MX-2 anyone??

[Mazdad]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressne...mx2_revealed.html

[sammm]

Nice. Too bad it will probably never make it to the US.

[jeepinbanditrider]

its not a bad idea at all. i like it a small lightweight sporty car. maybe it will be basic also as far as options. kinda going back to the original miata but cheaper.......hopefully lol

[bnordin]

Very nice. VW will also be introducing a small drop top with a diesel engine in 2012.

[MadMerv]

Looks nice. I hope it is a back-to-basics car. Forget all the creature comforts! I would like to know:
How much smaller?
Weight?

[altiain]

It looks good, but I'll bet this is really the smaller, lighter next generation MX-5 we've heard Mazda talk about before. Since there is already a 1.8L NC mX-5 available abroad, I have to wonder how big the potential market is for a roadster positioned below the MX-5, especially if the range-topping version is expected to make similar power and weigh less.

I'd really like to see Mazda develop a couple of other products first:

• A new RX-7. Take the Renesis 16X, shorten the existing RX-8 platform, and build a ~2700 pound, 280+ horsepower, naturally aspirated pure sports car to compete against the 370Z. Keep the base price around $30k, and you'll have a winner. Mazda needs a new halo sports car, and this is the most logical choice.
  
• Take the RX-8 platform, stretch it just a bit and add two real rear doors. Keep it rear-wheel drive. Drop in a version of the 2.3L DISI MZR engine (maybe punched out to 2.5L?) and go after the 3 Series, Lexus IS, and Infiniti G37. Give it 280-300 horsepower, keep the weight down to 3100-3200 pounds, and give it Mazda's trademark steering, braking, and handling, along with a standard limited slip diff. Sell a range from cloth seats, no sunroof, and a 6-speed manual at $30k and take it all the way up to leather, nav, sunroof, and a DSG tranny at $40k, and watch the 3 Series finally meet its match.

To me, either of these ideas makes more sense than another roadster positioned below the MX-5, but I guess that's why I'm in engineering and not marketing.

[CosmosMpower]

It looks good, but I'll bet this is really the smaller, lighter next generation MX-5 we've heard Mazda talk about before. Since there is already a 1.8L NC mX-5 available abroad, I have to wonder how big the potential market is for a roadster positioned below the MX-5, especially if the range-topping version is expected to make similar power and weigh less.

I'd really like to see Mazda develop a couple of other products first:

• A new RX-7. Take the Renesis 16X, shorten the existing RX-8 platform, and build a ~2700 pound, 280+ horsepower, naturally aspirated pure sports car to compete against the 370Z. Keep the base price around $30k, and you'll have a winner. Mazda needs a new halo sports car, and this is the most logical choice.
  
• Take the RX-8 platform, stretch it just a bit and add two real rear doors. Keep it rear-wheel drive. Drop in a version of the 2.3L DISI MZR engine (maybe punched out to 2.5L?) and go after the 3 Series, Lexus IS, and Infiniti G37. Give it 280-300 horsepower, keep the weight down to 3100-3200 pounds, and give it Mazda's trademark steering, braking, and handling, along with a standard limited slip diff. Sell a range from cloth seats, no sunroof, and a 6-speed manual at $30k and take it all the way up to leather, nav, sunroof, and a DSG tranny at $40k, and watch the 3 Series finally meet its match.

To me, either of these ideas makes more sense than another roadster positioned below the MX-5, but I guess that's why I'm in engineering and not marketing.

I like idea #1 but I don't think people cross shopping a top of the range 3 series will really give a crap about a RX-8 type car with a 4 cyl (even if it's turbo). It may be able to pull some 328 shoppers that want more performance but can't afford a 335 but most 328 buyers don't care about the extra performance of the 335 and most 335 shoppers wouldn't downgrade to a Mazda even if it was cheaper and had the same performance.

I like the idea of a 2100 pound, 160 hp Miata with good brakes, handling.

[POS Racing]

So this would be the replacement for the MX5?

[MiataMike]

To me thats what the NC should have looked like. Instead of what it looks like now. It looks more like a miata than the NC does; but maybe thats just me.

[altiain]

I like idea #1 but I don't think people cross shopping a top of the range 3 series will really give a crap about a RX-8 type car with a 4 cyl (even if it's turbo). It may be able to pull some 328 shoppers that want more performance but can't afford a 335 but most 328 buyers don't care about the extra performance of the 335 and most 335 shoppers wouldn't downgrade to a Mazda even if it was cheaper and had the same performance.

