Last year I reviewed the fourth generation Mazda MX-5, also known as Miata, and I had an absolute blast in that tiny little roadster. Last week I reviewed another MX-5, but this one is a little different, the MX-5 I had for a review was called the MX-5 RF, the “RF” stands for “Retractable Fastback”.

The 2017 Mazda MX-5 is now offered with a hard roof, but unlike the previous generation hardtop MX-5, the MX-5 RF is a Targa, with only the top of the roof disappearing into the back, and it’s all done with the push of a button.

Pricing

The 2017 Mazda MX-5 RF is offered in two trims, GS and GT, the base GX trim of the roadster is not offered on the RF. Prices start at $38,800 for the GS trim and $42,200 for the GT trim, there are a few added packages available on each of the trims. You’re paying a $3,000 premium over the soft-top roadster MX-5.

Our review MX-5 RF GT had a starting prices of $42,200 with $1,200 worth of options, for a total price of $43,400 plus $1,795 freight & PDE. The options included were Exclusive Package ($900), which includes contrasting piano black top and Nappa leather, and Machine Grey Metallic paint ($300).

Engine

Nothing has changed in the engine compartment, both trims are offered with the same 2.0 liter SKYACTIV 4-cylinder engine found on the roadster, which produces 155 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 148 pound-feet of torque at 4,600 rpm. 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic (no extra charge) transmissions are available.

According to Mazda, the 6-speed manual MX-5 RF should consume 8.9 L/100 km in the city and 7.1 L/100 km on the highway, which is a little more than 8.8 and 6.9 L/100 km of the roadster, which is attributed to the extra weight of the RF. In our week-long review, I was actually getting better numbers than the claimed mileage (according to the on-board computer), I averaged 8.0 L/100 km in the city and 7.0 L/100 km on the highway on premium fuel, I think I could have even better results in city driving if I didn’t drive it aggressively.

Driving

I had a blast in the 2016 Mazda MX-5 roadster I reviewed last year and I enjoyed every moment of the 2017 MX-5 RF. The RF is heavier because of the metal roof, I believe by 120+ pounds, but I didn’t really notice the weight that much, maybe if I drove the cars back to back, I might have noticed it.

The suspension has been re-tuned to cope with the added weight, which I did notice to be a bit softer than the roadster, but it was still a lot of fun throwing the MX-5 into corners. The softer suspension makes the rear end even more stable and gives you even more confidence to push harder in the corners.

Because of the added weight, the RF should be a bit slower than the roadster, but again, I didn’t notice and would have to drive the two cars back to back. The 155 HP was more than enough power to drive around town and was just the right amount of power for tight twisty roads, the lack of major power is what gave me the confidence to push hard in corners, I knew I would lose the back end and kept pushing the car.

Styling

The styling where there’s a major departure between the two cars. Styling is subjective, so some people may like the styling on the RF and some people might not. For me personally, I didn’t dislike the styling but didn’t love it either. The C-Pillar area looks a little squished, giving the car a bit of a cartoonish look, it looks a bit like Lightening McQeen from Cars.

The MX-5 RF has quite a complicated roof opening/closing mechanism, it’s similar to the Porsche 911 Targa’s mechanism. The roof opens/closes in about 19 seconds and this can be done while the car is moving, but only up to speeds of 10 km/hour, which is kind of useless in my opinion. Either don’t let the roof to go/down while the car is moving or raise the speed to a useful number.

The MX-5 is all about weight saving, so my question is, why couldn’t Mazda do a traditional targa top on the RF, I’m sure the mechanics of this system add quite a bit of weight compared to a traditional manually operated T-top.

Interior

The interior is also the same as the roadster, with the addition of a button that opens/closes the retractable hardtop. I like the simplicity of the interior, all the buttons/knobs are very easy to understand and use.

My biggest complaint about the MX-5 roadster was the amount of noise in the cabin at highway speeds, with the hardtop, the noise does go down but it’s still a pretty loud interior at highway speeds, but you can have a conversation much easier in the RF than in the roadster.

I really liked the exhaust note on the MX-5 roadster, you do lose some of that noise with the roof up but with the roof down, the exhaust still has a nice raspy tone to it.

Overall Impressions

What’s not to like about a small, lightweight, rear-wheel drive sports car with a playful personality. I had a great time reviewing the 2017 Mazda MX-5 RF GT and went for lots of drives. The car is very fun to drive and is very forgiving, you’d have to do something very stupid to get it wrong. And the best part is, no matter how many long drives you go for, you’re not spending as much money at the pump as you would in other sports cars, thanks to the efficient SKYACTIV engine.