Mazda MX-5: The Joy of Driving

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Mazda MX-5: The Joy of Driving - Video

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Jul 16, 2018

No entry-level sports car has been as influential as the Mazda MX-5

Ever since it was introduced in 1989, the Mazda MX-5 has been one of the most popular models in the auto industry. The Japanese roadster is turning 30 years old, and to this day, very few models can compete with it as far as having one of the best drives in the business at its price tag.

The latest version of the MX-5 is a real peach. It may not come in the orange and green colors of the one that you can see in the video, but it looks and performs exactly like it. The latest version of the sports car — that’s the 2019 model — was introduced less than a month ago, and as expected for a car like the MX-5 Miata, it comes with plenty of aesthetic and performance improvements. The latter is manifested in the roadster’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which produces 181 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque, numbers that represent an increase of 26 horsepower and three pound-feet of torque. Mazda accomplished that power bump by introducing lighter pistons and connecting rods to the four-banger. That’s on top of engineers tweaking the existing intake ports and fuel injectors, as well as installing a louder exhaust system that’s going to help make those joy rides that much more fun.

Outside of the mechanical upgrades to the engine, the 2019 MX-5 also received technical improvements all around, presumably done so that the current MX-5 gets to show off its capabilities before the next-generation version arrives. The MX-5’s single plate flywheel, for example, has been replaced by a dual-mass flywheel that should improve the roadster’s responsiveness. Throw in the modifications to the drive ratio, and you’re looking at a roadster that is doing its part in uplifting the legacy of its nameplate.

There aren’t that many cars in the business today that can offer the kind of bang for the buck like the Mazda MX-5. The fact that the model has been providing customers that value for the past 30 years is a testament to the model’s staying power in an industry that has unforgivingly chewed and spit out other models of its kind. And yet, as often as that has happened, the Mazda MX-5 has continued to thrive. It’s no wonder, then, that when it comes to affordable sports cars, there’s the MX-5, and then there’s everybody else.

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