Motoring EDITED BY STEPHEN CORBY
RAISE THE ROOF
“This roadster is
a fun and frantic
blast from behind
the wheel”
70 MAY 2017IT’S RARE THATsomething’s standout
feature is also its most annoying trait (unless,
of course, you’re Fran Drescher) but such
is the cursed life of the convertible. A treat
when the sun is shining, a claustrophobic
nightmare when it isn’t.
Enter, then, Mazda’s MX-5 RF (from
$38,550). Those two bonus letters stand
for Retractable Fastback, with the brand
screwing a little metal hat onto Japan’s
lithe and lightweight roadster, replacing
the manually operated fabric roof with a
motorised folding-metal hardtop.
The roof itself is a beautifully constructed
piece of metallic origami – one that adds a
mere 45 kilograms to the MX-5’s weight.
The four-part lid folds up and away in a mere
13 seconds, vanishing into the boot at the
push of a button.
Better still, it literally vanishes, meaning
the car’s (albeit paltry) boot space isn’t
impacted when the roof is down.The new roof changes the look of the
MX-5, too, banishing those hairdresser jokes
forever and creating a new look intended to
inject masculinity into the design. Those two
columns linking the roof to the boot lid are
what give the RF its fastback look – roof up
or down – and sprinkle a little classic Porsche
into the side profile view.
Happily, the addition of a little winter
weight hasn’t hurt the acrobatic antics of
the MX-5, with the now-less-cutesy roadster
still a fun and frantic blast from behind the
wheel. Wisely, Mazda is offering the RF
version with only the bigger of the MX-5’s
two engines, a 2.0-litre petrol unit, and
pinned-pedal acceleration feels near enough
on-par with the lighter cloth-top version.
This is still one of the world’s finest – and
most affordable – sports cars; the way it
skips and scurries around corners is hugely
entertaining. It’s not particularly fast, sure,
but it’s a fun way to climb to 100km/h.1
More traffic than you can
stomach? Hit your core!
Sit up tall against your
backrest and slowly pull your
belly button towards your spine,
tensing your abdominals. Hold
for two breaths and slowly
release. Repeat 10 times – or,
for a brutal endurance workout,
until the traffic clears.Simulate the quad burn
of a wall sit in your car
by placing your feet flat
on the floor, pushing down
hard and lifting your glutes 10
centimetres off your seat. Hold
the position for 30 seconds,
relax and repeat. For extra
points, do it one-legged.Gridlock sending your BP
through the roof? Grab a
gripper with a poundage
that makes hitting 5-7 reps a
challenge (gripandlift.com.au).
Do 3 sets to failure on each
arm. Bonus: a recent study in
The Lancet found that increased
grip strength correlates with a
decreased risk of heart disease.E
GID
THE
OF
ING
NUSE
FOR
AL?When it comes to style, performance and affordability,
the Mazda MX-5 RF is in a class of its own