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Rating

Verdict Hairdressing just got butch

The old MX-5 was a phenomenon. The bestselling sports car the world has ever seen. Probably because it always felt just a teensy bit gay. That’s why we all liked it so much. It wasn’t threatening.

With its wider body and flared wheelarches, the new version looks a bit more beefed up, as though they haven’t evolved the old one so much as sent it to the gym. It now looks like it means business.

What’s really brilliant is that despite the stronger body and the greater number of toys, it weighs only 45kg more than the old one. Computer geeks didn’t do that. Engineers did.

And it was engineers who did the roof. Oh I’m sure there was pressure to fit an electrically operated soft top, but this would have added weight. So what you get is a canvas top that can be raised and lowered, using one hand, from the driver’s seat.

And because they’ve kept the weight down, the new car still feels gay, in both the new and the old sense of the word. The balance, the poise, the gearchange, the exhaust note: they’re all spot on.

Everything about the new MX-5 is perfectly judged, so that what you end up with is a slightly more practical, slightly better-looking version of something you loved anyway.

Current price £15,730

Price when tested (Feb 2006) £15,600

Engine 1798cc, four cylinders

Power 124bhp @ 6500rpm

Torque 123 lb ft @ 4500rpm

Transmission Five-speed manual

Fuel/ 38.7mpg (combined) / 174g/km

0-62mph 9.4sec

Top speed 122mph