2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata Hard-Top

The Mazda MX-5 Miata has always been about simplicity. Design a small, two-seat roadster, give it a quick-fold manual top, one engine choice, and make it fun to drive and very affordable. So, it was out of character when Mazda announced a convertible hard-top version of the MX-5. Sure, a detachable hard-top has always been available. But this new hard-top would be retractable and powered to boot. That’s doesn’t sound simple to us!

All-season hard-top convertibles are nothing new. Granted, adding a solid roof to produce the new 2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata Power Retractable Hard-Top may not suit a few MX-5 purists. But, it may turn out to be one of the best bits of drop-top design, and marketing, that we’ve seen in years.

After all, the rear-drive Mazda MX-5 of the most popular roadsters of all time, due to its fun-to-drive sports car nature, and affordable price.

So offering this new folding hard-top model, which is available in Sport Touring and Grand Touring trim, alongside the familiar manual soft-top version, is sure to bring new buyers into the Miata fold.

And it is simple to operate. Once you release a header latch, and hit a switch on the center stack, the 3-piece top’s main sections fold like a clamshell as the rear glass nests in between. The compact stack then slides under a hard tonneau cover. It takes all of 12 seconds.

While the hard-top fits into the same well as the soft-top, the opening had to be larger. That required some beefing up to maintain rigidity. Thicker body panels around the roof, reinforcements to the rear structure, and a change from aluminum to steel for the deck lid. But, the top itself is not steel but rather lighter sheet molding compound. We’re suitably impressed that the hard-top is only about 80 pounds heavier than the soft-top.

Unlike most hard-top convertibles, lowering the top doesn’t compromise trunk space. It’s a tiny 5.3 cubic feet no matter what.

Also in tact is the third generation MX-5’s more muscular stance, with a subtle power bulge in the aluminum hood as well as the front end’s rounded grille that recalls the original 1990 Miata.

Inside, the hard-top MX-5’s cockpit is identical to the soft-top’s. While it’s still snug for those over 6-foot we appreciate the new generation’s 3.5-inches of added shoulder room, and seats with better support in both back and bottom cushions.

With the hard-top adding so little extra weight, Mazda engineers saw no need for extra horsepower, so the PRHT utilizes the same 2.0-liter twin-cam 4 with variable valve timing. Output is 166 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque.

Owners can choose our car’s 6-speed manual transmission, or the optional 6-speed automatic with steering wheel paddle shifters.

We quick shifted to 60 in 6.9 seconds, and went through the quarter-mile in 15.3 seconds at 92 miles-per-hour. That’s actually a bit quicker than we went in the soft-top last year, so no danger of being considered a slow poke in the hard-top.

To maintain true sports car handing, the MX-5 hard-top gets firmer dampers, higher rear spring rates, and a thicker front anti-roll bar. And it works like a charm, preserving the MX-5’s superb balance and lightning quick response.

Add in optional limited slip differential and electronic stability control, and this hard-top really hugs the road. 

Pricing for the 2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata Power Retractable Hard-Top starts at $24,995 for Sport trim. That’s about $2,800 more than the soft-top. $27,115 will buy our Grand Touring grade test car.

That makes the 2007 Mazda MX-5 PRHT not only one of the most entertaining and fun-to-drive hard-top roadsters available today, but the most affordable as well.

While it may be not be quite as simple as the original MX-5 Miata, this otherwise straightforward little roadster has ever more solid appeal.