New MX-5 hits Tokyo

It could have been a logistics nightmare. Imagine staging the world premiere of the replacement for your most iconic model in three simultaneous unveilings in three different locations in three different time zones.

But Mazda pulled it off without a hitch, revealing its successor to the roadster that has rewritten the record book with more than 940,000 sold since 1989.

Events in Barcelona and Monterey coincided with a rare launch event in Tokyo – called 'Thanks Day in Japan' — that saw more than 1400 MX-5 owners join 200 members of the press at an amphitheatre next door to Tokyo Disneyland.

Was there a message there? Perhaps. What Mickey Mouse is to Disney, the MX-5 is to Mazda.

Surprisingly, the launch started out as a very somber affair when the event's compere read out a message from Mazda president Masamichi Kogai, who was expected to unveil the fourth-generation MX-5.

But he was absent, having decided to stay in Hiroshima to focus on the rescue and rebuilding efforts that followed torrential rain and mud slides, which led to several dozen deaths.

Once the letter was read, the mood changed to a historical look at where the MX-5 had come from, including interviews with current owners, and then the moment that everyone had been waiting for arrived.

With a laser and dry-ice show that would put Pink Floyd to shame, the new MX-5 appeared in a cloud of smoke from beneath the stage to rapturous cheers and applause as the audience gulped at the radical new styling.

Mazda had passed its first test. That was all too apparent on the face of MX-5 chief engineer Nobuhiro Yamamoto, who seemed relieved when he appeared on stage to chat about the new car.

When we say chat about the car, we don't mean an expose on specifications, because there were none. Yamamoto was there to welcome the 1600 owners and press members, and to introduce his chief stylist and powertrain engineers — not to talk about engine power and suspension configuration, which will be revealed later.

Without any engine specs or R&D topics to discuss, Yamamoto and the event's MC then picked three lucky souls out of a hat to be the first non-Mazda people in the world to sit in the new car. The lucky three seemed genuinely honored and could not stop bowing. One was even ready to put down a deposit on a new car.

When asked what they thought about the car, the chosen three sprang forth with superlatives like “great looking”, “cool”, “stylish”, “sharper” and “curvaceous” — all good words to describe Mazda's latest 'Kodo' design language.

While retaining the traditional MX-5 proportions, the new two-door has a more pronounced rear-set stance and a much sharper, more aggressive look than the more cute'n'cuddly outgoing car.

There's a hint of BMW Z4 in the proportions and contours, with a touch of Jaguar F-TYPE in the rear lights. There is also extra sheetmetal above the front wheel-arches to absorb altercations with pedestrians.

Mazda says full details won't be revealed until the global launch "sometime in the next few months", but it previously claimed to have sliced "over 100kg" out of the NC version and the new car is 105mm shorter, 20mm lower and rides on a 15mm shorter wheelbase. The only dimension in which it's grown is width, by just 10mm.

We also know that the new roadster will be powered by a 'SKYACTIV-G' petrol engine and will get six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions. But it's unknown whether the new model will employ the 85kW/144Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder from the new Mazda2 or the larger 114kW/200Nm 2.0-litre unit from the Mazda3 – or both.

What we saw on stage last night was a totally new design direction that Mazda felt it had to take to keep its iconic roadster relevant and at the top of its game. Sure, the car retains the essence and basic proportions that made the outgoing model so successful, but Mazda designers were given wider latitude with the car's exterior.

Combined with going back to basics in terms of size and weight, we think that will pay off.