 2012 Mazda MX-5 Special Version. Click image to enlarge |
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DBDR: 2012 Mazda MX-5 SV
Manufacturer’s web site |
Review and photos by Chris Chase
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2012 Mazda MX-5
You don’t have to be a car enthusiast to enjoy driving. But it’s easy to forget how much fun it can be when it becomes part of a day-to-day routine of traffic jams and ruler-straight city streets, instead of something you do—even occasionally—just because you want to. If you need a reminder of the pure joy of driving, I’d argue that you will find none better in a new car than the Mazda MX-5.
This is the car that began in 1989 as the MX-5 Miata, and has evolved through two subsequent generations to become a more refined, more powerful machine. Even still, it stands as a stark contrast to most vehicles available today in offering a visceral, minimalist driving experience that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
  2012 Mazda MX-5 Special Version. Click image to enlarge |
The MX-5 reminds me of those “minimalist” running “shoes,” footwear so basic it barely deserves to be classified so. These things put less between your feet and the ground so you can better feel the surface you’re running on. Mazda has maintained a similar philosophy through three generations of MX-5: there’s not much extra here beyond what’s absolutely needed to make a car, a car.
As is Mazda’s way, the MX-5 is offered in three trims, starting with GX and moving up through a GS model to the top-end GT. And the differences between the three are all in trim. All three use a 2.0L four-cylinder engine with a choice of manual (a five-speed in the GX; six speeds in the GS and GT) or six-speed automatic transmissions. The GX’s convertible top is fabric, while the GS and GT get an electric folding hard roof that, amazingly, doesn’t take up any more space when stowed than the soft roof.
News for 2012 includes the addition of standard stability control across the line, and the GS’s standard folding hardtop. More significant is the addition of a fourth trim, dubbed SV, short for Special Version, which is perhaps the least imaginative trim designation in history. This model takes a GX and adds the power hardtop, 17-inch gunmetal wheels, heated leather seats, leather-trimmed steering wheel, shifter, and handbrake, automatic climate control, six-speed manual transmission, and covers it in SV-exclusive Velocity Red (body) and Brilliant Black (roof) paint. The 180 examples of this car go (or have gone) for $33,845 ($34,845 with automatic transmission)—$4,850 more than the GX, and about $2,000 less than the mid-range GS.
Truth be told, I’m getting “old” and I tend to get less enjoyment out of overtly sporty cars than I used to. Tight cabins and hard suspensions don’t do for me as much as they did 10 years ago, and so I was both looking forward to and dreading what this little car would be like to live with for a week of daily driving.
  2012 Mazda MX-5 Special Version. Click image to enlarge |
I hadn’t driven an MX-5 in about 10 years, since the days when my friend’s dad owned a couple of first-generation Miatas and routinely tossed me the keys to go for a spin. This little car has grown up, but not much. The peaky motor still demands high revs to make the car feel quick, so it spins at nearly 3,000 rpm in sixth gear at 100 km/h, and you don’t need the tachometer to tell you that. Engine and road noise are ever-present, especially when the top is up and there’s no wind to drown them out.
My first pleasant susprise was the compliant ride. Whether it’s because of the body’s reduced structural strength or the desires of Mazda’s perceived target buyer, the MX-5’s suspension is far from punishing. Yet, this tiny roadster still corners with amazing agility and is an absolute blast to pilot through bends in the road. This is how I wish most performance cars were set up, because not everyone who likes to drive enthusiastically some of the time wants a car with a ride that beats them up all of the time.
Its 167 horsepower is not a lot in a modern sports car—the relatively pedestrian Mazda3 can be had with that much — but that’s part of what makes the MX-5 fun. I’d rather beat the snot out of this car on a daily basis than almost any other sports car, because in this one, you’re still travelling at (almost) legal speeds after blasting through the six-speed manual’s first four ratios. The engine note is less melodic than in many cars, but the sound suits the minimalist aesthetic this car is so happy to make you a part of.
