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By
EWAN KENNEDY
9 April 2007
Mazda's delightful little MX-5 roadster has long been one of the
purest of all cars. From its 1989 introduction it has taken the
minimalist route to straight out driving pleasure. Now, faced with a
flood of other makers offering the one-button convenience of a folding
hardtop Mazda has designed one of its own. But only as an option because
it still sells the MX-5 with the original soft-top.
The model with the powered hardtop is called Mazda
MX-5 RC. Standing for Rigid Convertible, rather than CC, or Coupe
Convertible, the title given by many other marques to their new
tin tops.
Buying a Mazda MX-5 with the folding hardtop adds
$4790 to the price. A reasonable sum and one that compares
favourably with the cost of the lift-off hardtop previously
offered as an option when the car came only as a soft-top.
Of course there's more to having a hardtop than
simply having a roof that can fold itself down and up. Security
comes into the equation with owners who need to park their car on
the street, possibly because they live in a high-risk area, or
they love driving to the excitement of inner-city cafes, clubs,
cinemas and the like.
Instead of the roof folding into the top of the
boot, as is the norm in this class, Mazda fits its roof behind the
back seat. This limits the car to being purely a two-seater, but
who on earth wants a car like this with even the most minimal
rear-seat accommodation?
It takes just 12 seconds to convert Mazda MX-5 RC
from a closed car to a fully open one. So there's plenty of time
to drop the top at a red traffic light, or hurry it back up again
in an unexpected downpour. Note that you still have to
fasten/unfasten a manual centre catch at the top of the windscreen
before pushing the button to power the roof. Many other roofs do
everything automatically.
Also clever is the fact that the volume of the
boot hasn’t been affected by the new roof mechanism, indeed it
is actually fractionally larger than before as the tail of the
MX-5 has been raised slightly to make space for the roof
mechanism.
This is a tiny car and the cockpit is somewhat
cramped. My 1.82-metre frame just fits in the driver’s seat, but
in the passenger’s side I can’t completely straighten my legs.
And there's not a lot of stowage space for essentials like sunnies,
your favourite driving hat or the mobile phone.
The MX-5’s folding roof adds 38 kg to a car that
has previously been proudly maintained as keeping mass to a
minimum. The added weight of the little Mazda RC isn’t really
noticeable in normal driving, though a clinical back-to-back test
would reveal differences.
The 2.0-litre engine in the MX-5 doesn’t have a
huge amount of grunt and you have to work it through the revs to
get decent performance. This is certainly no hardship as the
six-speed manual gearbox is a delightful unit that snick-snicks
its way willingly from ratio to ratio and the engine is happy to
scream out to the heavens.
This tiny Mazda roadster is so well balanced that
it’s sheer delight to drive it hard and fast no matter how
demanding the road. The purists will love the way this car reacts
to driver input and road surfaces. It really does seem to read
your mind and place itself in exactly the right spot at the
correct speed under just about all circumstances.
Comfort is good for a car of this class, but the
person only seeking a classy cruiser may find it gets bounced
around more than they like on some surfaces. As we keep on
repeating, this is a car for the purists, and these guys and gals
will be happy to accept a little firmness in exchange for the
superb suspension and steering dynamics.
The four-disc braking system hauls off speed
quickly and with a minimum of stability loss even on rough roads.
We are not impressed by the fact that an
electronic stability program (ESP) has been fitted, not only to
the RC, but also to the soft-top. It’s there in case an MX-5
falls into the hands of a clumsy or inattentive driver. Drivers
who don’t fall into that category, and hopefully that will be
100 per cent of Mazda roadster owners, will be pleased to hear
that there's an off/on switch.
Would I have a Mazda MX-5 RC in my garage? Too
right I would if I had a spare 50 grand eating a hole in the bank
account. The ability to jump into an MX-5 RC every time the need
for speed hits would make life simply delightful.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
MX-5 2.0-litre two-door convertible - $42,870
MX-5 Roadster Coupe 2.0-litre two-door convertible - $47,660
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard in both models
Air Conditioning: Standard in both models
Automatic Transmission: $2175 option in both models
CD Player: Standard in both models
Central Locking: Standard in both models
Cruise Control: Standard in both models
Driver Airbag: Standard in both models
Passenger Airbag: Standard in both models
Front Side Airbags: Standard in both models
SPECIFICATIONS (Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe
2.0-litre two-door convertible)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 1.998 litres
Configuration: Longitudinal, four cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 10.8:1
Bore/Stroke: 87.5 x 83.1mm
Maximum Power: 118 kW @ 6700 rpm
Maximum Torque: 188 Nm @ 5000 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Rear
Manual Transmission: Six-speed
Automatic Transmission: Six-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 3.727:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 3995mm
Wheelbase: 2330mm
Width: 1720mm
Height: 1255mm
Turning Circle: 9.4 metres
Kerb Mass: 1152kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 50 litres
Towing Ability: Not recommended for towing
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent double wishbones, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Independent double wishbones, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated Disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: NA
Standing 400 Metres: NA
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Fuel Type: Petrol 95RON
Fuel Consumption - Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 8.5 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/unlimited km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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