I had a 2006 Mk3 2.0 sport. Benefit was that you had the limited slip diff, disadvantage is that the bigger alloys made the ride harsh.
The soft top is a better option than power hood IMO. Power goods are slow to work on any car. The manual MX5 hood is fantastic and can be up or down in about a second!.
2 biggest concerns. UK Mk3’s have really bad geometry set up. Pay £140 and get the alignment sorted and it transforms the handling from better than most cars to sublime. Make it better still and get the correct length springs retro fitted. For some reason Mazda increased the ride of all UK Mk3’s, so the suspension doesn’t act quite as designed. Second concern for me was that the MX5 grew up too much from the Mk2 to Mk3. Its now a comfy modern car, nit a full on sports car.
Edit: Like what Hora says above.
I found it perfectly ok in the snow, just keep your momentum up.
Are they better than a hit hatch, yes without a doubt. Are they as good as other rwd sports cars, or the MK 1 or MK 2. Nope