Mazda MX-5 gives the best PS per pound (don’t tell the ASA)

Speed and power are two things that put the Advertising Standards Authority in a tizzy whenever it has to judge complaints about car commercials.

This must give carmakers a headache when it comes to ensuring their sports cars grab the attention of the UK’s petrolhead community. Of course, a plethora of motoring magazines and websites do their best to give these halo models a good going over, but as sports cars need to be, well, sporty, we felt it was time to see how our long-term MX-5 RF compares with other new roadsters on paper.

The evidence shows our car is the third slowest to 62mph, and despite having the joint-largest engine (many rivals use smaller, turbocharged units) it has the third-lowest power output. But the MX-5 combines sportiness with value better than any of its peer group – buyers seeking stats for their pub banter will be delighted it delivers 6.16PS power output per £1,000 spent, which is better even than premium rivals. Even the more closely priced Fiat and Abarth 124, which share much of the MX-5’s underpinnings, cannot match it.

It’s easy to understand why the MX-5 remains the world’s best-selling sports car.