If you have read anything at all about the new, fourth-generation Mazda MX-5, you will almost certainly have come across references to it being a quite charming car.
You may have also heard references about it looking better in real life than it appears in photos, and simply delightful to drive with its sharp yet friendly handling.
All of the above is true. So true, in fact, that part of me really wants to own one. Another part of me shakes its head sorrowfully and points out that, at six foot three, I'm too tall for it. The lack of reach adjustment on the steering wheel (a startling omission on a car designed so recently) doesn't help, but even with that I wouldn't have as much arm room as I need.
If I were shorter, none of this would be a problem, and I might be in the market for an MX-5 after all. But it wouldn't be this one.
That's because it had the 158bhp 2.0-litre engine rather than the 129bhp 1.5-litre unit. The engine itself isn't the problem, though I think the power/handling balance of models with the 1.5-litre unit are closer to perfection, and they sound better at high revs.
No, the problem is that all the 2.0-litre cars have limited-slip differentials, which to my mind have never worked on MX-5s. Their main function is to improve traction, which is hardly a problem in this car anyway. Their main flaw is that, if they're set too tight in the way I feel this one is, they make the car reluctant to turn in to corners and too willing to slide once you've applied the power.
This is more of an issue on the cheaper SE-L than it is on the Sport. Among other extra items of equipment, Sports have uprated suspension, and this goes some way to quelling the more unfortunate effects of the LSD.
If you drive a Sport immediately after an SE-L, the former feels like by far the superior car. Without that reference, but with the memory of a 1.5-litre model still fairly fresh, it's more disappointing.
The 1.5s are so much nimbler in the first part of a corner and so much less likely in the second to go sideways. I realise this appeals to some people but seems to me like a very inefficient way of making progress. If I really were to buy one of Mazda's sports cars, it would be a 1.5 model every day and twice on Sundays.
That said, the LSD doesn't entirely spoil this MX-5 the way it did previous ones. It is still exceptionally appealing - enough to make you ignore the tiny interior and the very limited boot volume of just 130 litres.
The driving experience is still great, and enhanced no end by the gear change. Though it feels a little notchy, it nevertheless allows you to make such quick shifts that an onlooker might be persuaded to believe it was an automatic.
Other than the lack of steering wheel reach adjustment, the Sport Nav is well enough equipped for a £23,295 car. Features include leather upholstery, seat heaters, a nine-speaker Bose audio system (four of the speakers being mounted in the seat headrests), keyless entry and automatic headlights and wipers.
Also standard is a self-dimming interior mirror, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert. None of this kit mentioned is available as standard on the SE-L trim.
MX-5 Nav models also include integrated satellite navigation with three years' free European map updating, which makes them £600 more expensive than non-Navs.
