Ed gave me my pick between the RF and the Ragtop - having reviewed the RF two years ago, I booked the ragtop for my second drive ever of an MX-5. Mazda has a few of them in fleet this summer, and I was very pleased that they gave me the keys to oh-so-red mid-range GS-P with the Sport pkg. Said pkg includes Recaro seats, BBS wheels and Brembo brakes up front for a stiff $4,400.
Apart from some colour swaps for 2023, the MX-5 lost its blue fabric top option (they're all black now) and the base GS lost the automatic transmission option.
The automatic (heresy!!!) is a no-cost option on the GS-P and GT. It's no-cost because you lose the goodies that come with the 3 pedals: Bilstein shocks, strut tower bar, locking diff and sportier suspension tuning. You also get piped-to-cabin induction sounds, as if this thing wasn't loud enough already.
For Canadian pavement, a base GS is thus the only way to get a stick and less-stiff underpinings. Y'all still get the same tires, same size black alloys and the body-colour door tops that were added as std a few years ago.
First order of the day: get in there with the roof on. It gives you pause when you belt is at roof height.