While I completely accept your opinion, to say a mk2 is twice better in every way is a difficult to take seriously. Just my opinion 
Eh?
Where did I say that?
Sorry pal, I thought I was replying to the original post.
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Don’t Know What I’m Doing Re Tech…But This Quote is For Reg
Managed to Do a Quote For you From George Drummond
I’ve Really Enjoyed the Can of Worms You Opened
As previously mentioned, I also own a Porsche Boxster 2.9lt PDK and if I wanted to hit 60mph in about 5 seconds my choice would be simple but, I enjoy my 6 speed gearbox on my 2lt NC Sports car, as it’s a completely different great driving experience and it’s fast enough for me.
My daily drive is a Mercedes 350 GLS Auto Grand Edition that has every bit of luxury one could ever want in a vehicle - massage/air conditioning seats, tv etc. However, I still like getting my MX5 NC 2007 out of the garage whenever I can, as it’s a pleasure to own and drive a true sports car in its own right.
If this is controversial, I would like to apologise in advance but my NC has a special place in my garage along with my Porsche.
They are all fantastic cars I just think the nc was made as more of a every day car where as the earlier two models were brilliant straight out of the box in standard form the mk3 just didn’t feel quite so nimble and direct .
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You Are So Right Reg and Whoever Mentioned [Could Be a Different Thread]
That the MX5 Designers Have Felt Increasingly Under Pressure to Turn It Into a ‘Bigger Version’ of Itself from the NC Onwards
Driven a few ND’s over the years, including a Mazda Pre Launch VIP day.
As a regular Mk1 owner/driver and a Mk2.5 as you know, to my mind ( and I wrote a post VIP report in another 5 Forum afterwards) the ND was to, paraphrase myself, the Mk1 RS etc revisited for the 21st Century…back to it’s roots of compact light weight, snug interior,(ish) and a lovely superglue chassis.
I recall the only thing that stood out as a negative that glorious day when I was allowed the thrash 3 versions over 40 miles each, was the awfully light electric tiller but I got used to it so much so my Mk2.5 tiller felt like a Ferguson tractor for a few homebound miles…
No doubt to my mind…the ND is perhaps the last I.C. 4 pot engined Huzzah of the MX5 as we know them.
At 70 years of age next year, I have to re-apply my Licence. God willing, I might get another 10 years a
the wheel safely…and I suspect it’ll be in my Mk1. Unless I can perform then as I do today…I’ll hang my boots up and keep a decades long record of doing no harm intact.
I’ll have had the best years of driving & motoring in car history by then.
How lucky…to be a Boomer.
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Meant as a Compliment…Doing My First Quote Ever
Re: Driving Licence
Illegitimi non carborondum
I Was Asked Out of The Blue to Re-Apply For My Licence Aged 61 yrs !
Massive Computer Data Bases Going On Here Plus Complex Algorithms
Spewing Out Loads of Auto Paperwork
Resulting in Unnecessary Stress/Anxiety ?
Only You and Nearest & Dearest Really Know Whether You Need to Hang Up Your Boots
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Indeed.
And, thank you. 
I have owned a new Mk2 (2004), upgraded in 2007 to a new Mk3 roadster (the Mk2 was good, but the Mk 3 was better - just as much fun but far more refined… and the electric roof!).
After owning that for 14 faultless years I decided I wasn’t getting any younger and it was time to experience something different. So I bought a new ND! In Soul Red of course! It is in turn a better car in every way but one than the Mk3. What isn’t as good? The electric rack is not as ‘talkative’ as the hydraulic one on the Mk3. But not by much! It’s still quite excellent!
I went for a soft top ND as I don’t like the ND roadster. With the roof down it is not an open car - it is merely a Targa top. And not as good looking, roof up or down, as the soft top. Why did Mazda do that?
Well Vinny,as the farmer quipped when he kissed his prize cow’s arriss, " It’s all a matter of taste old boy"
And…Mazda did sell 'em all…so somebody loves them.
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I have an ND RF if the wind got in my hair it would blow away.
My other convertible is a 1936 Triumph Gloria 4 Seat Tourer, great for a bit of sedate driving, no synchromesh on any gear, advance and retard on the steering wheel , but for a bit of fun the MX5 every
time. There are also Land Rovers here for the odd tow home.
After my MGPA the Mazda is the car that MG should have made and it is with a little sadness that I had to go Japanese. As my 70’s disappear the Mazda ND will stay. 
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Respect [Can’t Find Wise Owl Emoji]
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Sort of says it for me … i.e. dissatisfaction with the mk3 perhaps wasn’t the primary motivation to sell? Having started 12 years back with an '04 mk 2.5, then a '98 mk1 I now drive a '12 mk 3.5, all unmodified 1.8s. For me the mk 1 was the most “fun” knowing there were no driver assists between me and the wheels. But it came at a price: comfort. The mk 2 was comfortable even for a wonderful Alpine adventure driving the Swiss passes but the mk 3.5 beats them both on that score.
Now, that may not be why you want an MX5 but I have a yardstick: the B4380 between Buildwas and Atcham. We drove it last night and on Wednesday both to and from Shrewsbury and home. It is a great measure for the cars because it combines twisty road with climbs and drops. Using the “right” combination gear and revs you can pretty-much keep it at 60 (or even a tad over) and it really shows what a 5 can do. Only thing I’d say about the mk 3.5 is that I have to work it a little harder … but it still delivers. If I could have a mk 1 with all the comfort of the 3.5 then that would do it for me, but that’s as much because the 1 has the lines and popups that just makes it aesthetically the winner (IMHO).
Final note: 3 1/2 years ago I inherited my father’s Mercedes 250SLK, also a '12 model with the same tin-foldy rood that we have on the mk 3.5. In comparison that car was cr*p. In just over 2 years of ownership the air con failed, battery died, abs sensors failed, and it leaked like a sieve because the super-lightweight magnesium alloy roof buckled in the sun eventually refusing to re-seat against the windscreen so it whistled at any appreciable speed 
a problem that Mercedes refused to acknowledge. It may have twice the horses with its turbo’d 1.8 litre engine which was a marvel. But as a car to own it was miserable and it needed all of its driver assists to keep it planted. The 5 does all of that with far more reliability and you know that you can trust it to deliver, every time, even when going light cresting a climb on a hard corner … I don’t care which model, to me they are all special and they all give … you perhaps just have to ask a little harder from the mk 3.
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between the swan and the flamingo 
or if you use search for emoji then it appears along with bowl and bowling 
Agree with both:
MORE RESPECT 
Re Tech
Thanks Redunblack