The next-gen MX-5 Miata thread

[homeforsummer]

A little redundant now that better images have been posted above, but I was at LA earlier in the week and had a good poke around the white car.

I was already a fan of the looks of the car after my initial shock, but in the metal it's a dozen times better still. Proportions look great, cockpit is snug and the details work far better.

Only reservation after having a brief sit in is that the pedals don't seem ideally placed for heel/toe, for me at least. They seem to be arranged more for the large-of-foot to roll the side of their foot across onto the gas, rather than to give it a proper toe on brake, heel on throttle job. Since I don't have large feet, I prefer the latter. Could be fixed with pedal extensions, I suppose.

The other thing that may be off-putting for some is that the styling lends itself to a higher rear deck, which makes the cabin feel a little more claustrophobic than previous generations. May also mean better refinement with the roof down, though.

 

[eSZee]

You're not the first person to mention the "claustrophobic" feeling.
As for the pedals, it seems they did the same thing as they did in the NC.

 

[05XR8]

Regarding the higher deck. Is the seating position lower than the NC or is the rear deck closer to the seats in design than the NC? Ive felt I had less room when I drove the PRHT than when i drove the soft top NC.

 

[Keef]

As far as I know, the seats are mounted lower than in the NC. @05XR8

 

[homeforsummer]

Given they're such different designs, it's hard to judge. It's only really the rear deck that feels quite high though, because the new design means the window line drops at the doors. And the view out the front isn't dissimilar to previous cars.

 

[RocZX]

Confrmed- Alfa Romeo will not get MX-5 based car but Fiat-Abarth will and Alfa Romeo will make their own car.

The forthcoming Alfa Romeo Spider will not be a rebodied Mazda MX-5, it has been confirmed to CAR magazine. -- the head of the Alfa brand revealed that its new Spider would be developed in-house, rather than in collaboration with the Japanese.

CAR magazine’s European editor Georg Kacher interviewed Harald Wester, the brand chief of both Alfa Romeo and Maserati . And two sentences of his transcript stand out.

‘As far as the Spider goes, the final version is of course no longer the two-seater FCA [Fiat Chrysler Automobile] codeveloped with Mazda but a derivative of project Giorgio,’ Wester told us.

Project Giorgio is the codename for the Italians’ new in-house rear-wheel drive architecture which will underpin most of Alfa Romeo’s future models, including the new Giulia 159 replacement and now the new Spider as well.

Wester confirmed that the Italians' Mazda MX-5 partnership is far from dead, however. ‘The Far East import will probably find a new home with Fiat-Abarth,’ he told us - raising the prospect of a new Fiat Barchetta or long-rumoured proper standalone Abarth sports car.

CAR magazine

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I actually really like the idea of a Fiat-Abarth Spider based on the MX-5.

 

[CodeRedR51]

That explains the mule with the Chrysler stickers on it.

 

[Keef]

That virtually guarantees that the Alfa will be terrible and won't sell, the Fiat will be great but won't sell, and the Mazda will be great and will sell like hotcakes.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

That virtually guarantees that the Alfa will be terrible and won't sell, the Fiat will be great but won't sell, and the Mazda will be great and will sell like hotcakes.

Yes, but you are forgetting that Alfa Romeo, once upon a time, sold a truly great little spider:

Built from 1966 all the way until 1994, this little car was great. Really, the only reason for it's demise was a little upstart sports car that was comprehensively better and simultaneously more reliable and durable from Maz...oh...

Continue as you were.

 

[homeforsummer]

Built from 1966 all the way until 1994, this little car was great. Really, the only reason for it's demise was a little upstart sports car that was comprehensively better and simultaneously more reliable and durable from Maz...oh...

Continue as you were.

While I understand the sarcasm, it's possibly not the fairest of comparisons. By the time the MX-5 came out the Alfa was already as old as the Miata is today with relatively little in the way of development. Its demise wasn't through competition from the MX-5, it was the natural obsolescence of a 30-year old design.

