Mazda MX-5 Review

The Mazda MX-5 was launched in 1990 as the modern-day tribute to the classic Lotus Elan. So successful was Mazda in achieving this, the MX-5 is now a classic in its own right – even the latest fourth-generation model, despite its more pronounced nod to modern car design, is a joyous collectible that anyone passionate about driving should relish. It's certainly one of the best convertible cars out there for the money.

The secret is its simplicity. This is a purist, two-seat, rear-wheel-drive roadster, and anything that’s not central to the driving experience simply isn’t there. In a world where cars are becoming ever more complex, the minimalist Mazda MX-5 (it weights barely more than a tonne) is a refreshing contrast – and enthusiast drivers adore it because of this. Mazda got the formula right straight out the box and has simply worked on perfecting it in the decades that followed.

Mazda doesn’t even fit a power roof to the MX-5. The lightweight soft-top instead drops down manually, most often by the driver while sat behind the wheel – and this near-effortless action can be carried out faster than even the world’s speediest electric folding roof.

Two engines are available, both normally-aspirated petrol motors. There’s not a turbo in sight, with Mazda requiring drivers to shift gears and use revs rather than relying on the boost of a turbocharger. The smaller engine is a 1.5-litre, but our favourite is the 2.0-litre, which these days revs sky-high and produces more power than ever.

You can also buy a Mazda MX-5 with an automatic gearbox, but unless you have to, you shouldn’t. The six-speed manual ’box is utter perfection, with a brilliant action and a feeling of race-bred precision that makes it one of the best manual gearboxes you’ll ever experience.

Inside, it’s cosy, as all good roadsters should be. The fundamentals are spot on: the driving position is low, with legs stretched out far ahead and the steering wheel perfectly positioned. The interior is simple and neat, while  the instruments are easy to read. And, aside from a well-positioned colour infotainment system, that’s it. No distractions, nothing unnecessary.

Entertainment comes from the drive. And what a drive it is. The Mazda MX-5 is light on its feet, packed with feel, and terrifically well balanced. It’s a car that handles like cars used to, flooding you with feedback and making even slow-speed pootles a pleasure. It can’t fail to put a smile on your face – particularly as it blends this tenacity through the corners with a surprisingly supple and pliant ride quality.

Of course, being a Mazda means it runs like clockwork. You feel you can thrash it all day long and it will keep coming back for more. This is another part of the MX-5’s better-than-the-real-thing allure: British sports cars of the 1960s were anything but dependable.

Value is the icing on the cake. A new Mazda MX-5 costs from less than £29,000, and the brilliant range-topping 2.0-litre is just a shade over £33,500. It’s well equipped for the money, too. For enthusiasts, there’s little not to like about the Mazda MX-5 – one of the most honed and perfectly developed cars on sale.

For most buyers, the sweet spot is the Mazda MX-5 2.0 Homura.

Even the 1.5-litre MX-5 is worth a serious look because the car is so light that 132PS still feels usefully lively, and it returns the best official economy in the range at up to 46.3mpg. But if you are buying an MX-5 for the full experience, the 2.0-litre remains the one to have. Mazda’s current UK figures show 184PS for the larger engine, and it still gives the car the eager, rev-hungry character that suits it so well.

Homura is also the trim that best captures what the MX-5 is about. It brings the more focused chassis hardware and the richer specification that make the most of the 2.0-litre’s extra bite, without tipping the MX-5 into something overblown or over-equipped. It is the enthusiast’s choice for good reason.

The Mazda MX-5 Roadster starts at £28,585 and rises to £37,015 in the current UK range. That covers the full soft-top line-up from the 1.5 Prime-Line to the 2.0 Homura.

That means the MX-5 is no longer the sub-£26,000 bargain it once was, and the upper-end cars are now firmly in the territory where some buyers may start glancing at more prestigious machinery. Even so, in context, it still looks like strong value. There are very few cars at this sort of money that offer such a pure, focused and satisfying driving experience.

Back-to-basics sports cars are thin on the ground. Until recently, the Fiat 124 Spider was the MX-5’s closest spiritual rival, while the Audi TT Roadster leaned more heavily into style than driving feel. Above that, cars such as the Porsche 718 Boxster and BMW Z4 are much more expensive.

In reality, many buyers cross-shop the MX-5 with hot hatches rather than roadsters. Cars such as a Polo GTI or a used Fiesta ST make more practical sense, but they do not deliver the same open-top charm or the same purity of feel. That is why the MX-5 still sits in such a class of one.

Practicality is, inevitably, not an MX-5 strength. This is a compact two-seat sports car, and those dinky dimensions are a large part of its appeal. The downside is that it can only ever work as a niche buy or, for many owners, a second car.

The driving position itself is excellent, though. There is more room than you might expect once you are settled in, especially because the seat slides a long way back and later cars gained reach adjustment for the steering wheel. Taller drivers can get comfortable more easily than the MX-5’s size might suggest, although getting in and out is still not especially graceful.

Storage around the cabin is modest, with narrow door pockets and only a few small cubbies. The real limitation is the boot. At just 130 litres, it is tiny even by sports-car standards and less than half the capacity of a Ford Fiesta. A couple of soft bags or a small shopping run is realistic. Much more than that is not.

That said, nobody buys an MX-5 expecting family-hatch practicality. Accept the limitations and it is easier to see them as part of the car’s single-mindedness rather than a deal-breaker.

