Mazda

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Mazda MX-5 1.8 – Simple Pleasures

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The MX-5 has been around for about 27 years and it’s still one of the best two-seater sports cars on the market. Not the fastest, not the best equipped but as a package, it ticks plenty of boxes.

Why does it work? Because Mazda keep it simple. Like a modern day MGB, the MX-5 stays faithful to the front engine, rear-wheel drive approach that has suited several generations of sports cars.

What the MX-5 needs now is an updated engine. Both the 1.8 we have on test this week, and the 2.0 tested last year, are barely adequate power units, both in terms of performance and fuel economy.

The engines serve up just enough bhp to make both models entertaining but I can’t help thinking that Mazda must have something better in development that will give the MX-5 an injection of youthfulness that it is starting to need…

 

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Mazda MX-5 – Raising The Roof

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The interior in the picture above is what you really want your MX-5 to look like. It’s the top spec model with sat nav and all the trimmings. Car Couture’s 1.8 SE, on the other hand, is basically basic.

Of course, £18,495 isn’t going to buy you an awful lot of two-seater roadster these days but you can at least look forward to fantastic handling and drivability in the entry-level version.

Perhaps we have come to expect too many features in our cars these days. The SE has been stripped back to the bare minimum and that takes some getting used to!

Perhaps most disappointing of all is the operation of the manual folding roof. Lowering the canvass is easy enough but raising the roof is hard work. It demands a certain amount of precision to to get the securing hook in the right slot. Perhaps most frustrating of all is that you can’t really do it without getting out of the car…

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Mazda MX-5 – Budget Convertible

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A chap in a white MX-5 might raise eyebrows for all the wrong reasons. Comments about hairdressers aside, I always look forward to driving the best Mazda in the range.

Motoring journalists are usually spoilt with top of the range models but the SE is very much at the bottom – at least this test car has air con, phew.

So it was a bit of shock to open the doo and find the SE – which I assume means ‘special edition’ – has very little apart from two seats and a steering wheel.

OK, that’s a bit unfair but this is a car that has been stripped down to the bare minimum to keep the cost low. No leather, plasticy trim and very little to excite the senses.

I’ve just driven the car to a press night at Weston Park in Shropshire – more tomorrow after I have eaten cake…

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Thursday – One of the Pack

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Crazy wind out there today but the Mazda sat perfectly on the motorway in a rather wicked cross wind. If you doubt the build quality of this car, that just reinforces how good it has been screwed together.

We also just about about managed to empty the tank, after 600 miles and some pretty harsh driving. The 6 is a big motor, so that represents impressive fuel consumption figures.

Will we miss the 6? Well, as already explained, it has done everything we have asked of it, minus a DAB radio. It looks every inch a slicker vehicle than the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia and VW Passat, all backed up by the the reliability of a Mazda.

If you are content to drive a car that blends in with the pack and does nothing out of the ordinary, then it certainly offers an alternative to the rest of the big family saloons out there.

For us, we like something that makes a bit more of a statement and makes us smile when we see our car on the driveway in the morning…

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Wednesday – News Flash

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Another Mazda6 driver flashed his lights at me today. Is there some Masonic bond going on with 6 drivers that I don’t know about it? Took me totally by surprise I can tell you!

I get fellow Land Rover drivers waving to me when I’m out in the Series III – that’s people in ‘proper’ Land Rover Defenders, not mums on the school run in a Discovery or Range Rover Sport.

I’d like to think that there was a special bond between Mazda6 drivers, if only because the saloon lacks any real character of its own. I’m going to Google Mazda 6 Owners’ Club in a moment and see what I’m missing.

It’s hard not to like the 6, it does everything it should. If only it had a little bit extra to send the pulse racing, apart from fuel economy and uber reliability…

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Tuesday – Locked Up

hghgh.jpgToday I’ve had what NASA might call a ‘technical hitch’ with the Mazda6. Nothing serious, just an annoying issue with the Bluetooth telephone system which comes down to the computer simply saying, ‘no’.

Having paired up my iPhone to the Mazda information unit, my next incoming phone call failed to register on the 6’s information screen. Well, actually it did but the screen locked and refused to accept the call.

