We have blogged about what’s to come for the 2014 Mazda MX-5 in the past. At the time it was reported that the MX-5 Miata was going to be lighter than the current model by around 720 lbs and when I reported on this last August, the word was that the MX-5 would come with a 1.5-liter SkyActiv-G four-cylinder engine that would produce up to 160 horsepower and would be mated to a six-speed manual transmission with an option to change to a dual-clutch semi-automatic transmission.
It appears though that Mazda still has not settled on which engine will make its way into the next generation MX-5. Auto Guide reported last month that the engine originally planned for the MX-5 didn’t cut it and neither did a version of their current SkyActiv 2.0L four-cylinder engine. The 1.5 did not meet Mazda’s performance requirements and the 2.0L didn’t have the fuel economy.
So what now? Well it seems that the solution may come in the form of a 1.8L SkyActiv four-cylinder 1.3L or 1.5L turbo-charged engine. The new turbo engine will employ SkyActiv technologies like variable cam phasing with lower friction parts to boost performance and fuel economy and will also be mated to reduced-friction transmissions.
Whichever powerplant Mazda decides on, you can expect the car to produce roughly 150 hp with about a 10-percent improvement in fuel economy from the current MX-5’s (22 city/28 highway mpg). The new Miata is scheduled to make a debut by mid-2014 and will be priced under $25,000.
Gwynne-
2014 MX-5 Going SkyActiv Turbo September 13th, 2018CorkSport
The CorkSport team has been on the road this week first sponsoring and attending the 5th annual EECMM (Epic East Coast Mazda Meet) held in Robbinsville, NC (think Tail of the Dragon) and then onto Las Vegas for the SEMA (specialty Equipment Market Association) show where more than 100,000 attendees and 2000 exhibitors met for four days at the largest annual automotive gathering and car show.
Appropriately named, EECMM was truly an epic event. Mazda enthusiasts from all over the east met up in Robbinsville, NC for five full days of cruising stretches of the famous Hwy 129, deals gap, a car show with awards and plenty of raffle prizes and evenings of BBQ’s and parties at the smoky mountain mansion with no shortage of good times had by all.
If you are not already familiar, the Tail of the Dragon is an 11 mile stretch with 318 curves and is America’s number one sports car road. The nearby Cherohala Skyway is another 60 miles of scenic mountain highway for the driving enthusiast to enjoy a more leisurely ride with it’s long, sweeping corners and scenic views.
CorkSport spent Saturday with the Epic crew. The car show featured about 60 cars and CorkSport was on hand with giveaways for the all of the attendees. Following the show the group went out for a ride on the Tail of the Dragon run while CorkSport prepared back at the mansion for a focus group. We then sat down with a group of customers and got the unique opportunity to gain feedback on what we are doing that works and what we can do to improve our products and services for the Mazda community. We stayed for some of the evening’s festivities, but had to run so we could catch an early flight out and onto Las Vegas the following morning.
What a great group of people and awesome event! If you haven’t made it to EECMM yet, you need to go! Keep posted on 2012’s event and stay connected on the EECMM facebook page.
Back to the other side of the country, SEMA kicked off on Monday.
Mazda had the MX-5 Spyder on display at this year’s show. This Lighterweight version of the Miata ditches the heavier retractable roof and in its place had a single-panel bikini soft top made by Haartz. Weight savings came in other forms as well with a light weight lithium ion racing battery and light weight Advan RS wheels. It got a the 2.0 liter 4-cylinder turbo enabled biofuel engine which promotes the greener direction Mazda is moving in.
As promised, the concept Mazda 2 turbo was also on display at the show with a Speed3 263-horsepwer turbocharged, direct-injected MZR 2.3 Liter engine under the hood.
If you can’t wait for the Mazdaspeed2 to go into full production, the concept car built by Autobarn for the one lap of America race is available for purchase for an astounding ticket price of $94,999.
The booth also had a slightly less modded Mazda2 tuned by 3dCarbon, a MX-5 Super 20 custom and a classic Cosmo on display.
Flat-finished paint was all the rage at this year’s show and was embraced by hotrods and custom cars alike. The level of flatness/gloss ranged in scale from matte to reduced sheen and was available in every color from pearl white to bright orange.
There was a lot to be seen at this show. It could not possibly all be covered in this post, but an honorable mention extends to the new Lamborghini LP700-4 Aventador in the Pirelli booth. It has a v12 engine and can achieve 700 HP and top speeds of 270 mph. It was hard to resist falling in love with it!
The show continues today with Derrick still in attendance who I am sure will follow this post with some thoughts of his own from the show.
It’s been a long week, but it is always great to get out and and get to know our customers better, put faces to names, and find out what’s going on in the community.
Gwynne –
SEMA & EECMM 2011 – Mazda Events and Car Shows East to West! September 13th, 2018CorkSport
I normally don’t just write about show cars that are seen in a SEMA booth by themselves for my blog posts. Mx-5s are not a normal focus of mine either. In the Mazdaspeed booth at the SEMA show was a good looking Mx5. The MX-5 had fender extensions to give it a wide body look and an eye catching paint and graphic scheme with the Super 20 logos. Under the hood are a Cosworth supercharger, Mazdaspeed header, and a Mazdaspeed Japan front tower brace. Again you think so what; it is just a SEMA show car.
What I found interesting is the history on this car. I spoke with a Mazda insider who said this car was built to test the feasibility of releasing a supercharged MX-5 in the showroom. If the economy was better this could be a reality. This is really a “what if” statement but cars like this have become a reality before, which is what really interested me.
If you know your Mazda history another car like this one actually became a production vehicle. The 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé was released. It was a Protégé built in Japan and shipped to the North America to have a turbo kit installed at the port before delivery to dealers. Mazda collaborated with Callaway to provide the turbo charging expertise. The same thing could have happened with the Super 20 and Cosworth.
Unfortunately with the product life cycle of the MX-5 ending in the next few years we will not see this car ever released. This is one of those cars that could have been and should have been.
It really doesn’t feel like 20 years since the Miata was introduced by Mazda back in 1989. I remember the first time I saw one of them. I was on a family vacation to Canada riding bicycles on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and I saw one in a parking lot. It made me stop and go “Wow, that’s a Mazda?” I was still in high school at the time and my only experiences with Mazda were older RX-7s and getting rides to school on snowy days in a 323GTX.
Now, 20 years have past and Mazda is offering a special anniversary edition of the MX-5 (called a Roadster) in Japan. The car is going to be offered with either a power retractable hardtop or a soft top, in special all white paint. The car is equipped with Bilsteins shocks, “20th Anniversary” badges, and heated red Recaro seats with suede inserts, which can be seen below. Some of the optional equipment available are the Bose Audiopilot system and multi-spoke BBS wheels.
My only hope is that North America gets the special edition MX-5 as well. Look at the following the 10th anniversary RX-7 received back in 1988, they are still one of the RX-7s to own for the 86-91 models if you are a die hard collector. If the 20th anniversary model MX-5 makes it here I am sure it will sell out.
