On a wet road you can play it like a Caterham, steering it on the throttle. Wonderful

It’s got a new, happier face, it’s more efficient, and it now comes with the option of an automatic gearbox, but all I wanted to know about this update of the third generation version of Mazda’s roadster – MX-5 v3.2, if you like – was whether its handling had been restored to the brilliance the model was once renowned for. I didn’t have to drive very far for the answer.

Launched back in 2005, the third iteration of the MX-5 was not what we were expecting. Reporting from the first drive in Hawaii, our correspondent John Simister said that dynamically the all-new car was dreadful. Really? Perhaps it was a duff batch. Later that year we booked one of the first UK cars for our Car of the Year competition and I can still recall the experience of tackling the first proper corner and the shift in emotions. Entry – keen, yeah! – to apex – oh heck, where’s the steering feel and what’s the back end doing? – to exit – what the hell just happened there?! The front and rear felt as if they had been developed independently, and by people who didn’t like driving. For us the MX-5 had crashed from icon status.

Prior to stepping on a plane to try the revised version, we booked in one of the last of the pre-facelift cars, a 2-litre with the standard-fit Bilstein sports dampers and a limited-slip differential, and although it still rode almost comically high, like a 4x4 roadster, there was a match and a balance between front and rear. The steering still felt a bit too eager, requiring sensitive, considered inputs for smooth progress, but it was a distinct improvement over the early examples.

Happily, on the launch in Italy, there’s a very similar spec 2.0i Sport to try. As before, all 2-litre models come with a slippy diff, and the Sport spec adds the Bilsteins, 17in alloys with 205/45 ZR17 tyres, a six-speed ’box, climate control and a Bose stereo. The car’s off to a good start just by sitting right, without a couple of inches of air in the wheelarches, and once you get rolling there’s every reason to believe things will get better; initial steering inputs feel crisp but not over-eager and the chassis seems taut, planted. Also, the revised 2-litre in-line four, which still makes 158bhp but now revs a little higher and is claimed to be a touch more efficient, sounds a tad more raspy and characterful too.

Ducking off the autostrada and heading up into the hills, the revised roadster shows what it’s made of. The steering response and rate, the damping and the balance of the chassis feel just as good as they did on the second generation MX-5, which is to say in harmony, cohesive, feelsome and poised. Which is exactly what you want on a wet, unfamiliar, winding road, and pretty much essential when a hail storm has left a blanket of ice marbles on the road…

As ever, pedalling the little Mazda is a low-effort exercise, the clutch action being very light, the steering having just enough weight to work against and the gearshift of the six-speed having a snappy action. Even with the extra under-bonnet strut bracing the Sport gets, the shell is far from stiff but this doesn’t spoil things. The further you drive, the more impressive the dynamics become and the more you get dialled into the feedback on offer.

The Mazda feels light on its toes but all the information is there. As the front reaches its limit of grip, through the steering wheel you can feel the outer tread blocks of the outside front tyre nibbling at the surface. Give it the beans now and you need to be ready to catch the tail because although the 2-litre engine isn’t especially potent or torquey, with the diff’s help (and DSC off) it does have enough to push the tail wide, and keep it there gracefully arcing and balanced. It’s easy to gather up, too, which is always the sign of a well-sorted rear-drive chassis. If you have the confidence, on a wet road you can drive it like you would a Caterham, playing it on the edge of adhesion and steering it on the throttle whenever you feel like it. Wonderful.

Better still, the entry-level 1.8i, which costs £16,345, demonstrates that same basic rightness – the superbly wrought relationship between steering, ride and handling, and the composure and unflappability under pressure that marks it out as an entertaining drivers’ car. It’s exactly as you might expect after the keen-edged Sport – softer, slower, a bit leggier on its five-speed gearing and less adjustable on the throttle – but it delivers a very rounded and engaging drive. Sure, the 124bhp, 1.8-litre engine lacks low-down torque and top-end power compared with the 2-litre, but the meat of the engine’s delivery is good, and there’s a bit of zing about it.

Also, the base 1.8i feels more confident on the 205/50 Yokohama Advans that come with the 16in alloys, their turn-in response and grip with the softer, standard suspension being superior to the 205/45 Bridgestone RE050s fitted to the Sport’s 17in rims. Not what you might expect.

The 17in Bridgestones don’t feel great on the non-Bilstein equipped auto either, though that’s the least of this model’s worries. If there is any car that doesn’t need an automatic gearbox, it has to be the MX-5, which is blessed with one of the world’s best manual shifts. The six-speed torque-converter transmission has been offered in the US since ’05 and comes with paddle controls, upshifts being requested by your fingers behind the wheel, downshifts via thumb operated buttons on the front. They work OK and the box is smooth acting, but this is no snappy, modern dual-clutch transmission (DCT), or even a tightly controlled torque-converter auto. With it the MX-5 loses its focus and precision, throttle response is dulled, the car drifts on the overrun and there’s an unattractive, CVT-style whine at high revs, making it seem as if the 2-litre engine is struggling. Best avoided, then.

Which is a pity because otherwise the face-lifted third generation MX-5 is a thoroughly sorted and entertaining bit of kit. The 2.0i Sport looks like the obvious choice but the fluidity and poise of the base model 1.8i suggests that the entry level 2.0i (£17,345) with the same supple chassis, 205/50 tyres, five-speed ’box and slippy diff, might be the canniest buy.

The bottom line is that the MX-5 is back to being brilliant again. It’s great to be able to say that, and to be able to suggest something other than a fast hatch to those looking for a satisfying drivers’ car for less than £20K, new. There are plenty of hatches that are more powerful and quicker in a straight-line, but none is as entertaining or life affirming as this little rear-drive roadster. Thank you, Mazda.