Wirral Life July 2017 | Page 108

MAZDA MX-5 RF 160PS SE-L NAV by Tony Yates I am a big fan of the MX-5 – I always have been, because for me it’s the only two-seater sports car worth taking about for under £24k. Also, the styling has moved on so much since it first arrived back in 1989, which is yet another reason why I think the MX-5 is now one of the most desirable sports cars to own. Now before we get a move on – I wanted to clear something up. There are three people who all live within a 600 yard radius of where I live who also happen to own one and are not shy to show it. One of them is the local vicar, one is a hair stylist and the other person as far as I can tell does nothing at all – or does he? Now I’m not prudish – but he does seem to be a bit of a ‘ladies’ man in his MX-5. And the reason for this becomes pretty obvious each weekend when he arrives home with what appears to be a different lady in his soft-top each time - which is ok, but this does beg a small question. If you are a single person looking for love – will buying an MX-5 greatly increase your chances of finding the one you have been waiting for – or will it make it a whole lot worse? Well I suppose we will never truly know the answer to that unless I pop round and ask the guy who seems to be doing pretty well out of it. So, now we have that out of the way - we can dispense with all the innuendos about the kind of person who would own an MX-5 and get on with explaining what happened when the car I was testing arrived on my drive. As I said earlier – a lot of people who live around me own one generation of the MX-5 or another, so as you can imagine – when they found out I had the new generation MX-5 sitting on my drive – it immediately caused quite a stir within said 600 yard radius. To cut a long story short – I had so many visits that week - that I almost felt like I may have needed to move home or worse have the MX-5 taken into protective custody for all our wellbeing. So, what’s new – well, the Mazda MX-5 now comes with a retractable fastback (RF) which if I am honest, looks stylish, practical and features a unique power retractable hardtop that fits in well with the award-winning shape and stunningly balanced proportions of the new generation MX-5. Power and Efficiency: Fitted with a SKYACTIV-G direct-injection 2.0 litre four-cylinder in-line DOHC, 16 valve petrol engine with 160ps @ 6000rpm, 200Nm of torque and a fantastic and nimble 6 speed gearbox that is pretty much perfect in every way. 108 wirrallife.com That’s the thing about the MX-5, it takes you to another place – a place where you can feel the connection it has with you and the road ahead. Put it this way, driving the MX-5 on a twisty road in my book is one of the best places to be. Let’s not forget about its healthy 0-62 time of around 7.4sec and an impressive 40.9mpg (combined) along with a top speed of around134mph. On the Road: Nimble, frisky and downright sublime – and that’s just to get you started. The handling is also just as superb thanks to the Mazda engineers getting everything right and getting all those all important components working together in perfect harmony. There have also been some new revisions to the shock absorbers, front stabiliser bar and rear springs, links and bump-stops on the front double wishbone and rear multi-link suspension – which all helps in giving the new MX-5 RF a more cultured ride. Design and Technology: The design of the MX-5 has stood the test of time really well – even with the new LED lighting changes and the body boosting upgrades, you can still tell it’s an MX-5. Sitting inside any two-seater sports car is tight – but for some reason the MX-5 feels spacious and not really that tight at all. Headroom and legroom are also good and I was really surprised that none of my limbs needed to be man handled into place before I could sit inside. Additional standard equipment on the SE-L Nav includes; 17” Gunmetal alloy wheels, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), Limited Slip Differential (LSD), Drivers and passengers front and side airbags, climate control air- conditioning, 7” Colour touch-screen display and a Multimedia - Commander, DAB radio, Piano Black fashion bars and power retractable hardtop roof. To sum up: What can I say – the MX-5 is the perfect little two-seater that everyone should at some point in their life experience. I would recommend that you go out and test drive the new RF – and then immediately throw it around some fast bends with the roof down and the stereo set to ‘blast’. Price: £23,395 (Standard Car OTR) [email protected]