Mazda MX5 Roadster Car Review and Specs | Mazda MX5 Roadster Car Wallpaper Pictures Pics

Although 17 years old, the Mazda MX-5 is already an absolute classic. An object of cult-like adoration, it has enjoyed unbroken popularity since launch in 1989. At the Geneva Motor Show last year, Mazda introduced the third generation of the Mazda MX-5 that followed in the footsteps of two predecessors, whose success surprised even the most optimistic forecasters. Since 2000, Mazda MX-5 has been in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful open, two-seater vehicle ever. Since that date, the publisher has kept adjusting the sales figures upward with each new edition of the book. At the end of June 2006, the number stood at 774,372 units produced worldwide and demand for the current version of the cult roadster remains high in Europe, North America and Japan. The number of prizes and awards Mazda’s roadster has won around the world is equally as impressive – over 150 to date.

The Mazda MX-5 concept – with a north-south engine placement, 50:50 weight distribution, classic two-seater design with long bonnet and short rear end, along with a manually retractable soft top – is just as alluring now as it was in 1989. The third-generation MX-5 is even more fun to drive, with improved Jinba Ittai handling attributes. Yabusame is the name of a Japanese ritual, in which a warrior shoots an arrow into a target while riding a horse. Only when horse and rider are in perfect harmony can the arrow hit the bull’s-eye. Mazda MX-5 delivers a similar symbiosis between driver and machine, an exhilarating oneness with the roadster that precludes the need for a V6 engine and 200 PS of power.

Why a Second Version? – 365 Days a Year of Fun

During the last few years, several coupes have been launched in Europe with electric retractable roofs. This trend has led to an increase in demand among potential Mazda customers for an MX-5 version with a retractable hard top. Many of these people have never owned an MX-5 but find the idea of open- top roadster fun, combined with the added comfort a hard top offers, very attractive.

Mazda MX-5 Programme Manager Takao Kijima is convinced “that we will expand the worldwide fan base of the MX-5 with the new model.” Kijima knows that for hardcore MX-5 fans the only “true” roadster will always be the original version with a soft top. For these people, the MX-5 is a design object only with top open. “Even so, there are many potential customers who, while wanting the exhilaration of open-top driving, have hesitated to become owners because of concerns about security and comfort. We realized that with an easy to use hard top, a great design and the same agile chassis, we could bring these customers into the MX-5 fold.”

One overriding goal determined the entire development programme of the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe: the concept of the lightweight roadster was in no way, shape or form to be diluted. Engineers worked hard to keep the weight of the coupe version as low as possible – it weighs only 37 kg more than the soft top model. At the same time, the design of the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe should remain as close as possible to that of the soft top model. Its silhouette – with a low, flowing shoulder line and, unlike nearly all other coupes/convertibles, a short rear overhang – gives the MX-5 Roadster Coupe the same lightweight, sporty road presence as the soft top. “And the nice thing is,” added Kijima, “the car looks great with the top up.”

A Global First – a Power Retractable Hard Top that Needs no Boot Space

Another goal of development was achieved by the package team. The hard top doesn’t fold back into the boot, but into a space just behind the seats, leaving boot volume unchanged versus the soft top model. Mazda is the first carmaker in the world to achieve this amazing feat of spatial economy.

Another bonus for MX-5 Roadster Coupe customers will be its affordable price of purchase compared to many other coupe/convertible line ups. The increase in price compared to the soft top version is appropriate, considering that coupe target customers traditionally put more emphasis on build quality and seek a more premium image.

Design – Its Own Unique Character

The briefing for Mazda designers left no doubt: “Remain true to the basic design principals of the third-generation MX-5, while creating a new roadster coupe with its own, exciting identity.”

The third-generation MX-5 further enhanced the design of Mazda’s roadster icon. For the new Roadster Coupe, this same silhouette with a low, flowing shoulder line, was retain- ed. The same goes for the car’s overall proportions, with slight changes undertaken at the rear of the car. It is precisely here that many coupes with power retractable roofs gain in size, resulting in a massive-seeming rear overhang.

None of this can be seen in the athletic look of the new MX-5 Roadster Coupe. Its overall proportions are as harmonious as the shape of its hard top. This was achieved with a design that emphasizes the MX-5 Roadster Coupe’s open-top character first and foremost. In other words, starting point for the design was the Mazda MX-5 soft top, and not a redesigned coupe. The windshield, the entire front end, the small quarter windows, the beltline and other elements of Roadster Coupe’s front and side panels are carried over from the soft top model.