The Mazda MX-5 measures 3,915mm long and 1,735mm wide. Its current UK specification also lists a height of around 1,235mm for the soft-top Roadster.

Those compact dimensions are central to the way the MX-5 feels. It is small, light and easy to place on the road in a way that makes many modern performance cars feel oversized.

Most MX-5s come with Mazda’s central infotainment screen, and the current car uses the latest 8.8-inch centre display rather than the older 7.0-inch setup fitted to many earlier cars. The system is controlled by Mazda’s familiar rotary controller, and it remains one of the more intuitive setups to use on the move.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, and Mazda’s own navigation is also available. The basic sound system is perfectly acceptable, but the Bose system is the one worth having if you spend much time with the roof down, because it has enough punch and clarity to overcome wind noise far better.

Mazda’s quality standards remain one of the MX-5’s underrated strengths. The paintwork, the panel fit and the solidity of the interior all feel better than you might expect from a relatively affordable sports car.

It is true that the materials are more mainstream than premium, and you will not mistake the MX-5 for a Porsche 718 Boxster inside. But the overall impression is still very good, because everything feels tightly assembled and built to last. For a car in this price bracket, that matters a lot.

The little 1.5-litre engine is a fun thing and will be quite fast enough for many – particularly if they use the exceptional six-speed gearbox to keep the revs high. For something that can be so fuel-efficient, it’s a real surprise to find the smallest-engined MX-5 is so nice to drive. Owners shouldn’t feel short-changed.

Nonetheless, the MX-5 2.0-litre is a class apart, with an incredible rasp at higher revs and the ability to spin right round to 7,500rpm with the most wonderful blare. It’s brilliant, and with 0-62mph in just 6.5 seconds, more than fast enough for British roads. Earlier models with 160PS were good, but the enhanced 2019 184PS version with this higher redline is a modern classic.

Even changing gear is rewarding. The six-speed manual transmission is uncommonly feel-good, with a short, snappy action that snicks between gears with watch-like precision. Test it, and it’s soon clear why enthusiasts still clamour for an old-fashioned manual gearbox. You’ll be changing up and down just for the sake of it. 

Mazda does offer an automatic alternative, but unless you absolutely must have an auto, we’d steer clear of it. Compared to the manual, it’s simply not in the same league.

Here’s the bit you’ve been waiting for: driving the Mazda MX-5. It’s the reason this car exists – pure driving pleasure through peerless handling and exceptional involvement.

It’s joyous, with the rear-wheel-drive chassis serving up incredible balance, magnificent feel and tremendous interaction. Even if you’ve never experienced a car that drives through the rear wheels, there’s little to fear here, because it all feels so natural and intuitive.

The brilliant steering serves up lots of feedback and tactility. The steering wheel itself is also placed at a very natural angle, and it really does seem like even your smallest inputs generate an immediate reaction at the wheels. Our favourites are the sportier versions, which have BBS alloy wheels, Bilstein dampers and a front strut brace. They are even more focused and pure.

Because the Mazda MX-5 is so light, it can get away without having over-firm suspension. This means the ride quality is surprisingly good – there’s a fair chance you’ll find it more supple and compliant than a similarly priced hot hatch. Sport models are stiffer, but they’re still not overly harsh, and offer very good high-speed stability. Naturally, all MX-5s come with a comprehensive stability control system that’s never intrusive.

Look out for 2.0-litre models with the limited-slip differential. These put down their power with even more confidence, giving the bite of a race car through the bends. We promise you this will be among the most fun and engaging cars you have ever driven: that’s the magic of a Mazda MX-5.

The MX-5 was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2015 and received a four-star rating. It scored 84% for adult occupant protection, 80% for child safety, 93% for pedestrian safety and 64% for safety assist.

Standard safety kit includes front and side airbags, while some versions also add blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning and driver attention alert. That is a decent spread for a small sports car, even if the rating itself is no longer especially fresh by 2026 standards.

For a sports car, the MX-5’s official economy is impressively modest. The 1.5-litre returns up to 46.3mpg, while the 2.0-litre manual still manages 40.9mpg in current UK figures. That means the MX-5 is far from the fuel-hungry indulgence some buyers may expect. The 45-litre tank also gives it a useful touring range for such a compact roadster. Running costs should therefore be manageable provided you accept the slightly higher insurance that usually comes with sports-car ownership. In simple terms, the MX-5 is one of the easiest sports cars to justify if you want something engaging without silly fuel bills.

New Mazda MX-5s registered from 1 September 2025 come with a six-year/100,000-mile manufacturer warranty, a big improvement over the previous three-year/60,000-mile cover. That gives the MX-5 one of the stronger warranty packages in the sports-car market and adds useful reassurance for buyers planning to keep one long term.

Servicing is due every 12 months or 12,500 miles, whichever comes first. The MX-5 also has a strong reputation for reliability, and its relatively simple mechanical layout helps keep the ownership experience straightforward. As ever, regular servicing and a complete maintenance record are still worth prioritising, particularly if you are looking at a car that has been used enthusiastically.

Insurance groups still sit in sports-car territory, but they are not outrageous. The 1.5-litre is in group 24, while the more powerful 2.0-litre climbs to group 30. That is higher than a typical warm hatch, but still relatively reasonable when you compare it with more exotic roadsters.

For a current new MX-5, the standard annual VED rate is £200 after the first year. None of the current soft-top MX-5 range appears to cross the expensive-car threshold, so there is no Expensive Car Supplement to add on top.