Mazda MX-5 SE Roadster Coupe 2011 Review

Price Guide (recommended list price before statutory & delivery charges): $47,200
Options fitted to test car: None
Crash rating: Four-star (ANCAP)
Fuel: 95 RON or higher
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 8.1
CO2 emissions (g/km): 192
Also consider: BMW 135i convertible, Caterham Roadsport SV120, MINI Cooper S Cabrio

Limited editions are nothing new and certainly not to Mazda's MX-5. Throughout its now 22-year and 900,000-plus unit career, Mazda's ceaselessly popular sportster has regularly appeared in specially packaged forms to give market interest a short, sharp stir.

The tactic has proven very effective. Its spell works longer than you might expect, too. Because, besides attracting attention when first released, respective Special Editions' points of difference continue standing them slightly, but distinguishingly, apart from their regular standard-spec siblings for all the years to come.

In the big picture, the differences characterising 'Special' models are seldom many or major; as the current incarnation amply illustrates.

The exclusivity factor gets the ball rolling with Mazda's announcement that only 200 SEs are scheduled for local fare.

Further enticement stems from the fact that the SE's price asks not a penny more than the corresponding regular Roadster Coupe model. Thus the list price is $47,200 (plus the inevitable other charges).

As befits its raison d'être, the SE offers no options, not even automatic transmission. Buyers decision-making is limited to a choice of several no-cost metallic or mica colours, but in every other respect, what you see is what you get.

You might wonder, though, why the SE treatment applies to the retractable-hardtop rather than the Touring soft-top roadster that's 30 or so kilograms lighter, appreciably cheaper (by almost $5K) and arguably a tad sportier?

Undoubtedly the reasoning is heavily influenced by sales stats. The nub of the matter is that the hardtop outsells its rag-roof sibling by more than 9.5 to one. So, to the victor the spoils...

Look closely and you'll find the theme extends, with most subtle grey stitchings, to the steering wheel and handbrake. You may also notice the raised rings (bezels) surrounding the instruments and air outlets have bright chrome finish rather than the standard flat silver.

For train spotters, the only external clue is that while the 17-inch alloy wheel design is unchanged, the SE's have a shinier face than the standard example.

For keen drivers however, there's an again subtle but detectable difference in the Mazda's already acclaimed handling. On paper the SE's so-called Bilstein-tuned suspension may seem no big deal and only an incremental upgrade over the standard system, but from behind the wheel there's no question the unspecified tweaks further polish the handling's dexterity and user-friendliness.

Every tyre-bendingly forceful change of direction brings reminders that this is a driver's chassis par excellence. Birds fly, fish swim and the MX-5 corners.

But more than that, like all MX-5s, the SE engenders palpable sense of involvement between car and driver. By their very fibre, MX-5s are not meant to be merely operated. Oh, the SE has its share of creature comforts and conveniences (including power windows, cruise control, air-con, steering wheel switches and that slick-as retracting roof) but there's no forgetting that they're essentially peripheral to the main event.

More than anything else, the MX-5's starring role focusses on driving. To that end it makes the whole process deliciously inter-active while letting you be party to two-way communications that are rarely so tangibly accessible and enjoyably involving.

You're privy to continual messaging about what's happening between the tyres, road and the well-weighted steering wheel. You've got the exact measure of the brakes and the braking, and can feel the syncho cones sliding home when successive gears engage as you whisk the stubby lever from slot to slot. Chop-chop.

HANDLE WITH CARELESSNESS
This feast for the senses is crowned by great handling qualities. The wonderfully talented chassis is in its element when tipped into corners with zeal. It points faithfully and follows directions with assurance while providing running commentary about the grip and attitude.

Even if pressed to the limit of adhesion, the MX remains selflessly responsive to driver inputs. Although body roll becomes noticeable in hard cornering, and even should dabs of direction correction be invited, the handling's great sense of balance and telegraphically predictable reactions are immutable constants throughout.

Hospitable ride quality is icing to the handling's cake. Although the SE's suspension is well disciplined to maintain the wheel and body control needed for good handling, it also has the travel and pliability to take the sting from most irregularities. Smooth roads are repaid in kind but others are taken in stride too.

The shock absorbency is such that bumps, potholes and the like seldom impact discomfortingly on occupants. While some bumps and stuttery ripples can cause the ride to bobble or heave, remarkably little physical disturbance reaches the cockpit.

The same can't be said for road/tyre noise. On anything other than smooth hot-mix, the normally appropriately-insulated cabin is invaded by varying degrees of loud and louder road noise. Coarse-chip surfaces raise more aural discord than a carbon tax rally, to drown normal conversation and radio reception.

Like other current (NC) MX-5s, the SE has adjustable-height seat and wheel to benefit drivers who are averagely tall or less. However, despite having grown usefully wider than earlier series, the cockpit is still prohibitively short for anyone taller than 1.83m or so. They simply don't fit. Gotta feel for them of course, but score it as a small win for us 95th-percentiles.

One of the rewards is that we get unencumbered access to the direct-connect wheel, pedals and gear-shift, all of which effectively become extensions of our limbs and thoughts.

ENGINEERED FOR ENJOYMENT
Through the accelerator pedal, the engine is a living thing grafted just south of your ankle. While it isn't the biggest, most powerful engine by a long shot, it's one of the most willing.

In co-op with the easy-shifting six-speed transmission, everything the engine's got (all 118kW/188Nm's worth, and 6700rpm redline) is at your immediate behest. Stirred well and ingested whenever's appropriate, the engine's lilting spirit can't help but enliven the driver.

With the revs and ratios exploited to the hilt, the performance is vigorously brisk and easily habit forming. 0-100 kays can be over in under eight seconds, for example, and confident overtaking is supported by crisply urgent rolling response.

There's another side to the Mazda's character, too. If justification is needed to swing the scales toward a car that's only a two-seater and has an, er... compact boot, don't discount the fuel factor. Admittedly, the MX-5 requires 95 RON, but not a lot -- officially, the combined urban/highway consumption stands at 8.1L/100km.

On that basis I'm almost embarrassed (or not) to report using barely 7.6L/100km for this week's tenure despite nearly a thousand clicks of real-world town and country pedalling, seldom sparing the acceleration.

Judging by plenty of other, comparable MX-5 experiences, similarly thrifty economy is the rule more often than not. Mark it as another Brownie point for light weight and efficient design.

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