Only at the back of the new MX-5 Roadster Coupe, where the power retractable hard top is stowed, were slight, but subtle changes necessary in the area of the rear fenders and the rear deck. The front edge of the rear deck lid, for instance, is 40 mm higher than the soft top at this location. In order to realize a flowing, harmonious form at the back, designers raised the trailing edge of the boot lid by about 20 mm. The result: the rear end of the MX-5 Roadster Coupe falls softly, rather than abruptly here. Nonetheless, the overall design seems more tapered and solid-looking compared to the soft top model.

Visual Balance Achieved by More Prominent Wheel Arches

The higher rear end does not diminish MX-5 Roadster Coupe’s low, sports car road stance, because designers employed more prominently contoured rear wheel arches as a kind of visual balance. These contribute to the impression of power and make the Roadster Coupe seem to crouch on the road.

In fact, all of the Roadster Coupe’s panel articulation is highly sophisticated – there are no body lines that are not without purpose. A good example is the ridge of the rear deck lid. Running from fender to fender, this ridge merges on either side with ridges at the tops of the door panels – a visual trick that prevents the rear deck cover from seeming unusually long.

Innovative Plastic Composite Material used for the Hard Top

Using plastic material for the lightweight hard top gave designers a lot of freedom in creating just the right shape. Its glass window with a printed heating element could be made a bit larger than that of the soft top MX-5 to ensure a good rear view. When the top is closed, the MX-5 Roadster Coupe is only 10 mm higher than the soft top model; while width, length, wheelbase and track remain identical.

Another goal of development was to make the hard top as compact and stylish as possible. Its tautly curved shape makes the passenger compartment seem compact. Only the need to stow the hard top behind the seats, and not in the boot, prevented a flatter, more wedged-shaped design here. 16 To prevent the roof from seeming too upright, relatively slim B-pillar designs were employed. Added to this is a contoured edge on both sides of the roof, which optically unifies its front and middle sections.

High-Mount Brake Light with a White instead of Red Lens

A new design accent is created by the MX-5 Roadster Coupe’s high-mount brake light. It is placed further forward than that of the soft top model, is thinner and uses a white lens instead of a red one. The rear combination lights and rear bumper are absolutely identical with those of the soft top version.

The new Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe will be offered with seven exterior colours, including two all-new colours – Stormy Blue Mica and Highland Green Mica (depending on market). These new colours deliver exciting contrasts in different light conditions.

Two Buttons on the Centre Stack Operate the Hard Top

Changes to the interior include the addition of a pair of buttons to open and close the retractable hard top, each located on either side of the hazard-warning button in the upper section of the dashboard centre stack. There is also an indicator lamp that illuminates to warn the driver if, for instance, the roof does not completely lock into place upon closing.

There are also subtle changes made to the area behind and between the seats. The two storage recesses behind the seats are dropped from the Roadster Coupe – valuable inches that were put to good use stowing the retractable roof. Remaining small-storage compartments can be found in the large centre console box. The semi-bucket sport seats, with seatback pockets included, are carryover from the soft top model.

The new Roadster Coupe will be offered with three trim levels (depending on market). Besides black fabric upholstery, there are two leather trim packages – black and saddle-tan (light brown).

Power Retractable Hard Top – Folding into a Smaller Space

Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe’s power retractable hard top is a miracle of packaging ingenuity. It retracts into such a compact space that, with the top down, the 150-litre boot volume of the soft top remains untouched. And it couldn’t be easier to use. Like the soft top MX-5, the driver must first release the centre lock located in the middle of the front roof section. After this is initiated, the driver holds down the open button and the hard top disappears in just 12 seconds (the quickest on the market today). This manoeuvre has to be done while the car is standing still.

The retractable hard top was developed by Mazda with Webasto Japan and consists of three moving sections and the rear deck cover, which is also a moving element.

A total of four electric roof motors – two on each side of the vehicle – facilitate the metamorphosis of the car from coupe to open-top roadster and back again. Before opening or closing the hard top, the windows (if in the up position) are automatically lowered by approximately 100 mm to make sure there is enough room for the roof to fold back unimpeded.

In its efforts to keep additional weight for the hard top version as low as possible, Mazda used two different kinds of materials, sheet moulding compound (SMC) for the outer panels and glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene (GFPP) for the inner panels of the retractable roof.

