Mazda’s new MX-5: the essential guide

Not surprisingly, Mazda’s first all-new MX-5 in ten years brings with it a lot of changes. From the chassis, through the drivetrain to the interior and even the infotainment system there’s virtually no stone left unturned. Let alone that dramatic new look…

To say the list of changes between the previous generation (NC-series) MX-5 and the new (ND-series) are comprehensive would be understating things just a little. Since our last look at the MX-5 there has been a lot more information revealed and, to be fair, outlining all of the differences between new and old would take more time than even the most dedicated enthusiast could bear.

But there’s a fair amount of information that’s not only relative, but that also gives the MX-5 aficionados among us an insight into how the new model measures up against its forebears. Smaller, leaner, lighter and greener the world’s most popular roadster has undergone its most significant nip and tuck ever.

Under the bonnet
The new MX-5 will for the first time be offered with a choice of petrol engines. Drawn from Mazda’s SKYACTIV catalogue the four-cylinder units are essentially redeveloped versions of existing powerplants: the 1.5-litre from the Mazda2 and the 2.0-litre from the CX-5 and Mazda3.

For the former, a new steel crankshaft replaces the cast iron crank while a revised block and cylinder heads, shorter intake and exhaust manifolds and direct injection are now utilised. The rev ceiling is also increased by 500rpm to give the engine a redline of 7500rpm.

Mazda says the smaller capacity engine boasts a compression ratio of 14:1 and will develop 96kW at 7000rpm and peak torque of 150Nm at 4800rpm. The torque band is, however, more linear with 90 per cent torque available across 2000-6000rpm. Mazda has yet to supply an official fuel consumption figure, but with a CO2 emissions average of 139g/km (NEDC) we estimate 5.9L/100km to be likely.

The smaller SKYACTIV-G 1.5 is also 17kg lighter than the outgoing 2.0-litre unit, and is set 13mm lower and 15mm further aft than before. Couple this to a transmission some 7kg lighter and a differential that’s 10kg lighter and you begin to see where the 100kg of weight savings have been drawn. It’s also more than 20mm shorter than before, making it a more compact overall package.

The exhaust has also undergone significant tuning with crucial changes in back pressure aiding engine breathing at higher rpm. Mazda said it tried hundreds of exhaust tunes before settling on one that would meet its performance and acoustic measures. The mounting of the differential also played a part in delivering the right ‘beat’, or tonal vibration characteristics, as the car accelerates through each gear.

Of course the gearbox is completely new, complementing the SKYACTIV drivetrain. The clutch weighting and gearshift throw were set to meet at exactly the right point, giving the driver the perfect amount of feedback for short, crisp gearshifts. Even the resistance of the throw from neutral and feel of the reception of each gear as it slots in to place was argued over for many months. Match this to a centred pedal box and steering column and you begin to understand just how much thought has gone into Mazda’s driver’s car.

A 2.0-litre four-cylinder will join the line-up sometime after the ND is launched in Japan this June. For sale into the US and Australian markets the larger capacity will share much of its design with the Mazda3’s smaller unit, but will likely offer 125kW and 200Nm in its final tune. Given the performance of the 1.5, we think the 2.0 will prove rather exciting… and that’s before we even consider a turbocharged or larger displacement 2.5…

By way of reference, Mazda’s outgoing NC-series MX-5 drew motivation from a 2.0-litre multi-point injected four-cylinder. It produced 118kW at 7000rpm and 188Nm at 5000rpm. Fuel consumption was rated at 8.1L/100km on the ADR Combined cycle and CO2 emissions at 192g/km. Like the new model it was also offered with the choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.

It seems Mazda was listening. The new model is not only smaller but has more aluminium than ever before. It’s lighter, and brings improvements in body rigidity via an even higher use of high tensile and ultra high tensile steels.

Lighter mechanical components, a re-thought electrical loom, net-style seat construction and even the design and size of the folding canvas roof and the compartment in which it is housed have all contributed to a kerb weight that’s closer to the original NA-series model than that of the NC.

Of course it all depends on which market the MX-5 is sold into, grade, and the options fitted. But the weight savings were taken so seriously that even the size of the wheels and the number of wheel studs have been reduced, in the case of the latter from five to four per wheel.

But it’s no good just shaving weight for the sake of it. Mazda had to meet strict crash safety standards in a variety of markets, while also making the car rigid enough to support the lack of structure that would otherwise be carried by the roof. Placing the weight in just the right spot to maintain a 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution was also crucial, and it’s this point that has seen the engine, passenger compartment, windscreen (now moved 70mm rearward) and seating position (now 20mm lower and 15mm further inboard) altered accordingly.

Even the electric motor for the power steering system has been moved lower in the car; but more on that in a minute.

