Does the Mazda MX-5 gain more than it loses when fitted with a folding metal roof and automatic transmission in place of the traditional soft-top and manual gearbox? David Thomson tests the latest version of this iconic Japanese sports car to find out.
On sale since 2006, and available with a power-operated folding metal roof since late 2007, the third-generation Mazda MX-5 has been refreshed for 2009 and beyond by a recent update. The revisions include modest tweaks to both the engine and suspension along with cosmetic work about the nose, flanks and tail.
MX-5 purists can, and will, argue all day about the merits of the cosmetic part of this year's upgrade, and particularly that new nose, which endows the car with Mazda's current gaping-mouth family look. Such folk might also take issue as a matter of principle with an MX-5 with a folding metal roof, and - even more so - with an automatic gearbox.
I certainly sympathise with those who judge the nose-job a short-sighted departure from the clean look that has been a feature of the MX-5 since the original was launched back in 1989. However, Mazda has to my mind had little choice but to offer an automatic in the MX-5 line, and has taken a realistic long-term view by introducing the hard-top coupe roadster into the range.
Priced at $53,990, the coupe roadster is $4000 more than the standard soft-top MX-5 roadster. Unlike the soft-top - which is manual-only in New Zealand - it can also be specified, as tested, with a six-speed automatic as an alternative to the usual six-speed manual gearbox.
The coupe's power-operated roof is especially ingenious, stowing away in just 12 seconds, without encroaching on the MX-5's standard 150-litre boot capacity. That capability came in handy on a test programme dominated by changeable weather, and the hard top provided an extra sense of security when leaving the car parked and unattended in town at night.
Roof up, the coupe is quieter overall on the open road than the soft-top, but with wind-roar much reduced, coarse chip road rumble is much more obvious. The coupe is more snug too, and while headroom suffers marginally, a larger rear screen gives the coupe cabin an airier feel as well as improving visibility.
Unless the weather is wet, though, top down is easily the most pleasant way to proceed in the coupe. Thanks to the car's excellent heating system, that is as true on cold days as on warm ones.
This year's facelift has introduced a height-adjustable driver's seat to the MX-5 coupe, adding to a feature list that includes a Bose audio system with MP3 connectivity, cruise control, four airbags, and full electronic stability programming.
Like the soft-top, the coupe MX-5 is powered by a decently rather than obscenely powerful 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that produces its peak outputs of 118kW and 188Nm quite high in the rev range. Featuring paddle-shift controls on the steering column, the test car's six-speed automatic gearbox had sufficient ratios to keep the engine revving in the sweet zone, though the engine is programmed to reach the rev-limiter500rpm lower than with the manual.
Even when the paddle-shifts are used, though, the automatic does not shift with quite the sharpness and smoothness of the manual. While it may only be fractionally slower than the manual coupe, it does not accelerate at quite the rate of the soft-top due to the extra 37kg of the folding roof, its power-operated stowage system, and the barely noticeable structural changes needed to accommodate it.
That extra weight would almost certainly see the coupe play second fiddle to the soft-top in the handling stakes too, though Mazda has managed such a fine job with the car's dynamics that timed runs on a test track would be required to establish the extent of the difference. In all other circumstances, the nimbleness and accuracy of the coupe's responses are such that it does not feel in the least like the poor cousin to its sparkling soft-top stablemate.
The feature I missed most when pushing the test car down favourite back roads was the tactile link to the drivetrain that is provided by the manual gearbox: measured against the satisfying snick-snick of the manual, the simple pushing of buttons to achieve gear changes on the automatic feels rather soulless for a car of the MX-5's character.
For drivers lucky to live in a part of the world where there is no significant urban motoring congestion, that would seem enough to make the manual version the MX-5 of choice.
Had this test been conducted during a spell of sunny, stable late-summer weather, this verdict might also have come down on the side of the soft-top over the coupe. However, four days of rain in five during my time with the car was more than sufficient to swing the verdict the coupe's way, as the power-operated roof made it easier to exploit the few open-top motoring opportunities that arose.
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