Where each one leads
Lotus Elise
- Against cars of the same age, the Lotus Elise comes out better at its first MOT test (passes 39% more often than average) than the Mazda MX-5 (passes 14% more often than average).
- Against cars of the same year, the Lotus Elise comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 84% less often than average) than the Mazda MX-5 (fails 51% less often than average).
Mazda MX-5
- Fewer Mazda MX-5 cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (9.6% against 50.3%).
- New Mazda MX-5 cars registered in Europe in 2022 average 150 g/km of CO₂ on the WLTP test, against 176 for the Lotus Elise in 2022.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Lotus Elise | Mazda MX-5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 2005–2011 | 2006–2026 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 3,219 (2010–2022) | 112,227 (2010–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 3,449 | 79,525 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 479 | 12,970 |
| In traffic in Finland | — | 645 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Lotus Elise | Mazda MX-5 | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 84% | 74% |
| … against cars of the same age | +39% | +14% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.4% | 0.8% |
| … against cars of the same year | −84% | −51% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 50.3% | 9.6% |
| US owner complaints | 72 | 155 |
| Most complaints about | Engine and engine cooling | Power train |
| Model year with most complaints | 2005 (46) | 2016 (34) |
| US recall campaigns | 6 | 6 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 109 | 3,927 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 2 | — |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Lotus Elise | Mazda MX-5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | — | 8.0 l/100 km (2026) |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol | — | 6.8 l/100 km |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 176 g/km | 150 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 179 kW (240 hp) | 121 kW (162 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | 1,006 kg | 1,106 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €59,552 | €34,590 |
| Average odometer in Finland | — | 137,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).