The body, now with aluminium just about everywhere, is shorter (-105mm), lower (-20mm), lighter (-100kg) but a little wider (+10mm). The head and tail-lights use LED lamps in most markets, while clever plastics take the place of pressed steel in the seat structure, while stressed nets take the place of steel springs in the seat cushion — just like in the Mazda2.

Sure, leather seats and some nifty infotainment and safety technology will be offered further up the MX-5 food chain. But in its most basic form the ND-series roadster is true to its roots.

It’s interesting that in a smaller overall package Mazda has managed to find more space. It had to, it says, quoting research figures from the USA that suggest the average human being has grown 20mm taller since the first MX-5 went on sale a quarter of a century ago. Using slimmer, lighter materials has elicited precious centimetres in parts of the cabin you don’t really consider until sampling the NC and ND directly back-to-back.

The layout of the cabin is simply more straightforward. The controls and switchgear fall more easily to hand, and there’s more legroom (+12mm), headroom (+9mm), improved steering column adjustment (+10mm), and even a steeper grade (+4 degrees) to the seat rails, giving taller drivers more room as the seat rolls back.

Combine this with a lower bonnet (-28mm), plus a broader field of vision through the windscreen (+6 degrees vertical and +4 degrees horizontal), and the Mazda MX-5 is not only more spacious, but easier to place on the road as well.

Both the driver and passenger side of the console allow both legs to be placed straight ahead. It might sound like a small thing, but the lack of pressure on the hip from a wider transmission tunnel does make for a more pleasant trip, especially on longer journeys.

There’s been significant thought put into the way air is channelled into the cabin as well, with the focus of the air now at chest level, rather than the top of the face. A small draft stopper between the headrests all but eliminates that chilly breeze down the back of the neck, and is also shaped to accommodate the soft-top’s locating hook when in transit from the open to closed position (and vice-versa) as well as giving a clear line of sight from the rear-view mirror.

Unfortunately some of the changes to the cabin have resulted in a number of concessions. For example the glovebox has been removed to give the passenger more knee space, and to make it easier for them to swing in and out. There’s also no reach adjustment for the steering column with the seat travel and height covering the difference. Finally, there’s no adjustable lumbar support owing to the ‘hammock’ style construction of the seat’s internals (my words, not Mazda’s). Again, small things, but ones we couldn’t help but notice.

It may sound like marketing mumbo jumbo, but after years of chatting to engineers and executives at car companies all over the world I can tell you that the various departments involved in a car’s development often work quite independently of one another, sometimes right up to the production stage.

It’s a philosophy that Mazda was keen to address, and one that seems to have worked when the MX-5 is viewed as a whole, even in its prototype form. There’s not really an element of the vehicle that doesn’t feel as though it cooperates with the next, especially when it comes to the all-important connection between the road and the driver.

In its early communications with the media, Mazda’s design team made a point of emphasising how the driver must be centred and at one with the primary controls, while also being able to feel what it was the car was communicating around its pivot point — placed in this instance almost directly below the driver’s shoulder blades.

Now, at the prototype first drive of the ND-series MX-5 in Barcelona, Mazda’s high-level engineers explained how on this project, the suspension team worked closer still with the body designer and the interior design team so that the predictability of cornering it had worked so hard to achieve was directly communicated via all of the driver’s senses.

The chassis engineers say that the increased use of aluminium in the front suspension knuckles and upper and lower control arms, engine cradle and rear hub, as well as the strengthening of the central ‘backbone’ (including larger, lighter and stronger adjacent frame sections) have delivered not only a weight reduction, but better feedback and response.

It’s true of the steering system, too. Where most electrically-assisted steering systems employ a motor high on the column (which incidentally adds to a higher centre of gravity), Mazda have moved the motor into the steering rack, placing it low and central between the front wheels. It’s said the method — in conjunction with a dead-straight steering column — improves the feel of linearity in the steering, reducing the tendency for irregular weighting during particular cornering loads.

Also interesting is that the shape of the bonnet, while also expressing what Mazda says is a “look to the future of its Kodo design language”, is sculpted such that the outboard peaks convey the level of pitch, roll and yaw the MX-5 is experiencing during a corner. It seems odd at first, especially given the fact the bonnet was made purposefully low to improve forward vision, but in using the “peaks” of the bonnet in your peripheral vision, the theory does hold water.

Mazda says the MX-5 will be offered with manual and automatic transmissions in Australia, and likely in conduction with both engine types. It’s also expected the model will arrive in different grades (much like elsewhere in Mazda’s model portfolio), with “more expensive” safety technology packages likely offered optionally.

Oh, and in case you’re worried that neither the 1.5- or 2.0-litre engines on offer in the Australian market will have enough power for your needs, the good news is that there may be more on the horizon…

Measuring up: