Mazda MX-5 Roadster has no peers for fun

With technology in the modern car reaching quantum levels in the race to make everything work through gadgetry, sometimes the connection between driver and car can be lost.

Not so for the latest version of one of the greatest driving cars of the decades, the Mazda MX-5 Roadster. Thankfully Mazda believe that cars are there to be driven and feedback to the driver is a vital cog in their philosophy.

In Barcelona this week the car that drives and corners like Lionel Messi plays football proved to every bit as engaging as the previous three models.

This year’s most anticipated sports car is coming to Ireland this month with a very attractive price tag of €27,995. What makes it the car that everyone loves is its power to weight ratio, rear-wheel drive and perfect 50:50 weight distribution.

Now Mazda has added more comfort and sensible levels of technology which makes it a pure roadster and at that price there is nothing else in the market to challenge the MX-5.

With a choice of two specification grades, the new Mazda MX-5 reaffirms Mazda’s dominance of the sports car sector. Maintaining the driver-focused ethos that has made the Mazda MX-5 the best-selling two-seater sports car of all time, the latest car was conceived and developed under the concept of “innovate in order to preserve”.

This engineering philosophy has allowed Mazda to maintain the agility, fun and engagement that has always defined the MX-5 while at the same time meeting ever-increasing safety and efficiency requirements, alongside improved refinement.

This is the lightest MX-5 since the iconic original. It is also shorter, lower and wider than the outgoing car, with the smallest overhangs and lowest centre of gravity yet. These perfect proportions combined with Mazda’s KODO: Soul of Motion design philosophy ensure that the styling reflects its focus on driving pleasure in an unmistakably contemporary way.

At the launch in Spain, Managing Director at Mazda Ireland, Tony Howarth, said: “Mazda Ireland are launching five new cars in 2015 but MX-5 is probably the most exciting for us as it embodies everything that Mazda stands for – a true drivers car connecting the driver and car through the Jinba Ittai concept meaning ‘oneness between horse and rider’.

“This fourth generation Mazda MX-5 returns to the roots of the original car launched in 1989 being smaller and lighter and importantly offering fun to drive for the masses.”

Featuring Mazda’s award-winning SKYACTIV technology, the all-new MX-5’s ultra-efficient lightweight 1.5-litre petrol engine delivers new levels of performance and economy.

Across the range the all-new Mazda MX-5 features alloy wheels, LED headlights, a leather steering wheel, plus a lightweight and sleek fabric hood. Mazda MX-5 Roadster GT models are distinguished by 16-inch Gunmetal alloy wheels and piano black wing mirrors and feature rain sensing wipers, rear parking sensors, smart keyless entry, Premium Bose Surround-Sound and heated leather seats.

The sun came out to greet us in Barcelona so, there was only one thing to do; whip off the roof, don our baseball caps and head into the mountains for one of the most pleasurable days driving that I have had in a long time. With this new MX-5, it is fair to say that the best has just gotten better.