You're probably right, but I don't think this would have to be a high volume machine. The RX-8 platform is scalable, the engine already exists, and if I'm not mistaken it uses the same bellhousing pattern as the 2.0L MZR (meaning Mazda has available transmissions that would work for a longitudinal setup). Your engineering costs would be much lower than a ground up model.

I think the $30-40k sports sedan market would definitely support something like this. You might not get much cross-shopping between a loaded $50k 335i, but there are plenty of people buying 328s, IS250s, and G37s that might be interested in a higher performance alternative from Mazda.

Remember, no one thought that a $40k Korean RWD luxury sedan would sell in this country either - especially in this economy - but Hyundai has already sold 15,000 Genesis sedans since its introduction last year.

[sammm]

So this would be the replacement for the MX5?

I hope that's close to what the 4th gen Miata will be here in the states. There are already rumors about the next gen being smaller and lighter than the 1st gen's were.

[POS Racing]

That would be sweet!

[Kestrel]

So this would be the replacement for the MX5?

Ohhhhh... I like that! As a replacement to the current MX-5, that is. The current NC leaves me a little... uninspired... in it's styling. Keep the current MX-5 engine, but put it in that chassis, and I might have to have one

[Miatamaniac92]

I like it, the MX-5 does need to go on a diet.

It looks good, but I'll bet this is really the smaller, lighter next generation MX-5 we've heard Mazda talk about before. Since there is already a 1.8L NC mX-5 available abroad, I have to wonder how big the potential market is for a roadster positioned below the MX-5, especially if the range-topping version is expected to make similar power and weigh less.

I'd really like to see Mazda develop a couple of other products first:

• A new RX-7. Take the Renesis 16X, shorten the existing RX-8 platform, and build a ~2700 pound, 280+ horsepower, naturally aspirated pure sports car to compete against the 370Z. Keep the base price around $30k, and you'll have a winner. Mazda needs a new halo sports car, and this is the most logical choice.
• Take the RX-8 platform, stretch it just a bit and add two real rear doors. Keep it rear-wheel drive. Drop in a version of the 2.3L DISI MZR engine (maybe punched out to 2.5L?) and go after the 3 Series, Lexus IS, and Infiniti G37. Give it 280-300 horsepower, keep the weight down to 3100-3200 pounds, and give it Mazda's trademark steering, braking, and handling, along with a standard limited slip diff. Sell a range from cloth seats, no sunroof, and a 6-speed manual at $30k and take it all the way up to leather, nav, sunroof, and a DSG tranny at $40k, and watch the 3 Series finally meet its match.

To me, either of these ideas makes more sense than another roadster positioned below the MX-5, but I guess that's why I'm in engineering and not marketing.

-What's the latest info on the 16X, wiki isn't very helpful.

-I think Mazda would have to stick a >3.0L to compete with the 3 series or the G37.

Chris

[Snowdoggie]

its not a bad idea at all. i like it a small lightweight sporty car. maybe it will be basic also as far as options. kinda going back to the original miata but cheaper.......hopefully lol

Porsche made something like that in the 50s. They called it a Speedster.

[Maverick]

Porsche made something like that in the 50s. They called it a Speedster.

And it sold like hotcakes for the first few years.

The difference here is that at the time, Porsche didn't have a lightweight convertible roadster. Its introduction was tantamount to the original Miata in 1989. Mazda already has that, so this makes more sense as a replacement for the NC's, if it comes to the US at all.

I have mixed feelings. I like the idea, but styling so far looks too much like a cross between an NC Miata and a Toyota Celica. Ew.

Then again, I'm a bit biased towards the classic lines of the British roadsters that the NA's and NB's took their design cues from.

[Robert]

I like the idea of a light weight miata with some power 1.8L or 2.0L. I think their is no way mazda will sell both. The small 2 seater market is vary small.

The pic is what the mag thinks it will look like not mazda. To me it looks like a Z4 with mazda's happy face front end.

I like it just lose the grill. but I think it is just the mag guessing (they just put the mazda front on a Z4 did not even change the roll hoops much)

[gabkwong]

If this is the next gen MX-5, put me down for one ... or two! I want a bare bone with yellow paint to toss around and a loaded one for going to work!