Now, we have definitive information about the MX-5's new styling direction from a rock-solid source. A senior editor at Japan's Holiday Auto magazine tells us that if you know where to look, you can find just about anything on the Internet these days. Even official manufacturer drawings of future models! That's exactly what we have here.
Based on a technical drawing supplied by Mazda to the Tokyo Patent Office recently, our artist has composed a sketch you see here of what to expect in the aesthetics department from the new roadster. And it's surprisingly simple.
The new MX-5's grille will take on a more basic oval shape along the lines of the first-generation car, a departure from the current model's large "smiley face" grille. The headlights have been given a distinct up-slanting teardrop shape. From what we see in this exclusive sketch, the proportions are almost identical to the 1989 car (which was launched in the U.S. as a 1990 model year car).
The first-generation NA model, which measured in at roughly 156 by 66 by 49 inches and boasted a 116-hp, 1.6-liter engine, was upgraded in 1998 (it appeared in the U.S. as a 1999 model year car) with a bigger 140-hp, 1.8-liter powerplant. Pressure for more power from overseas markets (especially the U.S.) forced Mazda to fit a 160-hp, 2.0-liter 4-cylinder unit in 2005, something chief engineer Takao Kijima reportedly did not want to do.
Kijima's long-term goal to take the MX-5 back to basics rubbed off on his successor, next-generation MX-5 chief engineer Nobuhiro Yamamoto, who says his aim was to create a sub-2200-pound roadster. When planning for the new model started five years ago, around the same time as Mazda's revolutionary Skyactiv technology, the company's mission was to reduce fuel consumption by 30 percent and curb weight by at least 8 percent. The product planners told Yamamoto that he had to lighten and downsize the car, but maintain current interior space levels. After exhaustive restyling, an insider tells us Yamamoto achieved a curb weight of around 2100 pounds, thanks to the car's new lightweight construction made possible in large part through the use of Mazda's new weight-efficient Skyactiv chassis, powertrain, and body.
And with a lighter car, "you can downsize the powertrain," says a source close to Mazda. The new Mazda MX-5 Miata will be fitted with a 1.5-liter Skyactiv-G engine generating around 125 hp with mileage north of 50 mpg in Japanese measurements, mated to a six-speed manual transmission. Meanwhile, the U.S.-spec model will continue to employ a 2.0-liter engine producing upwards of 145 hp.
Slated for a March 2013 debut at the Geneva Motor Show, the new production model is expected to land in showrooms in the fall of 2013.
