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| Not just a pretty face - but isn't it cute? |
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This is the prettiest coupé-cabriolet in the world. Every time I catch sight of it, from any angle, I smile with pleasure at its perfect proportions. Unlike the majority of coupé-cabrios, which are derived from a hatchback and hence require a strangely elongated boot to accommodate the retractable metal roof, the MX-5 was designed from the outset as a two-seater convertible sports car. That's why it looks every bit as good with the roof up as with it down.
But the advantages go way beyond its fabulous looks. The MX-5 Roadster Coupé feels every inch the sports car, too, with rear-wheel drive, a plucky engine, and direct steering which gives the car a clean, nimble feeling as you sit low to the ground and dart through the traffic and round the bends. It's fairly quick, despite the fact that I only tried the 1.8i, rather than the top-of-the-range 2.0i Sport. Even in its entry-level spec, the Roadster Coupé manages the 0-62mph sprint in a mere 9.6 seconds, the product of 124bhp in a fairly light car - just 37kg more than the soft-top version, which isn't bad when you consider the weight of a metal roof and all the associated mechanical gubbins required to lower it electrically. More important than the figures is the fact that the whole package feels lively and responsive.
Mazda says that the car's beautifully balanced driving dynamics 'reflect the Japanese ideal of Jinba Ittai, the symbiosis [don't laugh] between rider and horse'. Normally I'd ignore that sort of marketing twaddle but I must say that I see what they mean. There is something of the quality of a carefully-schooled horse in any well-balanced car, the MX-5 among them. The fact that it was originally designed in Britain is somehow forgotten these days.
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