Price: R350 880
This is one of the best-selling roadsters on the planet (the Guinness World Records Organisation has recognised the MX-5 as the world’s best-selling two-seater sports car) and it’s really not hard to understand why. It is masses of fun to drive, it looks good, it boasts Mazda’s terrific design quality and it handles just magnificently. The retractable hard top can be fully lowered or raised in 12 seconds flat! We love the six-speed manual transmission (with its short, quick shift strokes) and the seven-speaker BOSE sound system is amazing. This is one of the most under-rated roadsters around.
Mazda’s MX-5 already holds a record in the Guinness Book of Records for having the world’s top selling sports car, and it’s easy to see why… User-friendly, dynamically sound and attractively priced, two seaters with manual soft tops really don’t get much better than this.
A driving tool of note, the MX-5 screams fun, fun, fun! Though more grown up than its predecessor, the car’s demeanour is impressive, particularly when all of its 118 kW its being whipped up as the rev counter charges furiously to the red line.
Where the previous MX-5 could definitely have added “pretty” to its list of attributes, the latest model is decidedly more butch, with lean curves and hammed-out haunches to match its new 2,0-litre powerplant.
The MX-5 stands up to some punishment when being tossed about tight road sections. Along with its predictably firm (if at times a bit wriggly) ride, its handling and grip levels are superb. Devastatingly accurate steering and minimal body flex at the limit are further testaments to the car’s sure-footedness.
Spending time behind the wheel was pure delight – the interior was spacious enough for two, though compact enough for everything to fall to hand quite easily. The cabin was finished in a garish tan colour, but the butter-soft matching leather bucket seats proved to be its saviour.
