Car of the Year Awards 2025: Best sports car for value
More than anything, sports cars need to thrill you. Acceleration is important, but it’s finesse and feel through corners that matter most...
Mazda MX-5 1.5 Skyactiv-G 132 Prime-Line
In preserving the Mazda MX-5’s core values over its 35-year life, Mazda has shown the same commitment that Samurai paid to the bushido code. It’s still the great-value sports car that it was back in 1989.
The purest of all MX-5s is the entry-level version, which gets a small, 1.5-litre engine. With 130bhp, it’s way slower than the Porsche Cayman, but it still has enough poke to get you off the line quickly, and its modest performance gives you more time to rev it out fully and enjoy the slick manual gearshift.
You’ll get to use that shifter plenty on a typical British B-road, where the MX-5 is in its element. The lightness of the car helps to make it feel nimble, while accurate steering gives you the confidence to sweep from one corner to the next with enthusiasm. Only the soft suspension disappoints, allowing quite a bit of body lean (top-spec MX-5’s are better in this respect).
There’s no denying that the Cayman is more capable, but more than 30 years after the original MX-5 created the template for affordable two-seat sports cars, it remains the best way to get the sports car experience without spending big money.
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