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19MotorYSKHONG

It has been 20 years since the very fi rst Mazda Miata or MX5 was in-troduced in1989. It was an instant hit — simple in construction, with all the basic ingredients of a small

sports car. Initially with a 1.6 litre engine, the Mazda Miata was a no-nonsense, practical roadster designed for drivers to enjoy the thrill of driving. With rear-wheel drive mechanicals and a fi ve-speed manual, it quickly won the hearts of the true sports car lovers.

Later versions came with automatic transmissions, and although the true blue-car Miata fans would prefer their sticks on the fl oor, it did open up the market to other buyers who just wanted a cute little roadster that was easy to drive. Un-like the Lotus Elise, which is also a great car, the Miata offers easy ingress and egress, processes that require one to be a bit of a contortionist where the Lotus is concerned.

Now in its fi fth generation, the Mazda Miata is available in Malaysia though Ber-maz Motor Sdn Bhd at the asking price of RM226,000 and a bit, a price that makes it still affordable. We managed to get our hands on one and took it for a shakedown to see what makes it tick.

The new Miata has one useful feature added to it: an electrically controlled convertible roof which adds value and convenience to the car. Whereas the older models had mechanical soft tops or a hard top that took time to remove, the new electrical roof takes about 22 seconds to deploy. In addition, unlike other convertibles, the roof goes into a

special recess built into the top of the area immediately behind the seats — a simple and neat arrangement which does not take up more space in the trunk than the soft top.

It remains strictly a two-seater. The instrumentation is quite basic and func-tional. It features just the main instruments that are the most important to the driver: the tachometer, the speedometer, and fuel gauge. There is, of course, the odometer, and other driver information, but these are subtle conveniences that do not take centre stage.

The test car we had came with a six-speed automatic, which also had a manual option and paddle-shifts, while the in-strument panel came with a digital gear indicator.

The engine is a 2.0 litre DOHC unit that comes from the Mazda3, and is shared with the Ford Focus and the Volvo S40. So, it isn’t surprising to see the power output is 145PS, and the torque fi gures are the same at 185Nm. The difference with the Miata is, of course, the drive train layout, which is north-south — engine at the front, with the drive wheels at the rear, which is the only way, I believe, a sports car should be built unless it’s an all-wheel drive.

The Miata is fi tted with MacPherson strut suspension at the front, and a multi-link arrangement at the rear. Looking un-der the car, you will see some aluminium parts used for parts of the suspension to keep the unsprung weight down, and to maintain the front-rear weight balance as near to 50:50 as possible. With 17-inch

wheels and 205/45 R17 rubbers, the Miata handles very well. Response to steering is immediate, and it is even possible to make quick lane changes without fl inch-ing. Being lightweight means the Miata accelerates pretty fast, doing the zero to 100kph sprint in 9.2 seconds with the air-conditioner on. It is best in manual mode although in the city, you will ap-preciate the convenience of the automatic. The designers deliberately left out the idiot-change mode that kicks in when the engine hits the rev limit while in manual; this makes the Miata a fun car to drive for people who like driving.

Our test car had Traction control fi tted as part of the original equipment; how-ever, the good news is that it seems to work only at the extremes of controllabil-ity, because it is never activated although there were times when I stretched the car to what I thought to be very close to the edge.

On straight stretches, we managed a top speed of 185kph, which was when the Japan-regulation speed limiter cut in.

Those who want to go a little faster will have to fi t one of those “speed cut control-lers” that are available in the market.

The suspension is set to be on the comfortable side of fi rm, and the Miata feels very good up to 170kph. After that, the bumpy Malaysian roads start to make the car pitch a little, making you wish you had a stiffer set of shockers. The extremely good balance of the car makes cornering effortless, and I actually felt like the Miata was putty in my hands.

In terms of outright performance, the Miata is not so hot shot, being only of 2.0 litre in capacity. You might be disappointed if you were expecting something more. It is slower than the Elise, but what it has going for it is a lot of fun motoring, with a high level of comfort. This is a car that you will drive with pleasure and satisfac-tion for many years, a car that people buy and never sell.

Y S Khong is a four-time Malaysian rally champion. He

has been a consultant to several car manufacturers

in the country.

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