Mazda Convinced It Must Strip Down Next-Gen Miata
By AutoObserver Staff June 13, 2011
According to a senior insider, Mazda Motor Corp. engineers have been tasked with cutting no less than 720 pounds from the near 2,500-pound curb weight of today’s MX-5 Miata in a quest to build a car much closer in character to the 1989 original. It’s a strategic move that Mazda may see as vital to the continued existence of history’s best-selling 2-seat roadster, but also signals a larger need for revitalized thinking in the sportscar market, where popularity has waned and sales have plummeted in the past half decade.
The MX-5 Miata has been the prototype affordable sportscar for a generation and is the model perhaps most closely tied with Mazda’s cherished “Zoom-Zoom” brand image. Yet like virtually every other sportscar, regardless of layout, price or pedigree, Miata sales have slumped from pre-recession highs as newly – and in many cases, involuntarily – practical consumers find less reason to spend limited discretionary income on impractical cars.
The Miata actually has been one of the lesser-damaged members of the breed. Data from Edmunds.com shows that compared with 2005 levels, sales of the Miata last year dropped 34 percent – and are running at one-third of its year-2000 level. Sales in 2010 for the Chevrolet Corvette slid 61 percent compared with 2005; Mazda’s own RX-8 coupe plunged 92 percent to just 1,134 sales for all of 2010. The trend is similar across the broad sportscar market, including for most high-end luxury-performance models.
‘Less’ Could Be The New Black
In its leanest form, Mazda’s original 1989 Miata weighed 2,178 pounds in U.S. specification, meaning weight has increased 15 percent in about 20 years. Now Mazda believes a smaller engine, fewer frills, some new technology – and, of course, that thrilling prospect of shedding 30 percent of its current weight – could be a formula that leads to a renaissance for the Miata. Judged solely by sales numbers, it might be argued something needs to happen for the Miata, as well as for most other sportscars.
Our product-planning source does not think the 750-pound weight-reduction objective will be met, but described progress as “not bad.” Look for the most weight saving to be achieved with high-strength steel for the new Miata’s body, a smaller, lighter engine and a more minimalist specification. There apparently has been much debate on what features are expendable. The glovebox likely will disappear, for example, in favor of other storage options that weigh less. Also to go are the owners manual, which could be supplied on a memory stick.
The next-generation Miata will be narrower to reduce its frontal area and weight, although the biggest crash challenge is side impact protection, says the source. Protecting pedestrians during frontal impacts does require a pyrotechnic hood, he says. The new Miata’s engine could be as small as 1.4 liters, turbocharged and equipped with direct injection and variable cam phasing as part of Mazda’s expanding SKYACTIV engineering efficiency program. And engineers are working to make the manual shift action as mechanically precise and satisfyingly quick-throw as the original car’s.
One challenge for Mazda will pricing for a “stripped-down” new Miata. It will be more compact, have a smaller engine and probably carry less feature content than today’s car – a development path which might force a reduction of price. Although a price reduction for a low-volume model surely is a tough sell to corporate accountants, a lower-priced Miata could at least conceivably make more room for a next-generation version of the rotary engine-powered RX.
Whatever the outcome, another company insider said the new Miata probably won't be coming as soon as some might expect. Mazda is devoting heavy research and development money and manpower to bringing the SKYACTIV technologies to market – and some development programs have had to be deferred as a result. One of them is the sports car line-up, so a new Miata might not come now for a couple of years, despite the fact the current third-generation model has been in the market since 2005, with a facelift in 2009.
LEAVE A COMMENT