Convertible Review: 2021 Mazda MX-5 RF GT

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Goosebumps. They’re actually caused by a muscle – more precisely, the arrector pili which is a microscopic band of tissue that causes our skin to retract when it moves. This action is what raises the hairs on our arms and legs in a response to certain emotions.

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Or, you can skip the biology lecture and simply buy a Mazda MX-5.

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Anyone with nitrous oxide in their blood and a gas tank for a brain knows the appeal of an MX-5; it’s the same recipe that’s been used to brew good cars for decades. Pare its weight back to just the essentials, add a pinch of power, and mix with a reasonable price tag. Allow to simmer in the hearts and minds of gearheads for the better part of three decades and serve when ready.

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The MX-5 has never been a so-called ‘numbers car,’ especially in this day and age of 840 horsepower muscle cars and EVs that can accelerate with the force of a Saturn V rocket. Mazda updated the 2.0L inline-four a couple of years ago, finding a few more ponies and raising total output to 181 horsepower. In the right hands, a run to highway speeds from rest shouldn’t take more than six seconds which puts it in fine company with a, um, V6-equipped Camry.

Like we said, this is not a numbers car.

Well, except for one number: 1116. That the total number of kilograms this car weighs, including all the electric motors and associated gubbins for its complex retractable hardtop. In fact, that’s just 50kg more than an equivalent cloth top version, making this MX-5 RF exhibit the most impressive restraint in weight gain since your author kept himself from eating an entire package of Double Stuf Oreo cookies after the Leafs squandered this year’s post-season opportunities.

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For those new around here, the RF suffix stands for retractable fastback, a piece of metal origami that rises skyward at the touch of a button and turns the MX-5 RF into an open-air machine in just 13 seconds. It’s quite a different school of thought than last generation’s hardtop – the spellcheck-vexing PRHT – which left a distinctly convertible silhouette after folding away the top. This time around, a pair of flying buttresses remain after the roof vanishes which, to this author’s jaundiced eyes, provides a visual appeal that far outstrips the car’s price.

The goosebumps begin the moment you depress the clutch pedal and thumb the starter button. As a quick aside, if you’re considering an MX-5 of any stripe and don’t know how to drive a manual transmission – you need to learn. The extra engagement of the machine under you provided by that slick-shifting short-throw stick is akin to adding an extra bag of chocolate chips to a recipe: it makes things a whole lot sweeter. Not to mention, opting for the automatic transmission deletes the Bilstein shocks, limited-slip diff, and strut tower bar.

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Actual canyon roads are hard to come by in Nova Scotia but we’ve more than a few twisty sections of tarmac. Tugging at the steering wheel reveals handling characteristics so communicative that the MX-5 would be welcome on Betazed, while the 2.0L has no trouble seeking out its horsepower peak just 500 rpm short of its redline. When that plateau’s reached, simply call for another gear and start the fun all over again. This is old-school driving at its finest.

It’s tight inside the 2021 Mazda MX-5 RF, of course, especially for this 6’6″ driver. Roof up, I had the choice of either slouching in my seat like a bored teenager or sitting properly and cocking my head to the side like His Master’s Voice. Thirteen seconds and a retractable roof takes care of that problem, but nothing is to be done about legroom. It is not disingenuous to suggest I can operate the turn signals with my knees in this car.

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If the MX-5 RF’s snug interior can be described as fitting like a proverbial glove, its audio system can be equated to a great pair of headphones. The RF gets 9-speaker Bose premium gear, which includes a subwoofer and speakers in the driver and passenger headrests. Bluetooth calls get piped behind the driver’s ear, handy for when you decide to take a call from the parts guy at your race shop while cracking off a series of heel-and-toe tight corners with the top down.

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There’s very little on-board storage, with a between-the-seatbacks hollow cube serving as a glovebox and a centre console bin only big enough for a few gas receipts or, in these socially distant times, a cloth face mask. The latter surely wasn’t on the MX-5’s design sked at its introduction just five years ago; how times have changed. Cargo volume exists to the tune of 127L (4.5 cu.ft) but anyone who’s buying this thing for runs to Home Depot needs to re-examine their priorities.

Mazda would also be wise to re-examine its infotainment system in the MX-5, perhaps imbuing it with the same improvements seen in its other cars. Wireless Apple CarPlay is new on the RF GT for 2021, and is a welcome drink of cool water in the desert that is Mazda infotainment. The tablet-style screen stays out of the way thanks to MX-5’s low dashboard but contains an operating system that’s less responsive than a sullen teen who’s told to clean their room.

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Also, your author finally understands why all those old British roadsters had waif-like rearview mirrors; the honker in the MX-5, which contains autodimming and HomeLink functions, scuppered some of the view forward for this tall lad and I wouldn’t be surprised if it hampered spotting the proper turn-in on a right-hander for those who take this thing to the track. Deploying the simple and basic mirror from the little 3 sedan would be just fine here.

But all that is of little moment for the nonce. The job of the MX-5 RF is to induce goosebumps and, in an age of overly protective safety systems and overfed cars, we are glad to find it still delivers them in spades.