It can’t get here soon enough. The latest edition of everyone’s favourite small roadster, the MX-5, is due to arrive as a 2016 model in a flurry of grins and open-topped motoring. Mazda’s really teasing out the launch of this car, but we’d expect to see the first North American spec cars testing in May, and hitting the showrooms soon afterwards.
Today would actually be a perfect day to putter around New York in one of these cars, as there’s a brief break in the weather – a little sunshine streaming past the Empire State. But where the MX-5 is really happiest is the country backroad or racetrack, and for both of those exploits, you could hardly do better than the Club edition.
Launching in the US (Canadian-spec cars will be similar, with slightly different packaging), the Club MX-5 comes with 17-inch alloys, uprated Bilstein shocks, and if you buy a manual version there’s additional body bracing too. On top of that, you can also spec a version with lightweight BBS alloys and upgraded Brembo brakes.
Power for the MX-5 is unchanged in these versions, at ~155hp from a 2.0L four-cylinder engine. But then, power was never the main focus of the Miata – better handling through these upgrades will help you carry the speed down your favourite road, or surprise a few more powerful cars at the track.
