2019 Mazda Mx-5 Larger Than Life

We drive the new roadster to see if more power and updated technology have helped enhance the popular models appeal even further.

- Tom Wiltshire

Put simply, the Mazda MX-5 is an institution: The world’s bestselling roadster, a Japanese icon and the brand’s best-known car worldwide. It’s the car, Mazda says, that brings interest to the brand — keen drivers are attracted to the rest of the more practical line-up after being drawn in by the sporty and emotive MX-5.

This facelifted model, then, has to get some crucial elements right if the discerning clientele is to continue its adoration. You’ll struggle to tell the updated model from the outgoing car at a glance, as it’s visually identical save for a small hump on the rear, which houses a reversing camera. As before, the manually folding soft-top is available alongside an electric ‘Retractable Fastback’ hard-top.

The changes are mostly under the skin, and the headline alteration is a brand-new 2.0-litre petrol engine to replace the existing unit. It offers 181bhp, up from the old car’s 158bhp, thanks to a raft of upgrades — this is more than just a slight tune-up. Inside, a few crucial changes have been made off the back of existing owners’ feedback, while there’s also added safety kit. All versions are now compliant with WLTP emissions regulations, too.

The existing — and brilliant — 1.5-litre engine is carried over to the new car virtually unchanged, but the headline feature is the new 2.0-litre engine. A power increase of 23bhp is well appreciated, though the five extra Newton-metres of torque is barely worth mentioning. Of more note is the rev limit, which now sits at 7,500rpm, rather than 6,800rpm in the old car. That allows the driver to play to the MX-5’s strengths even better, as the most fun is to be had when wringing this car by its neck. The new engine is more free-revving than the old one too, giving it a character closer to the superb 1.5-litre. It’s a brilliant update.