European car
should not be that slow, considering it has 146hp pulling 1100kg
through 6 forward gears. The top speed 125mph was also quite
slow, although ultimate speed is always insignificant to
roadsters.
If performance is disappointing, handling should not. Behind the
restyled bumper is a strengthened structure consisting of
reinforced transmission tunnel and side sills. This raises
chassis rigidity by 22%. RS version (or Sport of European
version) even gets front and rear tower bars, Torsen
limited-slip differential and Bilstein dampers. Wheels grows an
inch. Tyres upgrades to 205/45. Power steering is tuned to more
weighty.
How does it drive ? basically, the same old descriptions can be
applied to the new car, such as "crisp turn-in", "superb
balance", "neutral handling" and "throttle adjustable". In
addition, the new car corners flatter, grips a lot harder hence
set a higher cornering limit than ever. Most important, when it
loses grip at the limit, it understeers gently and safely,
unlike MR-S which may get into oversteer. Does that mean boring
? car enthusiasts, it’s time to recalibrate yourself: the best
Lotus Elise and Porsche GT3 also understeer at the limit !
The old MX-5 was always fun to drive slowly as well as on its
(if quite low) limit. In comparison, the new MX-5 leaves the fun
factor untouched while elevating itself towards hard-core
performance territory. It could be driven fast and hard yet
confidence-inspiring. Being a daily transport, its 50:50 balance
is also easier to handle on wet than its mid-engined rivals. In
short, it is still the best affordable roadster in the world.
Long live MX-5 !
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