If Mazda was still selling the noisy, slow, spartan, relatively unsafe, thirsty Miata NA today and someone came out with a roadster that trounced it in pretty much every area, most people probably wouldn't buy the NA Miata. And I say that as someone who adores the first-gen MX-5.

 

[05XR8]

Where are those Alfa buyers coming from? Mini owners? Boxster/Cayman owners? It sure won't be hipsters. Space and price will be the tough sell. I doubt MX5 owners or MX-5 fans that passed on the NC, will stand in line for the Alfa. The Abarth, maybe. But, I hope for the sake of the Abarth, it wont be like the Lancia Thema to Saab's 9000T. Or the Eagle Premiere and that Renault version (or was it the other way 'round?)

 

[homeforsummer]

I think the Alfa roadster thing, and the Fiat one for that matter, is fairly simple.

In Europe at least, most manufacturers have shown (even those with less successful overall ranges) that a model that hits the mark can sell regardless.

Citroen spent years flailing about discounting all and sundry to keep up its sales, and now sells the DS3 which has been a massive success from the get-go. It's the right product for the right time. Fiat did the same with the 500, although it was already on a bit of a roll from the Panda which was also an excellent product. Even Audi was a bit of an underdog before the original TT came out, and look at it now.

Supposing Alfa makes a cracker of a roadster, I don't see why they can't do well right off the bat. Now obviously, the two-seat roadster market is a heck of a lot smaller overall than B-segment superminis, but Mazda has shown that the segment still exists. And during the 90s the segment sustained far more cars than just the MX-5, so there's little reason it can't do so again.

 

[CodeRedR51]

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/08/bbr-promising-mazda-miata-power-increase/

 

[05XR8]

Can't wait... but I'll have to.

 

[analog]

If only they'd made a fixed head version.

 

[dsgerbc]

Sat in one in Detroit. Still no telescoping steering?! WTF Mazda. A major deal breaker. I was able to get a decent seating position in the NC (and before), here my knees hit the underdash if I move close enough to have a proper reach to the steering wheel.

 

[Kitten]

Yes, but you are forgetting that Alfa Romeo, once upon a time, sold a truly great little spider:

Built from 1966 all the way until 1994, this little car was great. Really, the only reason for it's demise was a little upstart sports car that was comprehensively better and simultaneously more reliable and durable from Maz...oh...

Continue as you were.

<3 my dad had 3 of them.. He still has 1 and restoring one right now . Even had one in this color .

 

[JR98]

I have loved the MX-5 since I saw it, especially the 1989-1994 NA model. I liked the change to the NB in 2000 and thought it looked a lot more modern. The NC was even better in 2007 but still thought the NA looked better. Not a fan of the ND design though

 

[Cale]

From a video that was taken down.

- 1.5 is the preferred engine according to Mazda
- 7500 rpm redline
- this is a prototype, production cars available in August
- electrical steering is a bit 'light' around the center
- car weighs 997kg only 30kg more than the first NA
- 1.5 has 131hp
- price (for the 1.5) will be similar to NC"

 

[Keef]

Hopefully it's got the fuel mileage to match. Either way, I'll still be taking the big engine.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Modification #1: sway bars.

 

[Team THRT Drift]

#2: roll cage.

 

[Heldenzeit]

All the body roll haha. Looks fun.

 

[05XR8]

From a video that was taken down.

- price (for the 1.5) will be similar to NC"

Price In Australia...

 

[Legro]

- price (for the 1.5) will be similar to NC"

So about 30,000 €.

 

[homeforsummer]

First verdicts are starting to appear: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mazda/mx-5/90240/convertible

 

[niky]

I want my hands on that 1.5, like... yesterday.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

The 1.5 in my 2 feels pretty good. The new mx-5 is the same weight as my car (roughly) with 30 more hp. While my car doesn't exactly feel slow, I don't know if 30hp would make it feel quick enough to be a sports car.

 

[niky]

I reckon a 130 hp 1.5 would get that thing to 100 km/h in maybe a little over 9, depending on its torque band. Not fast, but compared to the original NA, it would be crackling.