Road test: Mazda MX-5 1.5 Sport Nav

Cars — even sports cars — don’t have to be fast to be fun. And nothing demonstrates this better than Mazda’s MX-5. For 25 years it has provided huge, open-top motoring pleasure without breaking the bank, and the new fourth generation MX-5 continues this tradition.

The styling is sharper and the car is shorter, lower and wider than before, but still unmistakeably an MX-5. There is a choice of a 1.5-litre 131PS four-cylinder petrol engine or a 160PS 2-litre in the nine-model range, and manual fabric hoods help keep down weight and cost, which ranges from £18,449 to £23,295.

Well weighted electric power steering clearly conveys what the front wheels are up to and the car feels securely planted on the road at all times, even when you push. The power difference between the two engines is obvious only under fierce acceleration, and with the hood up, noise levels are moderate. With it down, there is quite a lot of buffeting at head level, although the interior of the well-finished cabin remains undisturbed. But realistically, open-top cruising at much above 50mph would soon become tiresome.