Mazda MX-5 2016 Long-term test - 3

Mazda MX-5
Long-Term Test (Update #2)

"That's a shit car, mate".

That's what the guy in the white Holden Commodore Ute said to me on Thursday night.

As I turned right into the local shopping centre car-park, he wound down his window and, as we passed, he delivered his short but crushing verdict of the Mazda MX-5.

I'd only been driving the MX-5 for an hour and a half. Most of it was in stop-start traffic on the Monash Freeway in peak hour. Peak hour on the Thursday night before the Easter long weekend... As you can imagine, it was at walking pace for most of the way.

I managed to escape the freeway at Wellington Road and at least get a few corners in on my way home to Berwick. But I hadn't really had a chance to try out the little Mazda properly on the sort of roads it was built for.

Even after this brief time behind the wheel, I knew this random stranger was dead wrong.

I will confess up front that I'm an MX-5 fan, even though I'd never driven one before. I grew up with convertibles as a child – initially in old Morris cars from the 1930's, and later with a couple of MGBs in the household. I even drove a 1980's Suzuki Sierra for about six months, most of the time with the roof off.

To me, the MX-5 represents the fun of a classic British sports car, without the reliability problems.

I'm now in my early 40's and the decision has already been made in my mind that my next car will be an MX-5. Maybe it's a cliché – a middle aged man buying a convertible sports car – but as soon as my second son turns 18 (and I no longer need more than two seats), my current car will be handed on to him and I'll head to the Mazda dealership.

So I was understandably hurt by the assessment of this stranger in a Ute, and I stewed on his comments overnight. What's wrong with the MX-5? And why would a complete stranger be compelled to voice his opinion as we passed?

Perhaps it's a simple case of context.

Over the Easter weekend, one of my main priorities was a bit of home improvement. – building a short fence, laying some pavers and disposing of a load of rubbish to the tip. After several trips to the local hardware store, I would readily agree that the MX-5 would fail dismally at lugging sacks of concrete mix, bags of sand or piles of garden waste.

If this was your only car, and you were a bit of a handyman (or a tradie), it would truly be 'shit'.

In my household though, we also have a Kia Sorrento (and co-incidentally) a white Holden Ute. Both of these readily swallowed enough construction materials to keep me well and truly occupied over a four-day weekend and there was no need to worry the Mazda's tiny boot with the trappings of a handyman lifestyle.

On Saturday night, I headed down to San Remo with one of my sons for a night-time photography lesson at the pier, and my first open-road trip in the Mazda. With a couple of camera bags and tripods, spare shoes and pants (in case we ended up getting wet feet at the beach), and a few other bits and pieces, it became clear that it wouldn't take a whole lot more gear to fill up the 130-litre boot.

By my estimation, my wife and I could manage a week-long get-away if we packed smart (in a soft-sided bag) and stayed in motels. If you wanted to go camping with an MX-5, then you might want to re-consider your choice of vehicle.

For our evening photo trip, space wasn't an issue. So, roof down, heater on low, we headed onto the freeway. At 100km/h, the MX-5 is a pleasure to drive. The steering is direct and alert, but not tiring and there's a pleasant burble from the exhaust. In sixth gear the engine is turning over at around 2000rpm, so it's even pretty thrifty on fuel.

Taking off from the traffic lights felt brisk, but with a 0-100 time of 8.3sec, many family sedans will beat it in a drag race. In the real world, I found that the MX-5 goes fast enough for anything you might want to do on a public road.

Having read reviews that suggest that the 1.5 litre is under-powered, I can understand some of the criticism when it comes to rolling acceleration at freeway speed, or climbing a hill. In these cases, progress in the higher gears is leisurely as the little engine doesn't have a lot of torque down low... but change down a gear or two and the MX-5 is quite happy to get up and go, with manually swapping cogs never being a chore.

Not having driven a manual car regularly for the best part of a decade, I was a little bit rusty at first; however, the gear shift in the Mazda is so light and easy to operate that by the end of the weekend I found myself changing up and down gears at every chance, just for the fun of it.

During our road-trip we encountered a couple of patches of light rain, however, at freeway speed this just blew straight over the top of us – not a drop entering the cabin. The only time we did get wet was when I used the windscreen washers too much. The excess water ran off the side of the windscreen, along the side of the driver's door window, and then over the top and onto my shoulder. Lesson learnt.

Sunday morning saw a trip down to the local supermarket to collect some last-minute Easter Egg supplies, and it was on this trip that I encountered the first real frustration of MX-5 "ownership". The doors of the Mazda are very long, and hinged a long way forward, so the gap isn't very wide when you're in a narrow parking space. Exiting the low seat, through this narrow gap is quite a challenge, especially with middle-age flexibility and the roof in place. With care it is manageable, but still something you would have to deal with on a regular basis if this was a daily driver.

It was also not until Sunday that I finally got a chance to take the Mazda out and find a proper winding road. This was a chance for the MX-5 to shine! Not being a motoring writer, I haven't had the opportunity to drive a range of cars to compare the Mazda with, but it was immediately obvious that the MX-5 was designed to go around corners.

Without a race-track to play on, it was clear that the biggest limitation on how fast I'd be able to go around a bend was a combination of the speed limit, my skills, and a healthy dose of common sense when driving on public roads – not a limitation of the car itself.

The expert drivers have already given their verdict on the MX-5's handling prowess. All I can say is that it's the best handling car that I've ever been lucky enough to drive – the sort of car that has you grinning with anticipation every time you see the sign warning of winding roads for the next few kilometres. It's the sort of car that makes you avoid taking the freeway, simply because it has fewer corners.

Over the weekend I drove everywhere with the roof down. It's such a trivial job to raise and lower it that the process itself is not an impediment to open-air motoring. Even at night, with the outside temperature indicator showing 12 degrees, I was more than comfortable in a light windcheater and with the heater gently blowing warm air on hands and feet. I can understand putting the roof up in the rain makes sense (if it's heavy enough!), and perhaps when you're sitting in traffic on a 35-degree day and want some shade and air-conditioning.

With reasonable weather over Easter, I can't really tell you much about roof-up motoring - my total experience was of driving about 500 metres "under cover".

I'd stopped at some traffic lights, not far from my destination, and a light rain started. In less than ten seconds I was able to reach over my shoulder, pop the latch, and lift the roof up and lock it into the closed position – all while comfortably seated behind the wheel. Having finished my shopping 20 minutes later, the shower had passed, so down went the roof again. With things this easy, why wouldn't you drive everywhere topless?

Having spent a few days driving the MX-5, I've realised that perhaps the Ute driver's comment comes from not understanding what this little Mazda is all about.

I know for sure that when it comes to hauling a load, his Ute has the MX-5 beaten hands down – but I've got other, more practical cars in the family for this purpose.

I also know, having driven both the MX-5 and a Commodore Ute in the same weekend, that the Commodore feels dull and wooden to drive, doesn't bring a smile to your face a mile wide every time you drive it (or even just glimpse it sitting in your garage), and definitely doesn't have you choosing to go the long way everywhere, just for the fun of driving it.

Perhaps he meant to say "That's a shit ute, mate", and I can live with that. Especially since I now know what a great little sports car the Mazda MX-5 really is.

2016 Mazda MX-5 pricing and specifications:
Price: $31,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 96kW/150Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 6.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 142g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Four-star ANCAP

Related reading:
>> Mazda MX-5 Long-Term Test (Introduction)
>> Mazda MX-5 Long-Term Test (Update #1)
>> Mazda MX-5: Ice Academy