The Mazda MX-5 - A surprising disappointment.

This week I finally took a Mazda MX-5 for a test drive. This is a car that has been celebrated throughout the pages of the motoring publications I read. A car that reintroduced the idea of the small, lightweight and nimble roadster, after years of hot-hatch domination of the cheap sports car market. I even studied the car's design and production methods in an operations management module at university this year. In the text book and classes for the module, the car's design and production were celebrated as exemplary methods for all major production operations, not just car manufacturers. The only bad word I had seen written about the car was in a blog by Chris Harris, on the Evo Magazine website, entitled "The Mazda MX-5 is Pants." Nonetheless, I was extremely intrigued to see what the little roadster was actually like to drive.

The MK2 MX-5's interior is not an exhilarating place to be. 

The car I drove was a MK2, with a good service history, decent spec and only 77000 miles on the clock, despite being 11 years old. The paintwork was in great condition throughout. There was no air conditioning in this particular model, but that seems to be a pointless feature in a car from which you can remove the entire roof. The interior wasn't spectacular - grey felt seats and hard plastics throughout, but I would forgive the car if it was the sporty thrill-machine that every motoring journalist had lead me to believe. The car was on sale for £2400, but with the trade in of my Honda, I could have the car for £1700, a relative bargain for such a sought after convertible in the middle of the summer. So why did I not buy it? Why haven't I got the World's most popular soft-top sitting outside my house? Because when I finally drove the MX-5 I actually found it very dull to drive.

The first problem I had with the MX-5 was its engine. The car had a decent amount of push, as a result of its 1.8 DOHC engine and it was enjoyable trying to listen out for the inevitable change from one cam belt to the other, when I revved the engine all the way to 7000rpm. But that was the only good thing I could find about the Mazda's power plant. Whilst I knew, as a result of countless readings on the car's statistics, that the Mazda was propelling me to 60mph much more quickly than my Honda ever could, it never really felt like it. There was no snort or upwards lift at the front when I floored the accelerator. The engine note? There wasn't really an engine note. The 2 Litre VTec in my Honda might not be the quickest engine around, but it certainly makes a thrilling sound when pushed hard. The Mazda's engine sound resembled that of a vacuum cleaner, occasionally sounding like my hoover when a bottle-top is wedged in the wind pipe, but nothing more. This made for a very plain driving experience. There was no excitement, no theatrics at all from the engine - something I would expect of a sports car, particularly when my "old man's car" Honda Accord can provide them, every time I push past 3500rpm.

The steering also failed to provide me with any excitement. There was no denying that it was direct - I pointed the steering wheel where I wanted to go and the car went there. When I throttled the car in the corners, however, it just began to wobble away from the centre with some very humdrum understeer. Again, this was not what I expected, given that the Mazda is a rear-wheel-drive car. At this point I almost hoped it would oversteer, like an RWD car should, all the way into a tree. Again, I was left feeling disappointed as the car provided the exact same cornering characteristics as my Honda, making it pointless for me to trade it in at all.

The alloys might not have helped the steering situation.
Could this really have ruined my 1st MX-5 experience?

Perhaps this was a bad example of an MX-5. It was fitted with after-market alloys which might not have helped the cornering situation, and often suggests that a car has been unloved and I shall test drive another MX-5 in the future just to make sure. But the boring engine, the tiny gearbox and the very numb steering characteristics left me feeling bemused. The Mazda MX-5, which has been hailed as one of the truly great sports cars of our time merely felt like a lacklustre, toy-car experience, aimed at people who just want to potter around town with the wind in their hair, much like my friend's mum's Beetle Convertible. Maybe it's just that the Honda Accord is, in fact, the best sports car that no one knows about, or that I'm expecting too much of a road car.

There is no doubt that the MX-5 is a practical option for someone seeking a soft-top sports car, in the same way that Ready Salted crisps are a practical option for someone looking for a potato-based snack, but I'm after something a little more thrilling, something that will leave me wanting more. I want my Flame-Grilled-Steak powerhouse. The question is, where should I look?


Here's Chris Harris' damning blog on the MX-5, in case you think I'm going mad: http://community.evo.co.uk/users/Monkey-Harris/blogs/index.cfm/2011/2/7/CHRIS-HARRIS-The-Mazda-MX-5-is-pants-ducks