Nor does the engine sound quite as sporty as it should.There's also something not right about the steering, a rubbery feel to the initial response and a sense of too much friction in the system. We want well-oiled steering with an exact mechanical connection between hands and wheels - "jinba ittai", in fact Mazda must fix this. It's vital.So, from high expectations it's back down to the earth of today's typically numb steering and engines that have lost their spark to the great energy-sapping god of emissions. The engine, now up to 2.0 litres (a 1.8 is also still offered, with 126bhp), is meant to produce 160bhp but it feels more like 130. And this car's gear ratios, although there are six of them, are all too short-legged and there's a chasm between third and fourth. European cars will have more suitable gearing, I'm pleased to say.So the expected sports-car pep isn't there.
Possibly Europe's higher-octane fuel will help matters, but Mazda's chief product planner, the Australian Joe Bakaj, thinks not, as all the engines are calibrated for US-grade regular at 91 octane. I zoom-zoom off to confirm it in a shiny red MX-5 along a road that sweeps among Hawaiian lava flows. (Why has Mazda chosen Hawaii for the launch? Hard to say, beyond the fact that the first MX-5 was also launched here It's not unpleasant, though.)And now reality bites This MX-5 is not quite right. The subtleties that make the difference between mediocrity and delight aren't quite as honed as the engineers clearly intend them to be.
Maybe many buyers won't notice, but that's no excuse and the car's creators wouldn't want it to be. The old MX-5 was starting to feel shaky because its structure wobbled over bumps This one is nearly half as stiff again. That's one way in which it feels a more honed, more complete car. Another is that the interior is crisper and tidier, and far better in quality, although very tall occupants will be disappointed that the seats don't slide backwards a little further.So, after all that, does this new sports car torch carrier do as promised? Mazda so clearly understands what is needed and how to achieve it that there can surely be no question. The trick has been to keep it that way, given the demands of the modern world. Those demands mean a slightly longer and wider MX-5 this time, but one which, amazingly, is just 10kg heavier.