This Just In!!!! (Miata Content)

If they can do this, I might just bite:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/04/mazda-sets-lightweight-target-of-2-200-pounds-for-next-gen-mx-5/

2200 lbs and 50MPG and Miata handling?

Sounds great. I hope it happens.

I've spoken to the current Mazda head of design. He's a big Lotus fan. I think the car's in good hands.

Anybody seen any pictures or renderings of it?

Both of those sound great, but it looks like there won't be a manual transmission. I got all excited, but the visceral driving experience of the Miata is 99% of its appeal. The words "automatic Miata" conjour up some very bad, uninspiring memories. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Call me a whiner, but I don't care if an automatic is faster and easier to drive. There are a lot of sexual metaphors that could explain my sentiments, but I'm going to leave those alone.

Edit: Let me be clear. If there's a manual version, this just might be worth buying, and it'll be coming to market right as I graduate, so that's not just empty conjecture. But if there's no third pedal, I'm out. I don't care how light it is or how well it handles.

unevolved wrote: Both of those sound great, but it looks like there won't be a manual transmission. I got all excited, but the visceral driving experience of the Miata is 99% of its appeal. The words "automatic Miata" conjour up some very bad, uninspiring memories. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Call me a whiner, but I don't care if an automatic is faster and easier to drive. There are a lot of sexual metaphors that could explain my sentiments, but I'm going to leave those alone. Edit: Let me be clear. If there's a manual version, this just might be worth buying, and it'll be coming to market right as I graduate, so that's not just empty conjecture. But if there's no third pedal, I'm out. I don't care how light it is or how well it handles.

I must have missed something.

All automatics?

That'd be a death sentence for the car in my eyes.

it's the car my '99 is waiting for. By then, my currend daily driven car will be ready to be a challenge car.

Hopefully, I won't get frowned upon for getting a new Miata and not a Ford, but geez- it's not like we make one of these. AND we still have a strong partnership with Mazda.

Eric

Does this look like an NC miata with the nose from an S2000 bolted on to anybody else?

Excluding the curret Mazda fetish with smiley face grills. there is something about the silly fender like things on NC Miatas and Rx-8 that I find repulsive. Maybe it's just me.

It looks like a 2010 Miata. Because that's what it is

I don't see the reference to "automatics only" in the Autoblog writeup. I'd be amazed if Mazda did that. But then, I don't believe any prognostications from internet forums about the new Miata. I'm still waiting for the 2.3 DISI turbo Mazdaspeed Miata that everyone was planning for in 2009

TJ wrote: ... there is something about the silly fender like things on NC Miatas and Rx-8 that I find repulsive. Maybe it's just me.

The stupid looking fender brows are why I never replaced my original Miata with a new one. I keep thinking they will go away, but Mazda seems committed to them as a signature styling item.

Also missed the "No Manual Shift" senstence. Will go back and re-read! Can't imagine why any engineer would dream that they could get away with that? Europe won't even know HOW to drive an auto-transmission!

Any ideas on how they are going to lose 200lbs?

Can't get rid of any of the safety stuff. Lots of aluminum? Composite body? Get rid of the glass rear window? Smaller?

I guess a good place to start would be to figure out what added the weight in the first place.

Article linked to the Sky-G engine which was said to be coupled to the Sky transmission which is auto. Hope that's wrong.

The weight loss will be designed out :) The car will probably be as small as is possible given modern crash standards - which means it will have to be bigger than the original. A lower-power engine means you can save weight throughout the drivetrain, and the big fender bulges are 20 lbs each Of course, losing weight is a cumulative thing. If you take weight out of the car, you don't need giant brakes, which means you don't need giant wheels..

That said, the current car with a few good upgrades is a lot of fun. I've become quite enamored with Nancy, FM's NC.

"Sky-G will be mated to the Sky-Drive automatic transmission (pictured at right). Sky-Drive will further increase fuel efficiency by five percent while offering the feel of a typical dual-clutch transmission setup. "

Well, the Miata was the only longitudinal application of the B6/BP engines and possibly of the MZR as well. So it's not outlandish to expect that the Sky-G engine might also be used differently. Although offering the feel of a dual-clutch setup might not be such a terrible thing.

The article said: Beginning in 2011, the Sky-G – the G stands for gasoline – will be introduced in the U.S. According to Mazda, this engine will be the basis for all future Mazda offerings.

I don't think that they'll get rid of the manual altogether. Wouldn't worry yet.

Keith wrote: I'm still waiting for the 2.3 DISI turbo Mazdaspeed Miata that everyone was planning for in 2009

I'm still waiting for the '96 Miata Coupe.

I've actually ridden in that car on track. It's gorgeous. So much nicer than the later NB one (ducks and runs)

As a purist who only owns manual cars, i'm down for some floppy paddle dual clutch actions if it works well!

50mpg...with the top town? Sign me up! Really though, I'd love to see Mazda offer smaller wheels on the new model. The trend towards 17"+ on new cars is starting to irk me

I'm cheering for them. I really hope they can pull this off. I'm a VW guy, and the reason I've driven my Mk.2 Golf for 18yrs is that the Polo & Lupo never made it here. I'm tired of fat cars. I hate fat cars. If I won the lottery tomorrow, and was absolutely forced to buy a new car, I honestly don't know what I'd do. Golf's too fat. Civic's too fat. Mazda3 was a choice before they went all freaky on the front grille. I guess I'd end up in a MINI...

And I'm agreeing with calteg. My Golf has mis-matched tires right now. They only had two Fuldas or something in 14" at my tire store..and when I brought my (stored in bags in the shed) last two Toyos for the other two wheels, the guys installed the brands per side, instead of per axle..so that "nobody could tell". Ugh. They used to brag about being a "performance" store.

I'm so tired of all this wheels/tires as "bling" stuff that I could scream.

calteg wrote: Really though, I'd love to see Mazda offer smaller wheels on the new model. The trend towards 17"+ on new cars is starting to irk me

I agree. But if they're going to bulge out the guards like that, I think 17s are the minimum needed to look 'right'.

So, which will arrive first....the mythical AE86 revival, or a properly light-weight modern roadster?