In these days of road rage, rising
registration fees, high insurance, and speeding fines designed to
bolster the coffers of greedy state governments, it's no wonder the
joy of motoring is becoming a lost pleasure. Talk about being
over-regulated. We decided to turn back the clock.
Last week we picked up a new 2009 Mazda
MX-5. For some time now it has had a hard top option that drops with
the touch of a button after releasing one latch. And just 12 seconds
to put it back up. After a couple of days getting the feel of the car
in the urban environment, the Gold Coast turned on one of those
special winter days. By 8.00 am the sky was bright blue, the evening
cool was gone, and despite having a pile of work in front of me this
was an opportunity not to be missed. Stuff the office.
Some 30 minutes later the sandwiches
were packed, the tea was brewing in the thermos, we threw in the
camera, two baseball caps, and it was time to wind back the clock
back to the days when motoring was a joy. Luckily, where we live, the
bush is just behind the glitter strip and there's the Numinbah Valley
that has a magnificent winding road, past Hinze Dam and, more
importantly during the week, little traffic. Top down, we were in the
bush in 10 minutes and had the road to ourselves.
The temperature had risen to around 24
and there was not a cloud in sight. The Mazda's tin-top folds down
just behind the seats and this leaves a small space, just 150 litres
which we will call a shoe – in other words, a small boot.
Enough though for our lunch goodies,
back pack, and jackets. Carefully loaded with soft luggage the boot
would hold enough for a couple to go away for a week. That's one of
the trade-offs with small two seater roadsters. This was not our
normal-style road test. We were there to simply enjoy the moment, as
if we owned the car. In any case the jury came in with its verdict on
the MX-5 years ago. It is the world's, and Australia's, top selling
roadster. And, thankfully, Mazda simply tinker around the edges with
a car that has classic, yet simple lines and a straight forward
drive-train. Engine in front driving the rear wheels through a six
speed manual or auto transmission.
It was a day for driving at a pace
allowing us to enjoy the experience of open top motoring and take in
the scenery. I doubt if we went more than 80 km/h – not even enough
to slip the car into sixth gear. It was the right car for the day. A
Lotus Exige or Elise would not have been comfortable enough. Let
alone the temptation to put the right foot down. That would have
spoiled the moment. The Lotus will keep for another, more suitable,
time. So we wandered our way along the valley, past the turn off to
Springbrook, through the little village of Numinbah and up the ridge
line that marks the northern boundary of the old Volcanic caldera.
From there down to Chillingham with
it's olde-worlde charm next to a bubbling stream and on to
Murwillumbah, home to Speed on Tweed. Mazda claim revisions to the
tried and true 2.0 litre engine have improved economy by six per
cent, and certainly after 170 kilometres since collecting the car the
fuel guage had moved only marginally towards the three-quarters full.
The engine now revs out to 7500 rpm, which we tied just once. The
powerplant seems to get a second life around 5000 rpm which is where
maximum torque of 188 Nm kicks in. Mazda has enhanced the engine
note, so the car sounds more sporty, but let's face it, it is never
going to have a wow factor in that sense.
The MX-5 now comes with four main
variants. The traditional soft top, soft top touring, roadster coupe
and roadster coupe sports. Our test car was the coupe sports. In
Murwillumbah the car collected more than it's fair share of
enthusiastic glances when we parked in the main street. The car is
still what you would term pretty, but the latest incarnation has been
given a harder, more aggressive styling edge. We like it.
After wandering around the town, buying
a few second-hand books, and a small cake for lunch, we hopped back
in the car and headed out on the road to Mt Warning and Uki. The goal
was to find a cool picnic spot.
The road that leads to Mt Warning
follows a tributary of the Tweed River and we soon found ourselves
parked in the shade and heading to a picnic table and serenaded by
the mountain stream as it cascaded over rocks. The roadster coupe
adds the folding hard top over the rag top model and the coupe sports
adds Recaro sports seats and BBS alloy wheels. Parked next to the
stream it again attracted attention with the roof down. Not bad for a
car that is celebrating its 20th birthday and a common
sight on our roads. Some 15,000 have been sold in Australia and more
than 855,000 world-wide.
From lunch we went back along the road
to Murwillumbah, stopping for a photo shoot in a park next to where
the road crosses the Tweed River. There's no doubt it is the
best-ever looking MX-5. The new single front fascia bumper
incorporates the five point grille, new headlamp design and nifty
front fog lamp bezels. The rear bumper is now more integrated into
the body design. The result is a cleaner looking car. But these are
minor changes, slight variations on the theme of the car which going
on a million buyers have decided this is their preferred form of
transport. If it ain't broke....
We return to the Gold Coast via the
main highway and from Tugun on, it's as if we have entered another
world. The REAL world. Traffic, traffic lights, tooting, shops,
police cars, cars swerving in and out of lanes, pedestrian crossings
... and endless list of the modern-world in which we live. Some times
it is good to stop (or at least slow down) and smell the roses. And I
can't think of a better car to do that in than the MX-5. Now, if you're into detail, some 2009
Mazda MX-5 facts.
The entry level car includes: remote
central locking, air-conditioning, six-speaker, six disc stereo with
Aux-in jack, cruise control, power windows, and mirrors, tilt-adjust
steering, driver's seat height adjust, and leather wrapped steering
wheel and hand brake lever. There's a driver and passenger front and
side airbags, dynamic stability control,, traction control, and ABS
brakes, 17 inch alloys and Limited Slip Diff in the manual variant.
The touring model adds leather seats
and trim, drilled alloy pedals, Bose premium seven speaker sound
system.
MODEL RANGE
PRICING
Soft top
$43,850 man - auto
Soft top touring $45,720
man $47,920 auto
Roadster/Coupe $48,755 man
$50,955 auto
Roadster/Coupe sports $51,455 man
$53,655 auto
FEATURES
ABS
Brakes: Standard
Air
Conditioning: Standard
Automatic
Transmission: Six speed optional
CD
Player: Standard
Central
Locking: Standard
Cruise
Control: Standard
Dual
Front Airbags: Standard
Front
Side Airbags: Standard
Stability
Control: Standard
Traction
Control: Standard
SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE:
Petrol
Capacity:
2.0 litres
Configuration:
Straight four
Head
Design: 16 valve DOHC
Compression
Ratio: 10.8:1
Bore/Stroke:
87.5 mm x 83.1 mm
Maximum
Power: 118 kW @ 5000 rpm
Maximum
Torque: 188 Nm @ 5500 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven
Wheels: Rear
Manual
Transmission: Six speed
Automatic
Transmission: Six speed
Final
Drive Ratio: 0.582
DIMENSIONS,
WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length:
3995 mm
Wheelbase:
2330 mm
Width:
1720 mm
Height:
1255 mm
Turning
Circle: 9.4 metres
Kerb
Mass: 1152 kg
Fuel
Tank Capacity: 50 litres
Towing
Ability: n/a kg (kg with braked trailer)
Front
Suspension: Independent double wishbone
Rear
Suspension: multi-link
Front
Brakes: Ventilated Disc
Rear
Brakes: Solid Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100
km/h Acceleration: 7.6 seconds
FUEL
CONSUMPTION:
Type:
95 RON
Combined
Cycle (ADR 81/01): 8.1 L/100km
GREEN
VEHICLE GUIDE RATINGS:
Greenhouse
Rating: 6.5 /10
Air
Pollution Rating: 6.5 /10
STANDARD
WARRANTY:
3
years/ unlimited km
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