What's the news?
Mazda brought along the MX-5 Anniversary Edition to this week's New York Auto Show, marking 25 years since the car was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show. It's based on the Roadster Coupé variant with its folding hardtop and propulsion comes from the 160hp 2.0-litre petrol engine, driving through manual or automatic gearboxes.
Painted exclusively in Soul Red Metallic (the distinctive shade used on the latest Mazda6), the Anniversary model also gets a Brilliant Black roof, A-pillars and mirror caps. Off-white leather is used inside for both the seats and the door trim while the dashboard is finished in Piano Black decorative trim. Seventeen-inch Dark Gunmetal alloy wheels are included as standard, as too are uprated Bilstein dampers.
Anything else?
In addition to the anniversary model, and arguably of more importance, Mazda also brought a new SkyActiv chassis to New York. This is not just any SkyActiv chassis though; it is the one that will underpin the next generation MX-5. Displayed with its engine in place (though no information on that unit has yet been revealed) the new chassis is more compact than before and over 100kg lighter than that of the current MX-5.
Mazda says that due to its size, engineers have been able to shift the engine closer to the middle of the car, meaning a front-mid configuration. The centre of gravity is also said to be lower than in any previous MX-5, which can only mean good things for how it drives.
Paul Healy - 17 Apr 2014