Upgraded Mazda MX-5 hits the UK

Thu, 12 Feb 2009

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Back in December we brought you news of the updates to the Japanese MX-5 – The Mazda Roadster – and as expected they’ve now filtered through for UK Cars, with the first cars appearing in showrooms in April.

The MX-5 has, quite rightly, dominated the little, open sports car market for ever. It does so much so very right, and so little wrong, it is an example of how to dominate a niche.

Upadated Mazda MX-5 due in UK showrooms in April

No getting big and flash. No factoring out the fun with bigger and bigger models. No trying to make it all things to all men. Just a gradual refinement of a beautifully conceived car.

With over 800,000 Mazda MX-5s sold worldwide, Mazda want to keep the MX-5 fresh and appealing, and this update hits all the right notes. It gets a new nose and some other body tweaks, a flappy-paddle option (which I would avoid), and the usual tweaks and upgrades all round. But nothing too dramatic. Just a clever update.

Two choices of car – the tin-top and the rag-top – offer two quite different cars. The tin-top has the quickest folding roof there is (apparently) at just 12 seconds, and with a price range starting around £16.5k, and going up in to the £20k region, the Mazda MX-5 still offers a lot of fun for not a lot of money.

Petrol 1.8-litre, 126ps

Petrol 2.0-litre, 160ps

* Bilstein dampers deleted from specification

STANDARD EQUIPMENT

Petrol 2.0-litre, 160ps

* Bilstein dampers deleted from specification

By Cars UK