There aren’t many things that haven’t been written already about the latest generation of the globe’s arguably most popular roadster, the all-new Mazda MX-5.

With the first pre-production cars having arrived in Europe and Mazda being the honoured brand at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Japanese roadster is looking ready to bring even more fans to the Miata cult.

The ND generation is 100kg lighter and more compact from the previous model with 105mm taken out of the total length and the wheelbase being 15mm shorter. Mazda says this generation has the lowest centre of gravity in the series since the original model.

The base engine is a 129hp 1.5-litre Skyactiv-G unit, with the 2.0-litre one producing 158hp. Both versions are offered with a six-speed manual gearbox, while the 2.0-litre model is offered optionally with the Sport spec, which includes sportier Bilstein dampers, a limited slip differential, a front strut bar, 17-inch alloys and body coloured mirrors.

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