Mazda MX-5, 2011

Since its debut in 1989, The Mazda MX-5, still often known to purists as the Miata, has maintained a strong reputation as among the leading small two-seat convertible sports cars in the United States.

Substantially refreshed for 2009 and updated for 2010, the Mazda MX-5 is unchanged for 2011, keeping its same fun factor and value pricing from previous years.

Change isn’t always a good anyway, and it must present a dilemma for Mazda. With the Mazda MX-5, appropriate updates have been warranted through the years. Then again, since 850,000 Mazda MX-5/Miatas have sold (the most of any sports car in history) why mess too much with a good thing?

My test vehicle for the week was the four-cylinder, 167-horsepower grand touring model (lots of option packages) with a retractable hardtop, one of two hardtop trims added in 2007.

Like I have with many other weekly driver test vehicles through the years, I drove the Mazda MX-5 round-trip from Sacramento to the Monterey Peninsula, about a 400-mile trek.

The forecast was for rain throughout the duration of the four-day trip. It rained, yes. But it sure seemed like the meteorologists were doing a lot guesswork. Which was a good thing for my time with the Mazda MX-5.

I had the top down everyday, mostly on cool, crisp, blue sky mornings and while negotiating a short stretch on Highway 1 and then the twists and turns of the famed 17-Mile Drive to Pebble Beach.

Still, about 400 of my week’s 550 total miles with the Mazda MX-5 were on a high-speed stretch of Interstate 5 or secondary state routes with the hard top up.

As it would be in any small vehicle, with trucks or large SUVs in the vicinity, driving confidence wasn’t ideal. Nonetheless, the Mazda MX-5 found its way without issue.