by Damian Doyle

Created on: July 22, 2007

The recently updated Mazda MX-5 has received critical acclaim, even from the most cynical members of the motoring press fraternity. Mazda's rear-wheel-drive roadster has been described as "low on frills but high on thrills". Although not much seems to have changed drastically in appearance, the car is almost completely new from the wheels up and is discernibly sleeker and more muscular.

I recently tested the 2.0i Sport Convertible, supplied by Mazda UK. It was powered by a 2 litre Ford-sourced fuel injected engine, producing 158 BHP and capable of 131 MPH. The little MX-5 doesn't hang about; the relatively modest stable of horses will propel the lightweight two-seater from 0-60 in under eight seconds. The fuel economy figures are quite good for a sports car about 35 MPG (combined) and boot space is about 150 litres enough for a small suitcase. Combined with the lack of rear seats, the economy and load space don't make the car a practical option, but you'd be daft to choose any roadster for practicality this is the choice of a person who wants driving to be enjoyable - if you want practical, buy a diesel people carrier. I used the MX-5 to drive to work every day for a week and it performed perfectly well as an everyday car and almost managed to do it on one 50 litre tank of petrol (my weekly commute is about 350 miles).

Minimalist
The tested car was fitted with air conditioning, black leather seats and a dynamic BOSE sound system and I really liked the drilled aluminium pedals and minimalist controls. Under the bonnet, there was a functioning pair of strut braces adding to the general stiffness of the car and at the rear drive, an advanced limited slip differential, helping the cornering dynamics. This car was also fitted with fat lightweight 18" alloys and low-profile tyres, which not only look the part, but also reduce the unsprung weight and provide extra grip over a wider surface.

The soft-top is very easy to operate, simply release a handle at the front, above the rear view mirror and the roof simply springs back, to be retained at the rear of the twin roll bars, directly behind the seats. The tested car was fitted with air conditioning, leather seats and stability control. The Euro NCAP test rating for the MX-5 was not available at the time of writing; however it does have four airbags for two occupants, a rigid passenger cage and two fairly beefy looking roll-bars behind the seats.

Tuneful
On the road, the throttle response was surprisingly good the free-revving

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