Mazda Announces MX-5 Displacement, Drags Out Details Even Longer
Published: October 2nd, 2014
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Not content with merely showing off the design of the next Mazda MX-5, Mazda has announced that European versions of the MX-5 will get a 1.5L Skyactiv engine, while North American versions will get a 2.0L motor.
In North American trim, the 2.0L makes 155 horsepower and 150 lb-ft of torque, but Mazda claims that “all available drivetrains have been specifically tuned for the all-new MX-5.” Here’s hoping that they’ll match the current car’s 167 horsepower (it makes 140 lb-ft). Paired with the rumored 2200 lb curb weight, it should be plenty quick.
More by Derek Kreindler
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You dont need a bigger or heavier engine for more power. The Miata engines are poor performers for their displacement, and underwhelming to rev, being quite trucky. 100hp per liter is no biggies these days, so the Miata shoudl be a 200hp car easy. Whatever it has, no need to replicate the english tractor mtor effect from healy, it should be a sweet rever. I would also be intereted in a turbo 1.5 3cyl with 220 hp.
So with this new engine is it going to blow up like all the mazda 3 engines are? Was looking for a little Mazda3 to boot around town in, started reading about all the engines dying at 50k or 99k- they wont even stock the engines in scrap yards because they are too much hassle to sell. Reading on mazda 3 forums it was like reading about a different car company than who makes the mx-5.
There's no way in hell the US version will be 2200 lb. It may break 2300, but it won't be by much. As far as I know, the engine in the Miata has never been identical to the one in the 3, even if they used the same building blocks. The current 2.0L in the 3 puts out 155 hp, and Mazda said the Miata's will be "tuned," so of course it will have more power. The SkyActiv 2.0L got a healthy bump in power & torque over the prior 2.0L. Even without a tune, the new engine has 10 lb-ft more torque. If the Miata sees the same power increase as the 3, that puts it up to 175 hp. Honestly, I think they didn't announce it because they haven't finished tuning it yet. The best weight/power ratio on the current Miata is 2480 lb / 167 hp = 14.85. If the new one weighs 2300 lb & packs 175 hp, that comes out to 13.14, or a better than 10% improvement. If you are the type of person who likes the Miata and would possibly buy one, that's awesome. If you are the type of person who doesn't like the Miata and complains that it needs more power, you wouldn't buy one anyway.
Why all the outrage? Mazda hasn't even announced the hp yet, and the typing warriors are already at it. Grand pronouncements based on almost nothing. The Mazda3 with the 6MT and 2.0 Skyactiv drives very nicely indeed and it's 2900 lbs with a wide ratio gearbox, whose ratios would no doubt be shorter in the MX5. It's our poor gasoline that inhibits the maximum power output to a certain extent. The rest of the world has a 14:1 CR, while ours is 13. Overseas ratings are 162 hp versus the 155 we get. Anyway, if Mazda wanted to generate buzz by being coy, they're doing well. Much ado about nothing.