This week I’ve been driving a new Mazda MX5. What a revelation!

After too many recent drives of SUVs with minimal driving pleasure possible, the MX5 shows there are some car designers and manufacturers out there who understand the simple joys of driving – and of producing a driver’s car without a crazy price tag. The MX5 range starts at $46,400.

The latest MX5 retains the simplicity of analogue driving pleasure, but has adopted all the necessary electronic gimmickry needed to still score enough ANCAP testing points. Yes, there’s a rear view camera, cross traffic alert, (switchable) lane assist, blindspot warning etc, etc, but the joy of perfectly weighted steering which gives such accurate response, a beautiful to use gearchange, the sweetest handling add up to an most unusual pleasure.

Like all MX5s, the engine power isn’t crazy, but is just right for getting the balance of handling spot-on. It’s smooth and torquey for a pretty normal kind of engine – and the 6 gears have beautifully selected ratios. There’s no scuttle-shake and the ride is impressively supple whilst remaining resolutely sporty. It handles speed bumps better than all the recent SUVs I’ve tested.

The inside fits like a comfy glove – the heated seats and powerful heater let you enjoy a cold winter’s day with the roof down. The splash of body colour on the door tops is very nice – even in a car with a colour best described as Metallic Dirt.

The styling isn’t their best effort, the design of the wheels fitted to the review car do it no favours, but these are easy to overlook when the package is so compellingly good.

The manual roof mechanism is the easiest I’ve ever used. The MX5 is completely easy to drive and as economical as a small hatchback.

Congratulations and Thank You to the folks at Mazda for producing such a car.

Copyright Paul Blank