This all sounds good. The two things I didn’t like with the previous Miatas were 1) boring and feminine styling, and 2) not enough power. Sounds like they’re going to fix all that and more. I suspect the Sky and Solstice lit a fire under their butts.

It’s gonna be like a CX7 convertible to compete with the droptop Murano.

Miata was the last one left, right?

The Sky is a very nice looking car, in my opinion. The Solstice, not so much.

Miata/MX5 has always given only enough hp to get their desired market share. This is a common strategy, one which I’m glad that GM doesn’t always employ.

Y mess up what works?
U C the bettle or manhy goitting “dramaytic styling?”

They lost so much market share to GM’s roadsters.

This is exactly why the Japenese should NEVER be allowed to do their own styling…they have a terrible propensity for going waaaaay overboard with their styling cues and producing cars that look childish, idiotic, and outright stupid. Who here thinks a Mitsubishi Evoloution really needs that wing tacked on the back? Or that the WRX looks good with that silly hood scoop? Subaru coulda put the intercooler somewhere else. The MX5 Miata looks fine, and if they need a redesign, they just need to outsource it to a Italian or German design firm to come up with a mature, coherent, balanced, and well proportioned car. The very last thing Mazda needs to do is to apply the Generation Y pokécar look to the miata.

“Miata, I choose YOU!”

the wing on the evo & scoop on the suby are both functional so simmer. i love the current mx5 miata but if they wanna make it look like the rest of their lineup they’re gunna change it whether we like it or not. i say do it. but they should also give it a fastback hardtop version as well. like the solstice is doing. that’d be kinda cool too. maybe make it a mazdaspeed variant.

Right on, Madcapp. Couldn’t have said it better. It seems their aggressive styling cues are taken from that robot Jet Jaguar from the 60s

I like miata…but I think it’s overpriced!

Like it or not, Mazda MX-5 is the best selling roadster of all times. Ever. In the world. And, it’s the best selling sports car in the world. Ever.

It has become a benchmark that, as of now, nobody managed to match. Yes, there are more powerful cars, but MX-5 offers the best overall package + superior reliability.

BTW, that GM roadster thing sits on what’s normally known as Opel.

I prefer traumatic styling myself but I’ve been under a lot of stress lately.

Also I do not see entire leagues of racing devoted to the Sky/Solstice as I do the Miata. It has been out for how long and it is still the number one choice for circuit racing beginners or someone who wants to race in a league on a budget.

“dramatic” makes sense, particularly when you’ve redesigned the same car 3 times without it looking appreciably different. That may work for Porsche, but if Mazda ever wants to shed the “Miata” name, a radical redesign would do it.

I hope that amidst all the redesigns and power boosts, the MX-5 still turns out to be what it’s supposed to be, and what’s made it successful all these years.

I don’t want the MX-5 to lose it’s 50-50 weigth balance and perfect handling.

The Solstice/Sky did take a bite out of Miata sales for their first couple of years, but now they’re tapering off. These cars went too far in the other direction, sacrificing styling for performance. In particular they were never designed for 18″ wheels, which threw off their handling and ride comfort.
Back to the Miata:
shed some weight – Great, at 2500 lbs it was starting to get pudgy
boost in power – Fabulous, can never have enough in a roadster
better fuel economy – Considering the current model is at the top of it’s class, this can only get better
As for the styling, I really don’t care what it looks like as long as it doesn’t interfere with the aerodymanics.

I hope that they don’t use that silly-looking seashell styling on their latest concepts. The whole concept behind the Miata has been that it’s a “new” classic British roadster. If they Jap it out too much, it’ll just be another car in a sea of bad asian designs. They may as well just make it like the ill-fated Capri and be done with it if they abandon what has made the original car such a success in the first place.

Still a chick car.

^If you prefer to sacrifice fun and performance for boredom.

Love it or hate it the Pontiac Solstice is still the #1 selling roadster in America, which it took from the Miata.
Hopefully the Solstice Coupe, helps it’s declining or leveling off sales…
Rumor has it that GM is considering giving the axe to the Solstice/Sky, but time will tell esp with the demand for more fuel efficient vehicles…

Now if Mazda was to offer once again a Mazdaspeed MX-5, and an actual hardtop coupe like they offered in Japan, like what GM is doing with the Solstice Coupe, and give it some aggressive styling, it’d put the Miata back on top.

