The iconic Mazda MX5, the world’s best-selling two-seater sportscar, added another award to its trophy tally yesterday – Most Popular Roadster – when the winners of the honestjohn.co.uk Awards 2013 were revealed at a special ceremony in London. The awards acknowledge and reward those cars with reviews that generate the most interest from site visitors and which users search for most on the Honest John website – which receives 1.5 million visits every month. This year there were 14 award categories, plus awards for Best Real MPG, Most Rated Car and Car of the Year.
To win the title of Most Popular Roadster, the MX5 beat off four premium rivals (Audi TT, BMW Z4, Mercedes SLK and Porsche Boxster), to triumph in this new-for-2013 category.
Dan Harrison, editor of honestjohn.co.uk, said: “We may rarely see the sun in the UK, in fact we’re more likely to see snow judging by recent months, yet convertibles and roadsters remain very popular and that’s reflected in what our users are viewing. It may not be the newest two-seater open-top car on the market but the Mazda MX5 remains the most fun to drive and it’s very affordable. Our users clearly think so too. It proves that a good quality soft-top needn’t cost the earth.”
To read the full Honest John review of our favourite sports car, just click on the logo:
To welcome the warmer weather, Mazda is offering every driver in Britain the chance to win an iconic Mazda MX5 – the world’s best-selling two seater sportscar – for four summer months in its new ‘fun-in-the-sun’ free competition. Starting today (13 May), drivers can visit the competition’s website (www.mazda.co.uk/funinthesun) for details of how to book a Mazda MX5 test-drive at their local Mazda dealer where their name will be entered into a free prize draw.
To promote the ‘fun-in-the-sun’ competition, Mazda has worked with players from Great Britain Ultimate (the UK’s top frisbee team), Justin Foord and Dominic Clark, to create the viral film (above), which shows two Mazda MX5s playing a game of extreme frisbee. In the game, seven-time British Motorsport Champion and multiple Guinness World Record holder, Paul Swift, drives the MX5 while the frisbee player throws the frisbee from the car, meanwhile the other player catches the frisbee in the other MX5 driven by stunt driver, Gordon Clendinning! To enter the competition click on the photo below:
Over the bank holiday weekend (25-27 May) a Mazda MX5 Venture Edition will also appear in various parks in London and on Brighton seafront, ‘sunbathing’ on a giant car-sized beach towel. To heighten the holiday atmosphere, the Mazda MX5 will be joined by a pro frisbee player doing stunts and distributing give-away frisbees to encourage participants to have even more fun-in-the-sun. Closing date for entries in the ‘Win a Mazda MX5 for the summer’ competition will be 31st May.
Mazda’s MX5, the best-selling roadster of all time, is shooting for another Guinness World Record on 15 June 2013 in Lelystad, the Netherlands. The event, organised by Mazda is called IMAX-5 2013, and the goal is to shatter the existing record for the “largest parade of Mazda cars” – 459 Mazda MX5s – set in Essen, Germany in 2010.
IMAX-5 2013, hopes to attract as many as 800 MX5s to the RDW Test Centrum in Lelystad to join the procession, which starts at 4:30pm and will follow a 15km route through the fascinating Dutch polder landscape near Lelystad. In addition there will be a variety of activities offered at the event grounds after the gates open at noon. Participants can test their skills on different race simulators, take in a special display of some of the finest MX5s on hand and even receive a free inspection of their own roadsters. Further activities include track demonstrations of the Ribank Mazda MaX5 Cup racers as well as Van Herck Racing’s three-rotor-engined Mazda3 20B. Finally, the evening will feature a film shown at Europe’s largest drive-in cinema.
All interested MX5 owners are invited to register now for IMAX-5 2013 online at www.imax-5.nl. The €30 admission per car (and up to two people) includes a warm meal and two drinks per person. Space is limited to 800 cars – MX5s only – and tickets must be purchased in advance.
Programme schedule:
12.00 – 14.00: gate opens, registration
14.00 – 15.30: gate closes, start of activities
15.30 – 16.00: demonstrations of the Ribank MaX5 Cup cars and the Mazda3 20B
16.00 – 16.30: activities and preparation for MX5 world record
16.30 – 17.30: Guinness World Record attempt
17.30 – 20.00: activities and dinner
20.00 – 22.00: drive-in cinema
22.00 end of program
MX5Parts.co.uk have just released their latest 2013 full colour brochure which is packed with goodies to make your MX5 look even better! To download the PDF version just click on the photo or to go direct to their website click on the logo below:
The co-developed new Mazda MX5 and Alfa Romeo Spider will each be sold with its own, bespoke engines, with even a diesel unit being a possibility for the MX5! Mazda intends to fit the next version of our favourite sports car, due out next year, with a new naturally aspirated SkyActiv engine as the staple unit. It is likely to be 1.6 litres in capacity, with an output of around 130bhp.
Mazda is insistent that the MX5 will remain naturally aspirated, but turbocharged versions of previous-generation MX5s have been produced. Alternatively, to provide more power without resorting to forced induction, a larger SkyActiv engine could be fitted. A diesel option is being considered, but the lightweight and high-revving capabilities of a petrol engine are more desirable to Mazda. There are also concerns over the market viability of a small diesel roadster, which might prove difficult to sell.
It’s likely that a six-speed manual gearbox will be available for both cars, while an advanced paddle-shift six-speed auto could be offered. Mazda hopes the new car will be the same size as the original MX5. Modern materials and design techniques will help to reduce weight, whilst still meeting modern crash regulations. This will help to achieve Mazda’s ambitiously low target weight of 800kg.
The Spider will probably use Alfa’s turbocharged 1.4-litre ‘TB’ engine. More powerful MultiAir or 1750 TBi units, the latter as found in the 4C sports car, may also be offered. Power could range from 120bhp for entry-level Spiders to 296bhp for top-end cars.
