Religious Experience: The Mazda MX5 is pure driving nirvana – Feature
I consider myself blessed and lucky to be able to do what I do, I drive some of the most sought-after vehicles in the world and It’s a privilege I’ll never ever take for granted.
Whenever I wax lyrical about a special sports car though, most people around me always say “You still have to try the Mazda MX5/Miata”, and for years I’ve been hearing this. To be fair I’ve always had a measured curiosity when it came to the famed 2-seater top-down sports car, but there was never a desire.
All that has changed now that I’ve driven one properly, my eyes have been opened, and my heart is now full of the MX5 madness that has afflicted many a car person for decades since its birth, here’s my story.
The Mazda MX5 is balanced class and beauty
Table of Contents
The unit I was graciously lent by Mazda PH is the special Club Edition which featured different seats and a set of proportionate but quite beautiful BBS rims. It’s also the ND2 generation (the ND3 launched only this year), meaning my unit had the updated 2.0-liter naturally aspirated SKYACTIV-G engine making 181 HP and 205 Nm of torque, and is paired to a 6-speed automatic transmission.
Now before you criticize me for borrowing the automatic, I have my reasons. Firstly, I know the manual is brilliant that’s almost a given at this point, I was curious if there’s any less fun if it’s the automatic, and secondly I wanted to see what daily livability is like with the automatic, can I be comfortable in traffic and enjoy a back road dash? all questions will be answered shortly.
Back to the unit at hand, I was lent the soft top with the patented Mazda Soul Red Crystal body and black soft top. I found the whole exterior to be balanced looks-wise with a black roof, and black rims, sandwiching a beautifully underrated red Kodo-designed body.
When you first see a Mazda MX5, you’re drawn by the small, 2-seater package but other than that it may seem “unremarkable” looking until you really get a chance to look at its design intently. The MX5 has always been about balance, from the driving dynamics all the way to the design, and it is one of the most balanced designs ever, there’s no character line out of place or anything unnecessary about the whole look, but there’s something classy and tasteful about it which I adore.
Getting to know you
The first day I had the MX5 I took it out for an in-city introduction drive, upon entering the insanely low and quite tight cabin (there are apparently video guides on how to gracefully enter and exit a Mazda MX5)Â I realized immediately just how low the sitting position is (almost Go-Kart like), and I’m saying that from an optimal driving experience, but cabin-wise I’d say that it is very ergonomic in terms of layout. I like that there aren’t more buttons than in the cockpit of a passenger airliner and that everything is within either arm’s length or finger length.
I also love the lack of pretentious-ness in the overall interior design, the climate control buttons are manual and tactile, and the toggle for the drive mode is below the shifter and only gives your normal or sport mode. The most “out of this world” feature in the interior is the rotary dial that controls the infotainment screen, in normal mode it can also function as a touchscreen, but once Android Auto or Apple CarPlay is enabled, you can only control it through the rotary dial which is confusing at first but doable after some getting used to.
Putting the roof down is also a rather simple exercise, unlatching the clasp is straightforward, and pushing down in place behind your head doesn’t require Superman strength or gymnastic dexterity, the same can be said about putting the roof back up, the task is easy enough.
City driving is a breeze in all aspects, I appreciated the decent ride quality and ground clearance that didn’t require me to clench all muscles when climbing a speed hump or parking on taller curbs, the steering is light enough on low speeds, and my favorite livability aspect is that even if it’s a soft top the outside world is muted enough, and during heavy downpour it wasn’t noisy inside at all which is usually a downfall for soft top cars.
Overall I was enjoying the idea of how easy it seems to live with a Mazda MX5 in a normal setting, and then I remembered the Jinba Ittai philosophy of Mazda.
Jinba Ittai
Jinba Ittai literally translates to “Person and Horse as one body”, this is the mantra that goes into every Mazda model most especially the MX5. Owners and drivers are supposed to feel connected to the vehicle, connected enough to become a part of it making the vehicle an extension of the driver in a sense.
I find this idea refreshing in 2024, given the overly complicated and technological sports cars we have today that remove a sense of feel and experience.
My first experience of the Jinba Ittai surprisingly was in the city, having come from a whole day shoot in the south I was tasked with driving back to the heart of Makati at rush hour, which would normally put a thorn in my day but I was keen to see how the Mazda MX5 would be in gridlock conditions.
I was surprised at how Jinba Ittai presented itself even in non-sporty conditions, I felt confident navigating the tight Metro Manila roads, and during the odd moments of jostling for position that we all do in traffic, the MX5 was zippy and easy to slide into gaps between traffic without pissing off other motorists, I felt like I was on a bicycle weaving through without any hint of hassle.
As the days went on, I slowly started meshing with the Mazda MX5 in almost all driving conditions, I knew how it would react and what it could do allowing for even better driving experiences, which I needed to do for my culminating activity with the Mazda MX5 a Sunday drive up a mountain road.
Embodying Jinba Ittai
My wife and I took the usual route going up Tagaytay for Sunday brunch, the journey was painless and actually comfortable enough with my wife commending the Mazda MX5 for being “cozy and comfortable” which she rarely says about any sports car I bring home.
On the highway it was behaved and civilized, the engine purrs and groans above 2,500 rpm as a gentle reminder that this is still a sports car, but keeping it sedate was fine, I didn’t feel the need to be aggressive all the time, the MX5 doesn’t induce that, it has a split personality in a very good way.
After brunch, I took the liberty of plotting a more scenic route down the mountain, slightly longer but worth it in every sense, this is when I fell in love with the MX5.
I put the roof down, blipped the car into sports mode, and became the person the horse wanted me to be. The engine and transmission (despite being automatic) are absolutely responsive, the slightest increase in throttle pressure woke up the revs, and the paddle shifters are tactile and enjoyable to use.
As the roads became twistier and emptier I went into a Jinba Ittai trance, It may sound overly dramatic or emotional, but I swear I felt every single thing the car was feeling. The road conditions were channeled properly from the tires to the suspension and steering, into my fingertips, my lower back and body connected to the chassis, every slip of traction and change in the direction was anticipated properly because I was connected.
I’m admittedly not one of the best mountain road drivers out there, but in the Mazda MX5 I felt that I was (or at least improved) I was confident through corners, undulations and everything else in between, the power, the lightness, the overall driving dynamics are more than adequate to induce fun and laughter all throughout a spirited drive.
Religious Experience
As a lover of cars and driving pleasure, my first Maza MX5 experience was like a baptism, a confirmation of the idea that is widely accepted and spread by all car lovers that the MX5 is the real deal and pure in every sense of sheer driving pleasure.
There’s a certain amount of hype that comes with the Mazda MX5 name, but in my case, I fell for the MX5, not because of the lore or the hype. As a package, it is exactly what I want and crave, a simple, fun, sporty, and reliable sports car.
It represents everything I love about cars in the sense that sporty driving isn’t about the most power, it isn’t about the driving aids it’s about the simplicity of having the right recipe, the balance of all ingredients put together with painstaking attention to detail and an undying dedication to the Jinba Ittai philosophy, the MX5 is my idea of driving Nirvana, the driving perfection I crave.
I’m not a fanboy, I’m an admirer and an apostle keen to spread the word of the Mazda MX5’s wonder.
