The faithful Mazda MX-5 Roadster is due a refresh soon and details of the upgrades are coming in. The styling won’t be much different this time, with the designers focussing on making this roadster even more fun to drive. While it has always been the forgiving agility of this lightweight roadster that charms drivers rather than outright performance, enthusiasts have long asked Mazda to offer a more powerful option. The Japanese company have until now held back, not wanting to damage the purity of the original concept. Mazda must hope that this latest car will satisfy everyone.
The headline improvement is a significant increase in power for the 2-litre model from 158 to 184 horsepower. Rather than adding a turbo, Mazda has done it the old-fashioned way by tuning the engine to rev higher. The redline comes in at 7,500 rpm now rather than 6,800, made possible by redesigned pistons, conrods and crank along with other mechanical and electrical tweaks. The result is said to have improved acceleration and throttle response. The 1.5-litre also gets some engine upgrades but this isn’t reflected in such a large increase in power output.
The once spartan MX-5 can’t avoid the march of progress and gets a fresh sprinkling of technology in the cabin. This includes a Reversing camera and Traffic Sign Recognition.
Launch dates and prices are yet to be confirmed but the new Mazda MX-5 Miata will arrive in Japan first before finding its way around the world.
Have a bad left knee, so cant use a clutch, thinking of mx5 2.0 Auto…Will it do the job for me?? Will the paddle shifts be as usefull as a manual?? I know the manual is good on mx5, wondering if I would be happy with the Auto. Thanks Heaps
NO