Mazda MX-5 RF | Test Drive | Auto Class Magazine

Mazda MX-5 RF | Test Drive

20 February 2023 Redazione News, Stories, Tested

They say the perfect car doesn’t exist. Mazda has been thinking differently for over 30 years and every occasion is a good one for an exciting trip to the Alps, especially if it’s the middle of winter and you have a rear-wheel drive with a manual gearbox and a great desire to eat every bend.

Words Matteo Lavazza / Photos Gian Romero

MAZDA MX-5 RF

Very promising. Destination 2,000 meters, potentially snow-covered road, rear-wheel drive and one of the best two-seater ever conceived by mankind. Again, very promising. With a business card with weight and size reduced to the bone, a driver’s seat close to the ground and moreover pushed well back on the rear axle, which is also the one that provides traction to the manual transmission as it used to be in the golden era of motoring, I think that the new year is about to start in the best possible way. 2023 is here now and with a restyling knocking at the door, the MX-5 providentially continues to be the point of reference for driving enthusiasts, especially after Lotus has definitively abandoned the concept expressed by its mastermind and carried forward for generations with the Elise and Exige, now retired.

If you are looking for a car that satisfies the sight and all the other senses, the direction to take has not changed and always points the finger towards the little Mazda, regardless of whether it is with the immortal canvas soft top, or with the Rectractable Fastback (RF) mechanism which transforms it from a comfortable closed coupe to a Targa-type convertible, via electronic drive. A few seconds are enough and you are ready to let the wind caress your hair, a situation that today requires a bit of healthy unconsciousness. In fact, the outside temperature fluctuates between 2 degrees above zero and -4 in the shaded stretches covered by the gigantic rocky ridge that overlooks a large part of the Val d’Oronaye. But if there is a perfect tool for an escape to the Alps in the middle of winter, this is it.

Winter tires and strictly disabled traction control are all that I will have at my disposal, the only link between a curve that can be tackled in two ways: in full relax, or remembering that to enhance the purest concept of driving pleasure, all you have to do is accelerate at the wrong moment and widen the rear, thus starting a dance between pedals and steering wheel, at least as long as visibility is such as to allow it. I have to be honest, I was expecting more snow. Much more snow. And instead, with the exception of some now solidified piles on the roadside, the road surface is only damp and the grip becomes precarious where the sun is obstructed by some sporadic clouds or by the silhouette of the mountains overlooking the road below. I have to commit myself and go looking for forgotten paths in direction of St. Anne, towards the road that at a different time of the year would take me to the Parpaillon.

I find a few hairpin bends and less traffic than that on the more crowded Col de Larche. I take this opportunity to better measure with the Goodyear Ultra Grip (M+S) tires with which my Mazda is equipped, quite silent and precise while cruising and able to find grip even when some unexpected patches of ice form. Identifying just one of the aspects that make the driving experience with the MX-5 unique in its kind would be simplistic if not impossible, but the way in which the chassis communicates with the lower back is truly priceless. In the precise instant in which one of the driving wheels seems to be struggling for grip, you can perceive exactly what is about to happen and act promptly according to how you intend to transform the few exciting seconds that follow.

A very wide hairpin really ask to put everything on the line: the engine revs up, the rear wheels skid as if there was no tomorrow and while I set the steering I’m ready to lighten just enough to allow the tires to bite the wet asphalt. Then I throw down more violently than before and the rev counter needle shoots up again, I counter-steer and then with the small nose with almond eyes pointing for the void, it’s a graceful swing from one side to the other that lasts exactly what I require. I put it into second gear, the engine breathes for a moment and then I sprint towards the next corner, taking advantage of the weight imbalance due to downshifting and braking when cornering. Unique enjoyment. I hope to give you an idea because I realize that the new generations raised on bread and turbos may turn up their noses when reading that this car has just 184 horsepower, but trust me if this number is enough to really define – and I really emphasize – the quintessence of driving pleasure.

A pleasure dispensed only if you deserve it, given that the naturally aspirated 2-litre has a linear torque curve and a delivery set high on the revs scale. Don’t expect burning starts at traffic lights, or flames after a sudden shift. The only author for legs tremors is represented by whoever sits in the driver’s seat. The 4-cylinder must be squeezed, the horses begin to be felt at around 3,000/3,500 rpm, finally giving their best when you are close to the red line. The torque of 205 Nm is not there to get you out of trouble with a simple press on the throttle, but remember that never as in this case you’re the one to manage an intimate relationship of maximum complicity with engine and chassis, making sure you are always in the revs range more suited to the needs of the moment.

The task performed by the engine fits perfectly with an extremely reactive chassis, an overall weight that slightly exceeds one ton (1,147 kg, without people on board) and an attitude that is never too nervous to read the road, but which is capable of transmitting the roughness of the terrain, the changes in grip and communicate with the steering in an almost telepathic way. Think of setting a turn one way and everything has already happened without you even realizing it. Magic? No, it’s something that anyone who owns an MX-5 has enjoyed for some time now, not caring if it takes 6.8 seconds to accelereate from 0 to 100 kph, which in a situation like today matters even less, given that it’s becoming practically impossible to go full throttle even in second gear, without the rear tires starting to spin.

I take advantage of some unexpected rays of sun in order to pick up the pace going up and down the Col de Larche, with a completely snow-free road that puts the car’s winter tires to the test. The performance of the MX-5 are never overbearing, the feedback is never intrusive even when you exceed the handling limit and have to fiddle quickly to straighten the nose. By increasing the pace, you discover another aspect of the small Japanese convertible, namely that a few centimeters from the ground, whizzing around at 100 kph takes on a completely different flavor and you forget the need for numbers (those on the performance card, I mean) because what really matters it is measured in emotions and you feel loads of these.

Ok it isn’t perfect, but then again, nothing is. I’m 1.84 m tall and I struggle to find an ideal seating position, having to choose whether to collide with the dashboard with my right knee, or move back but not having the steering at the desired distance, given that the latter is adjustable in height, but not in depth. Apart from the glovebox created between the seats, you don’t know where to place those things that you must always have at hand and the passenger is even more uncomfortable, due to a floor that is not perfectly flat. Getting in and especially getting out, although not as demanding as on the aforementioned Lotus, gave me some back pain, especially in tight parking spaces, where I have little room to open the door. Defects that are immediately forgiven as soon as you are alone with her – the MX-5, it is clear – you press the ignition button and you know that any kind of road you take can become a great way to enhance your passion for the automotive world.

Back there is a surprisingly spacious trunk which, for two people, is enough to house a couple of soft bags for a weekend out. Fuel consumption, thanks to the car’s lightness, is limited and directly proportional to the driving style that will be adopted. And then that look of an eternal child, that look always capable of inspiring sympathy. This is one of the aspects that made the Mazda MX-5 iconic and that when you happen to meet one coming from the opposite direction – let alone when it happens on one of these roads that you reach for pure fun – it elevates that sense of belonging to the circle of those who understand the car as a tool to improve their lives and not as a simple vehicle to move from one place to another.

7,000 rpm: tell me how many sports cars can touch this key today. I’ll tell you, very few, especially if we take into consideration a price that, with the Recaro sports seats, burnished rims and the Premium package of a 2-litre RF like this one, settles at around €40,000. It must also be kept in mind that the MX-5 is not one of those cars that thrives on hype, but a pure sports car that has enhanced the driver’s value without missing a beat over the course of its more than 30-year lifetime. If an object, in this case a car, could ever have a soul and millions of stories to tell, this would be the case.