Mazda MX-5 GT 2015 review

It's here. At last. And it's great. After more than a year of teasing build-up and two overseas preview drives, we now know the new Mazda MX-5 is as good as we had hoped.

The pricing is sharp too, as Mazda Australia has announced the 2.0-litre version will cost from $37,990 — the starting sticker is $31,990 for the 1.5-litre. There are eight variants in all, covering Roadster and Roadster GT, 1.5 and 2.0 propulsion and six-speed transmissions, manual and automatic alike.

Driven this week in winter sunshine in Queensland, over rugged roads behind the Sunshine Coast, the MX-5 is a pearler.

Explore the 2015 Mazda MX-5 range

• Mazda MX-5 manual 2015 review
• Mazda MX-5 GT 2015 review
• Mazda MX-5 base model 2015 review
• Mazda MX-5 2015 1.5 litre review
• Mazda MX-5 2015 review

It's a car that's as light and sharp as the '89 original

It fits like a glove, responds to my commands and even copes handily with local lumps and bumps, the likes of which we never found on the previews.

It's a car that's as light and sharp as the '89 original, the manual gearbox click-clicking through its six ratios. The roof is an easy one-handed job to operate.

I'm in only the 1.5-litre car — the 2.0s are still several months away and this raises some questions and doubts. I'm a big fan of the smaller motor because it has enough go for almost everything and makes you really drive the car instead of playing lazy.

However, its modest 96kW of power was challenged on a couple of long uphill climbs on the preview drive. Many intending buyers will want the 118kW/200Nm of the 2.0 for city hills and stoplight shuffling.

Now's the time to look at the target for the MX-5 and how closely it gets to the bullseye.

"Our great challenge for this fourth generation was to embody this feeling of pleasure and put that into the car of today," says MX-5 program boss Nobuhiro Yamamoto.

"We spent a great deal of effort perfecting the sensations through which people enjoy cars. As a result, the advancements with the new MX-5 have been taken to the level of innovation. We came up with this concept, ‘Joy of the moment, joy of life'. You only live once."

He talks enthusiastically about a couple of key points, from mounting the engine 15mm rearward and 50:50 weight distribution to the effort that went into electric power steering and double-wishbone front suspension.

It's also good to know there is Bluetooth with speakers in the headrest of the driver's seat, but not so good to find you must pay extra for the reversing camera and parking radar that so many people now expect and demand.

Just like Toshihiko Hirai, who created the original MX-5, Yamamoto is a fanatic who knows what it means to re-imagine the MX-5. "I felt a great sense of responsibility," he says.

On the road 

The weather is threatening so the top stays up until the sunshine breaks through after the first few kilometres. The roof fits securely, noise levels are relatively low and then there is the delight of a folding mechanism that reminds me of the '89 car in its simplicity and ease of use.

Now it's time for a few runs to the 7500rpm red-line to test the gearshifts and feel the workings of the suspension. The car is very compliant and that's a surprise, because too many sports cars are too firm for their own good and that of the occupants.

It's a gem that's polished with every passing kilometre.

There is instant response in every area and it's easy to flow over crests without a precautionary brake because I know the car is going to turn and go in any situation. It's a gem that's polished with every passing kilometre.

But there is also the four-star safety rating, in a world of five-star expectations, and the extra-cost options. I wonder how buyers will react.

Then I switch from a fully equipped Roadster GT — with a big display screen, body-colour tops on the door caps and nicer trim — into the base Roadster.

Nothing disappoints. I've become accustomed to big infotainment displays but the smaller job in the Roadster just looks honest to me.

And the auto?

The new MX-5 auto is more than just the soft option for people who cannot, or will not, use a clutch.

It comes with paddle-shifters as well as sport and manual-shift model — in the latter, the changes are set the right way, pushing forward on the lever for a lower gear and pulling back to go higher.

The six-speed is smooth and works well with the Skyactiv 1.5-litre engine, blipping a single downshift for a call on the throttle and two if you dip deeper. It slurs up through the changes but is not overeager about getting to sixth to save fuel.

I like that it has been tuned to the character of the car, but I do not like that it will not hold a gear for eager driving and insists on upshifting — despite my demands — as it hits the red-line.