First UK drive in the latest generation MX-5 reveals an iconic roadster that's back to its best Mazda designers, engineers and management have been teasing us with all this talk of back-to-basics purity for the new Mazda MX-5 for a good couple of years now after the current car got a bit bloated, heavy and powerful, and early drives in prototype models earlier this year served to whet the appetite further.And now, finally, it is with us in Britain, in UK-spec right-hand drive firm. Nearly, anyway, as customer cars are due next month.Colleague Matt Prior drove the entry-level 1.5 petrol version earlier this year but it's the range-topping 2.0-litre version in the plush, sporty Sport Nav trim that offers our first taste of the MX-5 on UK soil. We've determined that this lighter, shorter MX-5 feels closer to the purity of the Mk1 MX-5 than ever, but the eternal argument rages on with regards to the MX-5 and power. How much is too much - and is more actually necessary?Some are convinced it is, while others are happy to focus on the legendary sweetness of the MX-5's chassis. Like it or not, this 2.0 gets an extra 29bhp and 37lb ft extra over the 1.5 and relatively insignificant 25kg, 22g/km and 4.3mpg penalties to go with it.To tempt you even more, Mazda is including a limited-slip differential and front strut brace as standard on UK 2.0 cars and, on 2.0 Sport models, a sportier suspension set-up including Bilstein dampers. And the price for upgrading? Not as much as you might imagine; across the range it's £850 extra. Break that down into monthly finance payments and it'll make even less financial difference.
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