ON FRONT PAG E N O R T H E AST V I C TO R I A , A L P S A N D H I G H CO U N T RY
JULY 22 - 28, 2016
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Sporty
Mazda MX-5
ROAD TEST By PETER ANDERSON the automatic 2.0-litre GT. Our car was as basic as it gets, a white, 1.5-litre manual. For your tick under thirty-two grand you get 16-inch alloys, cruise control, a six speaker stereo with Bluetooth and USB, LED headlights, leather gear knob and steering wheel, electric windows and keyless entry and start. The only available options are Soul Red metallic paint (one of six colours) for an entirely reasonable $250 and MZD Connect (touchscreen with satellite navigation) for $1000.
Mazda’s unveiling got the internet talking. To say it was a polarising design is a fairly spectacular understatement. The social media chatter was mostly around the front end, with armchair experts complaining Mazda hadn’t left enough room for a number plate. Yeah, well, they’re wrong. While you don’t have to like the design, it’s lithe, muscular and everything an MX-5 stands for. It looks light and it is light, crouched low to the ground and looks good roof up or down. Even in the white of our test car it’s a looker. Inside is so, so much better than the NC. The insult-to-injury of that car was its much
higher cost but with a cheap-feeling interior. The ND’s is still heavy on the plastic, but not so much of the snappy, scratchy kind. The seats are small and just enough, the support coming from the door and transmission tunnel. The small seats mean people of all sizes and shapes (within reason) can fit easily in an MX-5. The dashboard is a model of clarity, with a large central dial flanked by two smaller dials. In the greatest sports car tradition, the big dial is the tachometer, with the speedo to the right and a small, low-fi LCD panel to the left with all the warnings and levels.
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MAZDA’S evergreen MX-5 has weathered not one but two pretty impressive financial meltdowns – the huge Asian financial disaster in the nineties and the global crisis that is still causing drama. Cars like the MX-5 are usually the first to go during tough times, but has motored on to its much-anticipated fourth generation. What’s even rarer is a carmaker leaving alone a winning formula like the MX-5’s and cutting the price at the same time. It must be quite something… The ND series MX-5 comes in two trim levels with a choice of two engines and manual or automatic transmission. The ranges starts at $31,990 for the 1.5 litre manual Roadster and climbs to $41,550 to
MAZDA: Joy comes wrapped in small, reasonably priced packages.
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