The 2013 Mazda Miata: Freshening a Vintage Design

When the original Mazda Miata was introduced in 1989, it came as something of a shock to the automotive world. Not since the 1960s had a small, affordable two-seat roadster been such a hit on American shores, so long obsessed with larger, faster, and more powerful engines and vehicles. There were safety concerns with the Miata MX-5, many of which would later be put to rest, but there still remains a thought in the back of many potential Miata buyers' minds; that they could quite easily be run over by some of the larger vehicles on American roads. Indeed, there are some custom trucks today whose tires stand higher than the topmost point of the Mazda Miata's windshield.

That has not served as a deterrent to enthusiasts, however, who liken the Miata to the fabled roadsters of the 1960s, Triumph, Alpha-Romeo, MG, that carved up American roads so effortlessly. While the Miata does inspire bouts of nostalgia, it does so much, much better than its forbears do.

The popularity of the Mazda Miata MX-5, called the Eunos roadster in Europe, has inspired Mazda to continue the little roadster with a significant styling update for the 2013 model year, combined with a reduction in the total mass of the car in order to improve acceleration and handling. While the 2012 Mazda Miata features smooth clean bodywork and a large, smiling front grille, the 2013 Miata has a smaller grille and contoured bodywork. In addition to these changes, the Miata will be significantly lighter than previous models. The reason for this is reportedly because one of Mazda's primary goals in building the Miata will be to improve fuel efficiency in the car by as much as 30%. Thanks to weight reduction and the use of a smaller engine, combined with Mazda's Skyactiv chassis. In fact, the structure of the car itself, including the powertrain, body and chassis, are all built under the Skyactiv nomenclature, indicating that significant re-engineering was done on the Miata to bring it up to Chief designer Nobuhiro Yamamoto's expectations.

The design changes in the vehicle are expected to produce a vehicle that, in Japanese-spec, will produce 125 horsepower from its 1.5 liter engine and meet or exceed 50 miles per gallon. The American-spec version will still be powered by the 2.0 liter engine and produce 145 horsepower. Due to the lightening of the structure, which will carry over the U.S.-spec Miatas, expect fuel economy to rise over the 2012 Miata by as much as 10%.

Fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox, the 2013 Mazda Miata is sure to carry on the sporting lineage begun by its predecessor Miatas, without giving up any of what it has gained throughout the years, from its excellent handling capabilities to its power folding hard top option. The reason that you don't see many competitors to the Miata on the road? Because no one's been able to build a real roadster quite as well as Mazda has.

Sources:
Top Speed.com: 2013 Mazda MX-5: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/mazda/2013-mazda-mx-5-ar101489.html
Motor Trend.com: "Gotcha! Next Mazda MX-5 Miata Secrets Uncovered": http://www.motortrend.com/future/future_vehicles/1108_next_mazda_mx_5_rendering/