Mazda MX-5 2006 review: road test

Reliable, economical, ruggedly built, practical and affordable — with few vices. If you drove a Beetle, you were personally releasing those characteristics. You were, in effect, living the car.

The Beetle is dead, but embodying motoring in one of its simplest, most captivating forms, is a rising star — the Mazda MX-5.

I didn't think this little convertible could so magically sway a person until I watched an old mate of mine, who, while admitting to appreciating cars was never one to become enthused, fall under the MX-5's spell.

Jim bought an old MX-5, the one with the flip-up headlights. It came from Japan, second-hand, painted red and with over-width, non-original wheels. Not tired, just used.

Jim drives it with the roof down. I asked about the state of the fabric roof. He didn't know, given he has not seen the car with the roof up.

The weather didn't bother him. When it came, he was always dripping wet and tinged with blue.

But even though he wasn't a car enthusiast, he never stopped raving about the MX-5.

The latest one is just as lovable, just as simple and just as much fun.

Though the 2006 MX-5 is bigger, more powerful and more lavish, little of the original car has changed.

It seats two, has some room for luggage, a 50/50 weight distribution, an engine in front and rear-wheel-drive, and the manual fabric hood can be erected more quickly than any electrically driven job.

The latest MX-5 gets the two-litre engine from the Mazda3, a standard six-speed manual and the option of a clever six-speed automatic, more fruit for the cabin but not too much more.

The price starts at $41,860 and rises by optioning the automatic gearbox and a hardtop, or the higher-spec Bose sound system.

Not a cheap car, certainly, for something that appears quite small. For sports enthusiasts, it's also right on the money for a Subaru WRX, which has faster acceleration, quicker cornering and four seats.

But that's not the point.

The MX-5 is in a different league.

This is a car that became a classic in its first year of manufacture.

Despite its popularity, and the numbers on the street, people still gawk when one drives past.

Women yearn for one, men yearn for the ladies and so want an MX-5. It's foreplay on wheels.

In the metal, this is a small car. Yet, despite its exterior dimensions, it will take a 1.85m (6ft 2in) driver with ease, with plenty of cabin width and without this driver having to stare under the windscreen top rail.

It has a superb dashboard highlighted by piano-black horizontal trim, big dials, neat switches and everything is accessible.

The boot will take a fair amount of luggage, but that's only because there is no spare wheel. Mazda supplies a compressor and an aerosol kit, so lots of luck.

If you get a puncture, quickly choose between the passenger and the beautiful 17-inch 10-spoke alloy rim and its punctured tyre because there's no room in the car for both.

Other than that, the MX-5 has a lockable personal storage bin

behind the seats, a centre space with two cupholders, a lockable glovebox and door pockets.

The high engine revs when cold and on overrun are annoying, and the steering wheel appears to be bigger than before and is no longer made in Italy. But ignore all the above if you love driving.

The more you drive this car, the better you start to appreciate the art of driving.

You don't need speed for it to relay how accurate it is at turning a corner, how responsive the accelerator is at putting power to the road, and how cleverly it quickly starts to become an extension of yourself.

On the track it was such a simple car to punt: Point at the corner, turn the steering wheel. If the front slides wide, lift the accelerator to correct. If the back comes out, lift the accelerator to correct. Even Homer Simpson couldn't fail.

The ride may be firm and the bumps may hurt your butt, but this is a car that is almost raw in its relationship with the driver.

The six-speed manual box is crisp and the throws between the ratios are quick and sharp.

The clutch is light, the steering responsive and the brakes are simply magnificent.

When the harsh summer sun goes down, it's a single-handed movement to retract the hood.

Only on the freeway at 100km/h does the cabin become a bit windy, though that's solved by winding up the windows.

Swapping to an automatic, I thought the whole game was over. But it actually got better.

The six-speed auto has almost all the handling acumen of the manual, but with a lot less stress.

The box is controlled by moving the gear lever or by flipping paddles on the steering wheel. Or, if you're slack, just put it into "D" for Drive and enjoy the ride.

Certainly, in the city and suburbs, the auto makes more sense. It's easy to drive and you lose very little performance. Hell, you can only do 60km/h, anyway!

I just love this car.

I don't believe this is a car of the year (it isn't that good), but it's still possibly as close as anyone's going to get to the perfect two-seater convertible.