FOURTH-GEN BEAUTY
Coming soon, the Mazda MX5 continues the evolution of the two-seat roadster,
HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.— Dave Coleman, a vehicle development engineer for Mazda North America, was done outlining the vast number of changes to the outgoing third-generation NC edition of the Mazda MX-5 (nee Miata) that turned it into the new Gen 4 ND model — smaller, lighter, roomier, faster, better handling, better riding, better braking, more efficient, cleaner.
I asked him: “Geez Dave, what were you thinking when you guys did the NC?”
He smiled — pretty much his permanent facial expression — and just said, “Ten years of careful development.”
The 2016 MX-5 goes on sale later this summer, starting at $31,900.
As we told you four months ago after we had driven the car in Spain, that development has paid off in spades. The car is simply brilliant to drive.
The key to it all, as Coleman notes, is that the end game has never changed: “It’s a car that’s fun to drive, at all speeds, and for drivers at all skill levels, from grandmothers to Grand Prix drivers.”
This meant front engine, rear drive, modest power, light weight and what the Japanese phrase jinba ittai connotes—a “oneness between horse” (OK, car) “and rider” (OK, driver).
Nor has the basic structure of the car changed much. Just looking at photos of the chassis of the original NA and the new ND, you’d be hardpressed to identify one from the other.
The so-called Power Plant Frame (PPF) — a single truss running longitudinally from the back of the transmission to the differential housing — is not there for structure per se, says Coleman. Instead, the idea is to remove as much flexing between the powertrain components induced by the various bushings needed to isolate the cabin from vibrations and road noise.
This reduces the nose-up attitude the engine would take under acceleration, hence improving driving stability, with the objective being to maintain the driver’s connection to the machine.
But like every single component of the new car, the PPF was modified. It is thinner, hence lighter, and corkscrewed ever so slightly in end view so as to minimize intrusion for the left-seat occupant (driver in our case; passenger in right-hand-drive markets).
This car drives as if it were hardwired into your cerebral cortex. Cornering is dynamic yet ultra-controllable. Boost level from the electrically assisted steering is nigh-on perfect at all road speeds. Ride quality is better than before.
The cabin, while smaller when measured by industry-standard SAE protocols, is in practice roomier, thanks to detailed carving out of space for elbows and knees.
If you are much above 6 feet, you will still feel a bit cramped, but you should fit better than before. And because you sit lower in the car, the top of the windshield will be less likely to bisect your eyeballs’ field of vision.
The two biggest changes to the car we will get compared to what I drove in Spain: left-hand drive and the 155 horsepower 2.0 litre engine versus the Rest of World Only 131-horse 1.5 litre unit.
There was some thought given to making the 1.5 available in North America. I said when I drove it that I figured there could be a market for it among the real purists. But Coleman notes it isn’t all that much less expensive to make than the 2.0 litre, and they couldn’t have offered much of a price break without killing all profit.
Other aspects of the new car are worth mentioning.
As the owner — well, husband of the owner — of a1999 (NB) Miata, I could truly appreciate how much easier the new top is to erect and lower. The new roof is actually under spring tension when closed. Release the catch behind your head and the roof pops up about a third of the way all by itself. Grab it with one hand, pull it down onto the windshield header, and lock it in.
Just about everyone asks Coleman why the car doesn’t have a telescoping steering wheel, not that Miata/ MX-5 has ever had one, although it does tilt).
“Weight,” he says instantly. “Have you ever hefted one of those?” Um, no. “They’re very heavy. We fought so hard to get weight out of the car; we just couldn’t go there.”
He then asked me, “Did you find the wheel too close or too far?”
“Too far,” I said, “although just a bit.”
“Yeah, just about everyone says that. We are so constrained by safety concerns and crash standards that this is about as good as we could get it.”
One place where they did add a bit of non-functional weight: “We went to an aluminum valve cover. We just felt that in a car like this, the engine should look like more than a bunch of black plastic bits.” Amen, Brother Dave. Anote about the $31,900 pricing for the entry-level GX. I said in that earlier story that I didn’t expect the price would be much higher than the outgoing car’s, which at the moment stands at $29,495. Given that air conditioning, an $1,195 option last year, is now standard, that’s effectively an increase of $1,210. Considering the improved performance and technology, that seems reasonable.
The performance-oriented GS, with limited-slip diff, 17-inch wheels versus 16s, seven-inch touchscreen and very cool-looking body colour door caps, starts at $35,300. We won’t get the BBS wheels/ Brembo brakes package the Americans get until the 2017 model year. The more luxury-oriented GT brings a bunch of nanny driving aids, a nine-speaker BOSE premium sound system and leather upholstery, starting at $39,200.
In all cases, it’s your choice — sixspeed manual or six-speed automatic, no extra charge. Automatic? In a Miata? Yes. In recent years, the take rate on the autobox has been around 40 per cent. Given how manual gearboxes seem embedded in the mind of sports car enthusiasts, and how wonderful the new six-speed manual is, that might seem surprising.
But Mazda reads the sales charts, and understands that the younger drivers to whom they are pitching this car very often want nothing to do with a manual gearbox or a clutch pedal. These customers also not only are comfortable with such technologies as audio streaming, SatNav and touch screens in their cars, they demand them. And so the sports car evolves. If Coleman and other Miata nerds (as he calls himself ) can get a new generation of drivers to love tossing their cars down a twisty two-lane blacktop road, even if the car is shift- ing gears for itself, their efforts will not have been in vain. Jim Kenzie is a regular contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. To reach Wheels Editor Norris McDonald: nmcdonald@thestar.ca