Need4SSpeed: in reference to GM possibly giving the Solstice/Sky the ol’ heave-ho, I was going to mention that possibility just to piss off our resident anger management candidate Z06ified but chickened out. I really have been under a lot of stress lately. Fortunately my 8% medication is producing the desired results.

i wouldnt even compare the overweight sky/solstice to the mx5/miata.

these cars suck in comparrision. dead handling,sloppy interior quality and inferior engines.

the experts agree

Need4SSpeed is right about the need for a new Mazdaspeed MX-5 (and RX-8 for that matter) to boost their US sales and credibility. How can they be the Zoom-Zoom brand with only an entry-level hatchback carrying the Mazdaspeed name?

Yes please. There’s a reason why all the Miatas in the movie Cars were chicks.

yes losing weight would be great for every car in the world and even better for the mx5, adding power to lower weight wow just lose about 500lbs

There’s dramatic and then there’s tasteless. Hopefully Mazda realizes the difference and doesn’t totally ruin the look of this iconic vehicle. A little change in design direction would be welcome as long as it doesn’t cross over into bizarre.

“the wing on the evo & scoop on the suby are both functional so simmer.
Comment by JoshyLofty, posted on August27 ”

Yeah, functional, but ugly and stupid looking. You can have function and form together. Mitsubishi and Fuji couldn’t figure out how to have form and function together. The other problem is they tried to make the econoboxes they are based on aerodynamically sound, which they never were to start with. Better cars are designed from the ground up to be fast, and the body has good inherent aerodynamics to start with, eliminating the need for ridiculously huge wings and scoops.

Personally… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Thousands of chicks and old men love the miata for it’s bland styling. It’s a fun, inexpensive, (slow) little roadster that gets decent mileage and handles well. Not everyone wants a fast car… some people just want a cruiser.

======>>f*********e, i think you’re F***ING SMOKIINN. So u call 0-60in 5.6sec(SolsticeGXP) “inferior”?!? If anything with both cars put sideBYside, the MX5 would have the “inferior” AND “anemic” engine by a LOOONG shot. Handling and speedwise? A SolsticeGXP sould SMOKE an MX5 around ANY track. and YOU know that.

====> MugenSentraKen, you and i both know that’s wrong, you GM fanboy. And if you need that extra horsepower in the GXP to overpower an MX-5, that just says something about the engineers at Mazda. They know how to get more from less.

lol MugenSetraKe isn’t a GM fanboy…

But I agree with him. The Miata is nice, & it’s balanced. Almost perfect. But…. It is slow. & The Solstice GXP does 0-60 in 5.4-5.6 seconds, and with the LNF it’s very quick, it’d beat a Miata on a track easily.

Now a stock Miata would probably beat a stock Solstice… But the Solstice/Sky are changing the roadster industry, and you can look it up, but in Autocross, and in amateur racing the Solstice ZOK is beating the Miata badly…

roadster market/segment*

=====>>auto.observer its not “more from less” in this situation its “less from less”. The point is the solstice/sky is what the MX5 should have been long ago after all those years, whether its speed,power,handling,OR styling being mentioned.

The folding hard-top on the Miata is nice. But for track use it’’s unnecessary weight. Which is why you always see the Miata’s racing with the top down/removed & full roll cage in place.

But for off the track, daily driving, and practicality it’s a much better option to just a rag-top.

like I already mentioned give the U.S Spec Miata an available fixed coupe version (like they did in Japan), continue to offer the traditional rag-top, available folding hard-top versions as well, and also a fixed & removable hard top.

Bring back the Mazdaspeed MX-5, and also give it a revised track tuned suspension & most importantly drop in the 2.3L Turbo 4cyl that’s used in the Mazdaspeed 3, and there you go. The MX-5 Miata is back on top.

I’d consider getting a Miata then. But I’m settling for a white Solstice Coupe GXP.

I have always liked the MX-5. I almost bought the previous generation Mazdaspeed version. I didn’t buy it because it wasn’t practical enough for an everyday driver. I hope Mazda designs the next generation with more ground effects. I like the side profile of the current car but the front and rear round up too much. This makes the car look wimpy. It needs a nice low air dam or chin spoiler. If my wish was granted the MX-5 would have a Sky body on it. GM’s first attempt was good, but not good enough. Styling of the GM cars are nice and the GXP/Redline engines have power but they are not like the Mazda. The gearing on the GM’s are not right at all and pretty much the only thing you can put in the trunk is sand. Every review I have ever read about the MX-5 has been good. No journalist has said it is not a fun car to drive so Mazda has been doing right for a long time. This next generation will be another great car. I hope it looks better than the current generation.

The turbo GXP/Redline versions will outdo an MX-5. But as far as its reliability is concerned, it is 250% worse than average.

Even C&D was surprised to find out that the Solstice was a competent car. The 2.0 turbo version makes it better. But, guess which one though they have on the 10 Best list?