Sexy topless Mazda MX-5 RF a timeless crowd pleaser

Few designs in the automotive world has the power to evoke the inner driver in you like a topless sports car. Whether you are cruising down the French Riviera, making your way on the famous Route 66 or winding over a mountain pass, this is the car you want to do it.

With the wind blowing through your hair, smile on your face and a song in your heart. The latter is rather important as even the best sound systems tend to battle high-speed air flow around an open-top.

Though my recent euphoria experienced in a Mazda MX-5 RF matched this exact free-spirited feeling, the surroundings of my carefree Sunday afternoon cruise was less glamorous. Hekpoort to be precise, a little farming area close to Hartbeespoort Dam. But it turned out to be the perfect location to provide a case in point.

What the area lacked in natural beauty, it made up for in sheer enthusiasm from bystanders. The excitement on their faces at the sight and sound of this iconic little number just strengthens my theory. Traffic ahead and behind me consisted of a mix of big and pricey SUVs, generously chromed double cab bakkie and all sorts of other shapes and sizes. But not one of my fellow road-users drew as much attention – if they did any whatsoever in fact – from onlookers as my little Mazda did.

These innocent enthusiasts couldn’t be less bothered with the more prestigious nameplates which surrounded me, of which quite a few carried seven-figure price tags. All they saw was a desirable little roadster clad in Crystal White Pearl gracing the countryside with its free-flowing presence. And that is exactly what Mazda set out to do in the 1980s when they created an affordable two-seater sports car.

In an attempt to sort of resurrect classic British sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s, the Japanese car maker followed a design mantra called Jinba ittai, which means “rider and horse as one body”. After debuting in 1989 with its distinctive retractive headlamps, the MX-5 went on to become the world’s best-selling convertible sports car, managing to break the one-million-mark in 2016.

Now in its fourth generation, the current MX-5 is available locally solely in Retractable Fastback (RF). It features a rigid roof as opposed to the soft top the MX-5 has been accustomed with for most of its four-decade lifespan, which results in a more coupe-like appearance.

The MX-5 is powered by a normally aspirated SkyActiv-G 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine which produces 118 kW of power at 6 000 rpm and 200 Nm of torque at 4 600 rpm. This is sent to the rear wheels via the only gripe I had with the car, a six-speed automatic gearbox. It’s not that the gearbox does anything you won’t expect, but you just can’t help to think what a manual gearbox would have been.

The gearlever does offer the option of manual shifting as does the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, and the Sport drive option does make the gear ratios more gamely, but it just doesn’t complete the overall picture as a clutch would have done. Especially with the instrument cluster featuring a retro-style rev counter as centrepiece which pleads to be kept at a higher number than the automatic would probably allow it to be operated at.

Taken into account that the car is not a volume seller, the assumption must be that if Mazda has to choose one model for the local market, an automatic box is probably the wiser call as more MX-5s will still commute through city traffic daily than will be used purely as a fun weekend car.

The MX-5 is no rocket, as the claimed 0 to 100 km/h time of 8.4 sec and top speed of 194 km/h would suggest, but it never sets out to be, as you can’t have all your bases covered in an affordable two-door sports car. What it does do, is provide a magnificent high-revving growl and superb balanced handling to make the wind in your hair feel even sweeter. We couldn’t quite manage to match the claimed fuel consumption of 6.7L/100 km, but still though a return of 9.7L/100 km over 384 km was still good for the thrill it provided with some enthusiastic driving.

Should your enthusiasm get the better of you, the MX-5, unlike those British sports cars it was inspired by, has a very healthy set of safety systems including lane departure warning, blind spot monitor, four airbags, traction control and stability control.

The cabin is filled with creature comforts which include heated leather seats, leather steering wheel and gear lever, infotainment system which includes Bluetooth connectivity and USB port, navigation, Bose sound system, cruise control, and rear park distance control. The roof is operated through a button underneath the infotainment system and an amateur stopwatch exercise had it opening and closing in the same time – just under 15 seconds. This can be done at speeds up to 10 km/h.

Storage space is limited in the doors and front of the centre console, but a storage compartment extending into the back and cup holders in front of it came in very handy. There is no denying that the 127-litre boot is tiny, but it does manage so swallow a few big bags of groceries on the way home.

At R551 700 there are more practical cars for you to commute in every day, but none of them will rekindle your love for driving over a weekend like the MX-5 will. That is the time when you can get into the saddle and go prancing with your horse … as one.

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