2015 Mazda MX-5 2.0 Sport Nav | PH Fleet

Ben's smitten with his ND - so much so that he's made a declaration to the DVLA he never thought he would...

By Ben Lowden / Monday, 22 December 2025 / Loading comments

For the first time ever, I’ve registered one of my cars as off the road and tucked it up in the garage for the winter. And I miss driving it, a lot. But with the MX-5's insatiable appetite for tin worm - and how minty fresh GY65 GMO genuinely is - I don’t have it in me to let it see salted roads. Out of the circa 50 cars or so I’ve now owned, including a Caterham Seven and a Lotus Elise, I’m going to stick my neck out there and say this is my favourite of them all.

Of course, the raw exhilaration of a fast Caterham or Lotus is pretty much the most fun you can have with your clothes on, but as an all-round sports car, the fourth generation of Mazda MX-5 is very hard to beat. It’s affordable to buy and maintain, the modification and customisation options are endless, my kids adore it as much as I do, and (with a few tweaks) it’s utterly brilliant to drive at any speed. As I entered last winter pondering if I’d be keeping my 25^th Anniversary Edition for another year; there’s no doubt whatsoever for GY65 GMO.

The factory wheel alignment, however, was the first thing that had to change, along with the 10-year-old tyres from the factory. Both combined led to a pretty sketchy drive home when I bought the car in the summer. The balance never felt quite right, the traction control would light up for fun, and the car felt unpredictable at anything over five-tenths. Suffice to say if you drive a standard ND MX-5, don’t be put off by how it handles.

As a Michelin snob it was easy for me to opt for a fresh set of Michelin PS5s, and I set off for Performance Link in Gloucestershire to sprinkle some of their magic sauce on the wheel alignment, along with some brake mods in the boot. The wheels were pretty much all pointing in opposite directions, so that explained why the handling was so atrocious. With nothing other than a fast road geometry setup, some braided brake lines and EBC Yellow Stuff pads, I set off home, and the difference was immediate.

The car felt instantly more planted. Heading into a near 90-degree turn not far from Performance Link HQ, I turned in aggressively, booted it and the back end came around beautifully – whereas before it would have snapped from oversteer to understeer and tried to throw me into a ditch. Bingo. Next stop was Curborough sprint course to properly put it through its paces and see how it compared to my NC from a year earlier.

With the traction off, it merrily lit up the rear wheels off the line to get some heat into the PS5s before sliding out of the first corner. With such an approachable amount of power, it never feels like it’s going to throw you off the track at silly speeds, egging you on to push harder and harder through each corner. Sure, there’s quite a bit of roll on the stock suspension, but that’s nothing some coilovers and some thicker anti-roll bars can’t dial out in the future.

The ND has an electric steering rack compared to hydraulic in the NC, which some criticise it for. But for luddites like me, unless you drive them back-to-back, I can barely feel the difference, with the ND turning in sharper and feeling more agile on its toes. It’ll be no surprise to hear that the manual gearbox is the main highlight in the MX-5, with the throw amplified for maximum smiles by the weighty IL Motorsport gearknob.

The Michelin’s dig into the tarmac and fill you with confidence, while still allowing plenty of controllable slip when encouraged. It’s probably barely noticeable to spectators, but you still feel like a hero behind the wheel, and it goes without saying that’s what matters most. The EBC Yellow Stuff pads bite better than OEM from cold and pull the car up faster the hotter they get, with no squealing in sight (or ear shot). The only thing that’s a bit disappointing is the soft limiter wheezing as you near the redline. Luckily, a hard limiter is something that can be mapped in, which’ll be getting done in the new year as part of a remap and aftermarket exhaust manifold, which should see the MX-5 pushing around 200hp.

It’s no surprise then, that I’m chomping at the bit for spring to roll around to get the ‘5 back out of the garage with the roof down. It’ll keep me busy in the meantime though, as I’m planning to retrofit Apple CarPlay when not eating mince pies, get the steering wheel retrimmed in Alcantara and I’ve already exchanging my silver roll hoop covers for gloss black ones with a PHer at the Thruxton Sunday Service. Thankfully my Dacia Duster is now sold and I’m embracing the winter weather in my Ford Fiesta ST, romping around my local B roads like Elfyn Evans. There’s plenty to look forward to in 2026 then, and maybe just for once, that might not include buying another car…

FACT SHEET

Car: 2015 Mazda MX-5 2.0 Sport Nav
Run by: Ben Lowden
On fleet since: July 2025
Mileage: 6,129
Modifications: EBC Yellow Stuff brake pads, HEL braided brake lines, Motul RBF660 brake fluid, IL Motorsport gearknob, Fyralip boot spoiler, Abarth 124 Spider speedometer