Short Take Road Test
That which was formerly called Miata and is now officially renamed the Mazda MX-5 joins the growing list of mid-price convertibles (the Pontiac G6, the VW Eos) offering a power folding hardtop. Who ever thought Mazda's bare-essential roadster would get so...embellished?
Apparently, the answer is Mazda, which is answering the call of American buyers to make its cutie-pie a little less little, a bit more powerful, and come with more nonessential luxuries.
The MX-5's four-season tintop is an optional upgrade to the standard forearm-powered soft roof. It's offered on every trim level except the stripper $21,030 SV. On the $22,030 MX-5 Sport the top is $2915; on the glitzier $23,835 Touring and $25,095 Grand Touring it adds $1860.
With the car stopped and in neutral, the driver releases a single latch and the robo-roof cracks in two and tumbles into the cavity behind the buckets, in 12 seconds. Raised, the body-color bubble looks stubbier than the softtop but is still attractive. Amazingly, it snuggles in its cubby without gobbling any of the trunk's five cubic feet of space. Interior noise is dimmed compared with the softtop's, but tire roar can still be tiring on long drives.
This navy-blue Grand Touring hardtopper was $29,635, with options including the sport suspension and limited-slip differential. At 2560 pounds, it was 135 pounds heavier than our last MX-5 softtop and did the 60-mph dash 0.3 second slower (7.0 seconds). The 157-foot braking distance was identical. So was the feel in corners: planted, agile, and with quick steering ready for the next turn.
With such few trade-offs for the convenience of the hardtop, Mazda can embellish all it likes.
