Mazda MX-5 2.0 Sport Tech 2020 UK first drive

When Mazda introduced the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 back in 2015, driving enthusiasts were quick to bemoan a lack of power from both available powertrains – a 1.5-litre unit pushing out 129bhp and a 2.0-litre range-topper that had a barely more exciting 158bhp on tap.

Fortunately, in 2018 the situation was put right, and subtle mechanical tweaks across the board saw the power of the top-rung variant increased to a nice, usable 181bhp, bringing with it added bonuses that included improved acceleration and a more distinctive warble at low revs.

Mazda has lightly refreshed the MX-5 range for 2020, with the aim of enhancing the usability of a car already billed as one of the more accessible sports cars on sale, and bolstering the range of specification packages available. A new GT Sport Tech trim heads up the range, resplendent with its gunmetal grey BBS alloys, stainless steel scuff plates and a red leather interior, while Mazda’s i-Eloop KERS technology and stop-start functionality feature for the first time across the MX-5 line-up. 

Like all 2.0-litre models, our test car came outfitted with Bilstein shock absorbers at each corner, a front strut brace and a limited-slip differential. In second-from-top Sport Tech trim, it has a comprehensive kit package that belies its relatively low £28,395 list price, with 17in alloy wheels, a reversing camera and adaptive LED headlights.

You really need to keep the Skyactiv engine on the boil to find out what it’s worth, but, at more sedate speeds, it’s as quiet and unprepossessing as your average family hatchback, and not much less economical - Mazda claims the 2.0-litre four-cylinder will crack 41mpg on the WLTP cycle. This is partly due to the car’s trademark lightweight construction, but also a result of its newfound eco-credentials.

Stop-start functionality is a surprisingly welcome addition to the MX-5 formula; no longer must you feel so guilty for driving a non-electrified sports car through congested town centres, although, as with the Mazda 3 hatchback – fitted with the newer and more economically minded Skyactiv-X engine - it can be rather too keen at times, cutting the motor just as you’re getting about to get back on the accelerator, and firing back up if you so much as nudge the clutch pedal while stationary.

But it’s the sheer duality of the powertrain that remains one of the MX-5’s greatest assets; in very few new cars is it possible to sit so comfortably and quietly in urban traffic, cocooned in well-bolstered leather seats and sipping frugally on petrol, before turning at will onto a sweeping B-road and seizing the opportunity to truly turn up the wick without attracting unwanted attention.