It’s funny how you can think you’re imagining things. When we first got the latest-shape MX-5 I was sure I could feel it surging slightly when I had it on a steady throttle, but I discounted the problem as a figment of my imagination. However,  John Barker, having driven the Mazda at Car of the Year last month, declared that my noggin wasn’t playing tricks on me – there was almost certainly an engine management issue.

I phoned a Mazda dealer to book the MX-5 in and was warned that finding the cause of a problem like this could take longer than a day. But when I dropped the car off the next morning I was told that there was now a recall on all new MX-5s (that’s what I call quick work!) for a software upgrade because of engine surging. A-ha!

When I picked the car up later that day it had been cleaned (nice touch) and the surging problem hasn’t re‑occurred since. Perfect.