Leading car review site Carbuyer.co.uk have shared with MotorMartin that they have named the all-new Mazda MX-5 RF Best Sports Car in their annual awards. On sale since March, the RF now accounts for 62 per cent of UK MX-5 sales and continues to win praise from customers and media alike.
Mazda have explained to MotorMartin that their new sportster was designed to offer a new dimension of open-top driving fun, while at the same time staying true to the underlying principles that have made the MX-5 the world’s best-selling two-seater sports car, the all-new Mazda MX-5 RF’s ‘fastback’ styling gives it a unique appearance roof up or down, broadening the appeal of Mazda’s famous roadster.
As with the Mazda MX-5 convertible, the RF is offered with both the 1.5-litre 131ps and 2.0-litre 160ps engine. All manual models powered by the 2.0-litre 160ps engine feature a limited slip differential and 17-inch wheels; while Sport Nav manual models feature Bilstein dampers and strut brace to further enhance their dynamic set up. Plus, with the introduction of the £27,295 Sport Nav Auto, the current generation of MX-5 is offered with an automatic gearbox for the first time in the UK.
The MX-5 RF’s retractable hardtop consists of front, middle and rear roof sections, and a rear screen. When the top is lowered the front and middle portions are stowed together, while the rear glass sits behind the seats, leaving the rear roof section in place to create a unique open-topped look, and a cabin feeling that combines a sense of open air freedom with the impression of being securely ensconced within the car.
“With the introduction of the MX-5 RF, Mazda’s sports car has got even better. It retains all that’s great about the gorgeous, agile and entertaining MX-5 soft-top, but in Retractable Fastback guise, it’s quieter and more comfortable. Yet, despite being easier to live with day-to-day than the convertible, it’s lost none of that thrill-a-minute charm that makes every journey an event”, commented Carbuyer Editor, Stuart Milne to MotorMartin recently.
Building on the Mazda MX-5’s award-winning design, the RF’s roof up style sets it apart. A 5mm increase in roof height aside, the RF retains the same overall length, width and wheelbase as the MX-5 convertible, but thanks to gently downward slopping buttresses that tuck in at the sides to create a teardrop shape, the RF’s elegant fastback silhouette accentuates the MX-5’s dynamic and contemporary sports car proportions in a completely unique way.
Jeremy Thomson, Managing Director of Mazda Motors UK confirmed to MotorMartin that, “we’re delighted that Carbuyer has recognised the all-new Mazda MX-5 RF, this is a car that adds a unique and stylish model to our range, one that stands distinct from the MX-5 convertible, yet retains all the award-winning driver appeal our sports car is famed for.”
Adding, “with over 120,000 sales since its launch in 1990, the UK has played a huge part in the MX-5 success story. The last-generation of retractable hardtop accounted for a large percentage of MX-5 sales and the all-new RF continues that trend.”
And you can’t say fairer than that.
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