For some inexplicable reason, two-seater convertible sports cars have never become hugely popular here. South Africans will drive single-cab bakkies just about every day of the week, with the cargo area usually unused, and we’ll ride motorcycles from Durban to Cape Town on holiday, but the idea of buying a car that can carry only two people just seems — well — daft.
Nevermind that we rarely get bums in the back seats of the family car once the kids have flown the nest, and many South African families have a second car with four seats, and the sun shines more in a month over here than it does in a year in England … We still keep buy boring boxes with four seats when we could be driving cars that make us look forward to every journey.
The Mazda MX5 delivered to us for test purposes got me thinking along these lines, because it’s such a gorgeous driver’s car that I’d seriously contemplate buying one, if I had the money.
The Mazda is, quite simply, the closest thing to the traditional British sports car that money can buy, without the irritating foibles. Where other modern pretenders to the throne are based on existing hatchbacks and sedans, and offer front-wheel-drive and mediocre performance, the Mazda comes with rear-wheel-drive, solid handling and enough power to convince you that this is, indeed, a sports car in the traditional sense.
The driving position in the new MX5 is low, low, low. Its wheelbase is slightly longer and the cockpit wider than the second-generation Miata, as the car is called in some other markets, so there’s plenty of room for even large drivers and passengers in the cockpit.
The dash is classically laid out, with the big, round speedometer and rev counter flanked by smaller dials that indicate fuel level, coolant temperature and oil pressure. Build quality is good and the feel of the various odds and sods inside is solid, although the combination of railway-house, reddish-brown, face-brick coloured leather low down and black leather up top — separated by shiny plastic trim — made me take a slow second look the first time I climbed behind the wheel.
The Mazda comes with electric windows, two airbags, ABS brakes, traction control, electric seat warmers, air con and a six-disc front-loading CD player/radio with controls on the steering wheel. There’s also a reasonably spacious 120-litre boot. That would be considerably less useful in terms of luggage space if the car came with a spare wheel, however. As it is, you have to make do with a tyre repair kit, which is really unacceptable in the South Africa of 2006.
The Mazda comes not with a key but with an electronic transponder card that the driver simply needs to carry in a pocket or elsewhere on his or her person to alert the car to his presence. There’s an ignition switch alongside the steering column that can be simply turned to start or kill the engine and activate the various electrical controls.
I’m not a fan of fabric roofs — I believe that once the novelty’s worn off, they become more of a nuisance than anything else. I have to say, though, that Mazda seems to have kept this one simple and effective. Reach up, depress the locking button, grasp the opening handle and fold the hood back into a hatch just behind the seats. I reckon, with practice, I could complete the entire exercise in less than three seconds, which makes the new wave of self-folding tin and glass tops look positively pedestrian.
Even so, if I bought the Mazda, I’d spend the R17Â 000 premium over the R241Â 990 of the soft-top-only model and enjoy the extra security and quietness offered by a removable hard top. For the rest of the year — probably about a week — I’d drive around al fresco.
The Mazda is a lively performer. Snick the lovely six-speed manual transmission into first and shovel the coals on, and the two-litre, twin-cam, four-cylinder aluminium engine will get you up to 100kph in a quoted 7,9 seconds.
The car’s been tested to a genuine top speed of 216kph at sea level here in South Africa — 6kph faster than the factory claims — which is quick enough for most people most of the time. The engine is mounted well back in the body, centralising the weight distribution, and handling really is superb. The car is razor sharp, with every input from the driver evoking a swift reaction from the car. The steering in particular is hugely responsive, and I can’t think of much on four wheels that’s as involving as this little sports car.
With an overall mass of less than 1Â 200kg being punted along by 118kW of power and 188Nm of torque, the Mazda’s a fun little car to drive. It’s not a supercar, but the combination of great handling, lively engine performance and a workmanlike cockpit makes it a real driver’s car that’s more fun than others costing twice the money. Can you afford it? Yes? Then buy it!