SMC material is a fibre/plastic composite material with high rigidity and heat resistance and, to the joy of the designers, is easily formable into shapes that would never be possible with steel or aluminium. And SMC’s smooth surface structure gives an excellent paint finish, which contributes to high levels of build quality and craftsmanship. GFPP combines the virtues of low weight and high strength. This material allowed the inner panels to have a dimpled surface, which looks so good it doesn’t need to be painted. For these reasons, Mazda engineers could do without a moulded roof liner – the combination of SMC and GFPP makes the MX-5 Roadster Coupe’s hard top just 20 mm thick as a result.

The Power Retractable Hard Top Weighs just 18 kg more than the Soft Top

These materials also ensure that the hard top structure is light and compact. The roof itself (not including rear deck cover) weighs only 18 kg more than the soft top of the Mazda MX-5. And not only that, owners of the MX-5 Roadster Coupe can also transport a case of 12, 1.5-litre bottles upright in the boot, even with the top down.

Wind management has also been perfected with the new MX-5 Roadster Coupe. Naturally, Mazda roadster fans have the most fun with their car when a warm summer breeze blows through their hair. This would not be the case with cabin turbulence blowing on their neck in the process. To avoid this with the MX-5 Roadster Coupe, whose rear deck is nearly 40 mm taller at its front edge, designers added an air guide made of polypropylene to the standard aero board behind the seats. This air guide runs the entire width of the aero board and forces air flowing forward from the back of the vehicle upwards.

Designers improved drive comfort even further by lowering cabin noise levels on the motorway. At a speed of 120 km/h with the top up, the measured noise level was reduced by 8 dB for the MX-5 Roadster Coupe.

Body & Chassis – Not a Gram too Much

The soft top version of the Mazda MX-5 owes its unusually agile and linear handling characteristics to a strict gram strategy applied during the development of the third- generation version. One of the main goals in developing the new Roadster Coupe version was to keep the unavoidable gain in weight as low as possible. Only by delivering this, could MX-5’s famous Jinba Ittai driving dynamics be assured for the hard top version as well.

The Roadster Coupe version is just 37 kg heavier than the soft top model. Of this weight, 30.2 kg were needed for the roof itself, the rear deck cover and other small related parts; 3 kg for the steel (rather than aluminium) boot lid, 1.6 kg for the complex wiring harness switches, 0.3 kg for additional material at the aero board and for trim configuration modifications and 1.4 kg for the additional body reinforce- ments and sound insulation features.

Because the Roadster Coupe’s body opening for stowing the hard top is 45 mm wider and 82 mm longer than that of the soft top model’s, local reinforcements had to be employed to compensate for a slight loss in body stiffness. These include:

These local reinforcements make body shell stiffness of the MX-5 Roadster Coupe comparable to the soft top model. Here as well, developers kept the weight gain as low as possible, limited to 820 grams.

While body shell stiffness of the soft top model is nearly the same whether the top is open or closed, with the MX-5 Roadster Coupe, body shell stiffness is slightly higher with the top up than when it is down. To compensate for this slight difference, developers attempted to keep the difference in perceived handling feel as minimal as possible.

Larger Front Stabilizers and Optimized rear Springs and Dampers Settings

Because there is slightly more weight at the back of the Roadster Coupe when the hard top is stowed behind the seats, engineers optimally tuned the rear springs and dampers. At the same time, a larger front stabilizer is introduced (increased in diameter from 21 to 22.2 mm) along with new settings for the front dampers.

These features give the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe handling characteristics that provide further refinements compared to the agile and nimble handling characteristics of the soft top. This slight difference is ideally suited to the new model and meets the premium quality demands of its target customer.

Powertrain – Two Four-cylinder Engines & Rear-wheel Drive

The new Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe will be launched with the same two lively four-cylinder engines as the soft top model (depending on market). Both are from the MZR family of engines, have four valves per cylinder and a displacement of 1.8 and 2.0 litres respectively. Both engines are installed front midship, placing them closer to the vehicle’s centre of gravity than an east-west mounted engine, for outstanding handling characteristics.

