The Mazda MX-5 Miata was first unveiled back in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show, and it had since received an overwhelming response from both enthusiasts and car critics which had strongly fuelled its run to survive all the way until today. With the principal of unifying both the driver and the car into a single entity or Jinba ittai, the rear-wheeled Miata has a very neutral handling characteristic and not bite back viciously.
And now, the next gen of the Miata will receive some new touches to have an extra edge from its earlier versions. Mazda engineers are trying their best to strip nearly 100kg to the already light car, bringing the new MX-5 to a final curb weight of around 1,000kg for the base model. But they are not going to stop there as powering up this cute roadster is also in their plan.
For a bit more power, the Miata will also be strapped on with a turbocharger on its 1.3-liter engine, bring up a number of 33-horsepower more than the current 2.0-liter naturally aspirated version, which means 200 horses on a lightweight car. That will definitely spur up some fun while driving with the top down.
All of these are customizations that the customers are able to choose to spice up their Miatas and “to help a customer’s relationship with the car”. There is also rumor of a much more hardcore, stripped out version to follow after, but we will find out about that soon enough. This new Mazda MX-5 is currently developed in cooperation with Alfa Romeo, and is expected to hit the showrooms is 2015 alongside the Alfa’s Spider.
