While the Mazda MX-5 has been said to head into its fifth generation firmly with a naturally aspirated engine and manual transmission, it now appears that the iconic two-seater sports car is also being prepared for a future with full electrification, reported Car Expert.
Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro told German publication Auto Motor und Sport that the Japanese manufacturer is preparing for a scenario where the use of an internal combustion engine could be ruled out.
“The [MX-5] successor must also be ready for a scenario without a combustion engine. The challenge for us is to make the basic structure lighter without using exotic materials like carbon-fibre,” Moro told the publication.
Mazda still aims to make the next-generation MX-5 as light as possible, assures Moro, and the Japanese manufacturer is aiming for the current, ND-generation‘s successor to weight between “just under 1,000 kg and 1,200 kg”, according to the report.
The fifth-generation MX-5 has been said to make use of Mazda’s Skyactiv-Z family of internal combustion engines, which is set to debut in the third-generation CX-5 by the end of 2027. The new generation of engines is aimed at achieving a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, or Lambda:1, in order to meet Euro 7 regulations and California’s LEV IV standards.
Aiming to attain Lambda:1 for clean and complete combustion of fuel will see a reduction in engine outputs, which Mazda hopes to counteract by increasing engine displacement to 2.5 litres, chief technical officer Ryuichi Umeshita said last year.
Meanwhile, general manager of design Masashi Nakayama also said at the time that the company aims to make the fifth-generation car “less than one tonne” and less than four metres in length, which is comparable to the current, ND-generation car that measures 3,915 mm long and weighs 1,010 kg in its lightest guise with a 1.5 litre engine and manual transmission.
Mazda is developing the fifth-generation MX-5 with an eye on a fully electric direction, however. “If all internal combustion engines were banned, then we would have no choice, and of course, our engineering team is studying both ways – battery EV and ICE [MX-5]. But whatever we do, the ICE one is lighter,” CTO Umeshita said last year.
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Finally has the money to buy， end up the car new price cost rm300k… Arhhh, thinking to buy civic instead
Why not selling this ‘sport car’ above 500k?
MX-5 is my dream car of course but I find that it is shorter than most cars so I am afraid if I bring the top down, I will be inhaling the exhaust fumes of trucks & lorries.
Also, price used to be RM 235,000+… and now almost RM 300,000 for a manual!
You can be as much purist as you like but I also drive a Perodua Viva MANUAL and trust me, in Malaysian traffic it is no joke. Best to get automatic. Don’t touch the manual version. The purist fan boys are most welcome to drive this in KL traffic and regale us on how fun their legs had.