The MZR 2.0-litre produces maximum power of 118 kW/ 160 PS at 6,700 rpm and maximum torque of 188 Nm at 5,000 rpm. At least 90 percent of this is consistently available at engine speeds of between 2,500 and 6,700 rpm, making the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe fun to drive, even at low engine speeds. The MZR 1.8-litre base engine produces a maximum of 93 kW/126 PS at 6,500 rpm and maximum torque of 167 Nm at 4,500 rpm. Thanks to aerodynamic refinement of the roadster coupe body style, the top speed is now 215 km/h (+ 5 km/h).

Both engines meet Euro Stage IV emission standards and deliver good acoustic qualities as well. A deep timbre of 500 Hz supports cultivated cruising at mid-engine speeds. Above 5,000 rpm, the engine sound swells to a sporty pitch.

The new MX-5 Roadster Coupe comes with either a five or six-speed manual transmission (depending on engine), both of which are easy to shift with just a flick of the wrist. With precise, short shift travel and low levels of shift effort, these transmissions are perfect complements to the MX-5 Roadster Coupe driving experience.

Like both early generations of the Mazda MX-5, the newest model has an aluminium powerplant frame in the transmission tunnel. This Z-shaped member functions like a strong backbone that connects the transmission and the rear differential. It can be traced back to similar structures in the sports car Mazda RX-7 and the current rotary engine sports car, Mazda RX-8, which is produced on the same assembly line in Japan as the Mazda MX-5 soft top and the MX-5 Roadster Coupe.

Safety & Equipment – On-road Safety and Comfort

The third-generation Mazda MX-5, both soft top and Roadster Coupe models, are the first Mazda roadsters to have side airbags as standard (depending on market). These are installed in the outer section of the seatbacks and protect the head and thorax. They consist of two chambers. Each chamber is activated at the same time by a common gas generator and a single inflator. This single inflation process delivers a decisive time advantage over conven- tional dual-stage airbag systems, in which both chambers are filled with gas one after the other. Furthermore, the upper and slightly larger chamber (that protects the head) inflates firmer and for a longer time, than the lower chamber. In this way, Mazda achieves a similar effect to vehicles with a permanent hard top equipped with curtain airbags.

Other passive safety features include ISOFIX anchors for securing a child safety seat in the passenger seat, and the front passenger seat airbag can be deactivated with the ignition key. Both the steering wheel column and the brake pedals are designed to reduce the risk of lower body injury to the driver in case of a serious front impact, and both seats have three-point seat belts with pretensioners and load- limiters.

In the extremely unlikely event that the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe could ever roll over, protection is provided to the passengers by bracing bars integrated into the A-pillars made of ultra-high-strength steel (1,500 Mpa), a massive windshield frame and reinforcements behind the seats. Also, large body shell cross members protect passengers in case of side impact.

58 percent of the body shell is made of either ultra-high- strength or high-strength steel, both of which are three times stronger than normal types of steel and allowed for an ideal combination of thin, lightweight material that is extremely strong. The bonnet is made of aluminium and has been optimized for pedestrian protection. Its inner bonnet panel is made of a shock-cone structure that effectively absorbs impact energy applied to the outside of the bonnet from above.

MZR 2.0-litre Versions come Standard with Limited-Slip Differential

Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe’s active safety package includes ABS with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and DSC with traction control system (TCS). The 2.0-litre version also comes with a super LSD (limited-slip differen- tial) with especially soft functionality.

Standard equipment includes 16-inch wheels with 205/50 tyres, steering wheel height adjustment, aero board, retractable key, heated rear window, remote central locking, electric power windows and a Mazda audio system.

17-inch Aluminium Alloys also Available

Also available (depending on market) are features like manual air conditioning, climate control, 17-inch aluminium alloy wheels, leather interior with seat heating, metallic paint, Xenon headlights with headlight cleaning system, automatic headlight levelling and fog lights. Also available is the keyless entry and start system “LogIn” and an anti-theft alarm system (depending on market).

An optional BOSE sound system with seven speakers and CD-changer is available as well. It employs electronic frequency control and signal adjustment technology to deliver high levels of musical enjoyment even driving with the top down.

Premium Technology – iPod®*-Compatible Audio System

With the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe, an audio system adaptor is introduced for iPod compatibility, a premiere for Mazda in Europe. The system is able to play, for instance, MP3 music files from Apple’s iPod digital music player using the normal audio controls of the car or the steering wheel (latter, depending on market). You can fast-forward, rewind, repeat, and even use the Random Selection function. For installing and charging the iPod, there is a special jack on the passenger side in the glove compartment.

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