Words by: Adam Allen
Need a car to slay the dragon that is winter in Canada? Look no further than Mazda’s perennial arbiter of joy, the MX-5 roadster.
Perhaps you’re thinking that we’re suffering the lingering effects of too much eggnog over the holiday break, clouding our pin sharp judgment. But alas, despite one’s intuition that sports cars are utterly useless when the snow flies, we’re here to tell you that driving one in subzero temps is as revelatory as it is on a warm summer day. We drove one last winter and despite Jack Frost’s mercifully mild temperatures and strange lack of snow it served as a reminder of what makes this car so awesome- seasons be damned. Looking at week after week of dreary winter weather we decided to ring up the folks at Mazda to see if we could reprise our drive from 2024.
Most automotive brands would scoff at such a proposal, but Mazda being Mazda, they told us that there was indeed an MX-5 on their fleet and it would be shod with proper winter rated rubber. The MX-5 in question would be wearing GT trim coupled to with the folding hardtop setup from RF models.
And so we found ourselves making the trek to Mazda’s headquarters to retrieve our little funster, and when we arrived we couldn’t help but smile at the way the dazzling Soul Red Crystal Metallic paint served as a welcome contrast to the grey skies and greyer tarmac thanks to an unrelenting treatment of road salt and brine. We thought of dropping the top before setting off because we are masochists, but Mother Nature woke up that morning petulant and angry and turned the thermostat way, way down. So heated seats on full blaze and climate control working overtime on its hottest and cornea-drying setting would be the order of the day.
Before we continue, we need to get real for a moment. If the forecast is calling for a winter storm that promises to dump a lot of snow on the ground, the MX-5 you are driving is not the best choice to navigate such a fraught commute. It is low and doesn’t weigh much, so deep drifts that pose no threat to your neighbor’s Mazda3 will flummox the MX-5. The piercing glow of snowplow auxiliary lighting and most SUVs equipped with LED headlighting will cause temporary blindness since the bright lights are aimed directly into your sightlines. And don’t get us started on the dude in the next lane over who threatens to come dangerously close to your door handles as he tries to maintain control amidst a bootfull of throttle and no winter tires. Also, you’ll need to doff your George Kostanza-esque puffer jacket off when you set off on any drive so you can get the range of motion needed to do so.
With these thoughts top of mind, we paid close attention to how the MX-5 would fare in the grip of a polar vortex- the weather phenomenon that brings bone chilling cold to most of North America (as this was written it snowed a good deal as far south as Texas.) This is not the kind of conditions Mazda engineers envisioned when developing this car and we were nervously excited to see if we could discover any issues they might have overlooked.
It almost seemed unfair to subject a car that is obviously out of its element in temperatures that would make an Iqaluit resident shudder. After a quick warm up on frigid mornings the MX-5 expressed its disdain for artic climes with creaks and groans from its metal folding roof. Over larger bumps and potholes the structure cried out in protest. Yet everything worked just as it should and once the engine came up to temperature the climate control kept the small interior nice and toasty. Our tester had heated seats- but sadly, no heated steering wheel- that kept our kiesters perfectly warm. We’ve seen infotainment systems wave the white flag when the mercury drops so significantly but the new for 2025 system worked flawlessly so we could enjoy all its new features.
Speaking of new features, the 2025 vintage of MX-5 is packing some new details that serve to make the car incrementally better- not that it needed it.
The first change is one you can see, and that’s the new front and rear LED lighting schemes. It’s a small detail, one that might even escape a current MX-5 owner, but we love the way they sharpen the looks. It’s been a year since we last flogged an MX-5 so we can’t be certain if they are different, but we felt like the headlights were amongst the best we’ve sampled as of late, flooding the dark streets with sharp, clean luminance.
The next bits are upgrades you can’t see but instead will feel if the seat of your pants is as finely calibrated as ours. The steering rack, already razor sharp, benefits from reduced friction and enhanced precision. The stability control system gains a DSC-TRACK setting which will allow for more fun on track days when exploring the limits of the chassis and the oversteer it provides. It will only interfere when necessary allowing you to explore the limits of grip with confidence. The last upgrade felt the most meaningful to us, and that would be the Asymmetric Limited Slip Differential. Mazda engineers fettled with the lockup characteristics both under acceleration and braking to give the MX-5 a more natural feeling during turn-in. Conversely, when powering out of a corner, the diff is better at apportioning the power to the best contact patch giving you the ability to go faster without putting too much thought into the process. In aggregate, these small details make an already memorable car even better.
Memorable is a fitting word to describe the MX-5 and is the underlying foundation of why this car exists and has endured for so long. Since the NA version debited in 1989 the MX-5 has mainlined pharmaceutical grade driving nirvana straight to the pleasure centers of its driver’s brain. Driving the MX-5 through an arctic blast only served to underscore that the joy it imparts is not exclusively the domain of sunshine and mild temperatures.
Don’t concern yourself with the grim news your weather app tends to report with regularity this time of year; instead, why not shift your focus to savor the MX-5’s simple brilliance? There is no Sport Mode to select, no suspension settings to ponder over, nor is there variable settings for the traction and stability control systems. All there is is a car that was designed perfectly from the engineers who worked tirelessly to make sure that the reason people flock to the MX-5 is still very much intact- fun. You gotta love that. We’re here to tell you that the love fest need not wait until spring; it’s at your fingertips 365 days a year.
2025 Mazda MX-5 GT- Specifications
- Price as tested: $51,095
- Body Type: 2-door, 2 passenger roadster
- Powertrain Layout: Front engine/rear wheel drive
- Engine: 2.0-litre inline four, DOHC, 16 valves
- Horsepower: 181 @ 7,000 rpm
- Torque (lb-ft.): 151 @ 4,000 rpm
- Transmission: 6-speed manual
- Curb weight: 1,118 kg (2,465 lbs)
- Observed Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km (28 mpg)