The 2009 styling update made the MX-5 a bit more dynamic looking, and slightly more aerodynamic, with new thin-spoke wheel designs.   In front, a new grille shape is complimented by headlight clusters that integrate white turn-signal lenses.   More prominently flared side sills connect the wheel wells below the doors.   In back, all lights are incorporated under one lens.  

In general, Mazda has done a masterful job designing the MX-5.   This third-generation Miata evokes the themes of the original 1990 model and the second-generation car of 1999-2005.   Yet the current MX-5 is slightly larger in every measure than previous versions, from what's beneath the hood to the interior to the shadow it casts on the road.  

The MX-5 design has definitely evolved since the beginning, especially when seen from the side.   Sharply sculpted wheel flares appear to be adapted from the high-performance RX-8 coupe, in an example of what the company calls Mazda design DNA.   The flared wheel arches also spread wide enough to cover the current Miata's wider track.   (Track is the distance between the left and right wheels).   It's three inches wider in front, two inches wider in the rear when compared with the previous-generation MX-5.   This gives the car a more athletic stance, and it makes the MX-5 look more aggressive and less cuddly than its predecessors.  

The convertible soft top is Mazda's best yet, and one of the best anywhere.   The standard vinyl top, with its heated glass rear window, collapses into a well behind the seats cleanly and completely, requiring no cover boot.   The top looks neatly finished when it's down, with no additional effort.   It's manually operated, but so light and easy to use you can raise or lower it with one hand while sitting in the driver's seat.   No one will ever pine for power assist, though we do appreciate the upgrade from the base vinyl roof to the woven fabric that comes on the Grand Touring model.  

The Power Retractable Hard Top is a cinch to operate, quick to fold, and a miracle of space efficiency.   Stop the car and put it in neutral (or Park for the automatic).   Pop a single handle at the top of the windshield, touch a button on the dash, and in 12 seconds the top has contorted itself into the same well the soft-top uses.   The hardtop is made of lightweight materials: sheet molding compound on the outside and glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene on the inside.   The entire apparatus including electric motors adds less than 80 pounds to an impressively light car.  

Other weight-saving measures include an aluminum hood and trunk lid, aluminum suspension components, and extensive use of high-strength and ultra high-strength steel in the basic body shell.   These design features help maintain a sports-car appropriate weight balance of 51 percent over the front wheels and 49 percent over the rear in the hard top.   That, in turn, promotes the MX-5's wonderful agility and handling balance.