Hmm… So what would you do? Well, I tried pressing a lot of buttons, turned the phone off and eventually admitted defeat, pulling over to investigate. Turning the engine off and on again, the system rebooted itself and the problem disappeared.

I’m not sure it’s a problem that will occur again but as Car Couture tries to give you a warts and all feel for every car we drive, it does merit a mention.

 

 

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Monday – A Henry Not A Dyson

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We took the Mazda6 to the Sculpture Trail in the Forest of Dean today – a sort of outdoor collection of random objects made out of wood and stone. Twenty years after I first walked the route, it was something of a disappointment.

A grey, miserable Gloucestershire day was brightened only by the journey in our inconspicuous Japanese saloon. The 6 may lack a killer punch in terms of styling or gizmos but it does everything expected of it.

If it was a vacuum cleaner it would definitely be a Henry. Nothing flashy but guaranteed to get the job done with the minimum of fuss. BMW would be Dyson, of course.

We still have a full half tank of fuel left after some 375 miles, which considering the way I have been driving the Mazda, is pretty remarkable.

 

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Sunday – No DABbling?

cropped-774052_261113-a-maz.jpgThere’s something missing from my Mazda6. It’s taken me a while to realise but as sport plays a large part in my life, I was rather disappointed the saloon isn’t kitted out with a DAB radio. That means terrible reception for Radio 5 on AM and no Radio 5 Live Extra at all!

I mention this because let’s face it, the 6 is going to be a weapon of choice for many a company car driver. Surely a DAB radio would be a ‘must have’ for that type of buyer?

The entertainment screen in the Mazda isn’t big but it’s adequate. What is less impressive are the size of the buttons on the steering column to operate it by remote control. Even the touchscreen buttons require some dexterity.

At least the sound quality is good and you can wire up your phone or iPod via an AUX input or a USB cable. Scrolling through the screen options to change artists is a slow process and distracting for the driver. Could do better Mazda…

 

 

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Friday – Mazda6

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I’m just about to drive to Butlins at Minehead. Why, I hear you scream? Well, I’m playing darts with Adrian Lewis, a former double world champion who is the subject of a feature for the FT.

I mention this because after a day in the Mazda6, I already know I will see plenty of saloons shaped exactly same as mine during the 200-mile round trip.

Don’t get me wrong, from our short time together, it’s clear the Mazda6 is a very fine car. It will do exactly what you ask of it, cleans up nicely after a week hacking up and down the motorways of Britain, and the ‘mouth open’ front grille is attractive.

Then there’s the exceptional economy, a whisper quiet engine and super-low emissions to shame a BMW.

What’s not to like? Unfortunately, the Mazda6 seems to have been built to blend in with the crowd. It’s from the M&S range of fashionable cars – which means mass appeal but very little to talk about at your neighbour’s dinner party.

So, no Alfa Guilietta then. But does it have any remarkable redeeming features? Find out tomorrow

 

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Wednesday – High Flying Mazda

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Jeremy I’m just back from interviewing Declan Clifford – the UK’s top cable wakeboarder. Number two in the last world championships, he could jump over the Mazda2 without a take-off ramp!

The hottest day of the year so far was the perfect moment for me to have a masterclass from the youngster. It was like learning to drive all over again and I went flying every time I was dragged from the bank by the cable pulley.

It’s my last day with the Mazda and I wasn’t really looking forward to the 300-mile round trip in the supermini. Suffice to say, the 2 was a lot better than I expected on a long dustance, high-speed run.

It does lack power from a standing start and can be sluggish uphill but once you have the engine wound up, it fair zips along. Noise levels are pretty low at motorway speeds but I think the next generation 2 would benefit from a sixth gear.

It’s been a fairly uneventful week in the Mazda, which is probably what any prospective buyer wants to hear! I’d say this was the perfect car for urbanites, espeically those who have to make the odd longer distance drive.

The styling still works five years after launch, interior space is excellent and because it’s a Mazda, it’s unlikely to let you down any time soon. Great fun but the Sport we drove just needs a slightly more powerful engine…