Now that ChrisM's a mod, you may want to hurry to get in before the lock.

Mazda’s design boss has told Autocar that the company is planning a radical rethink of the MX-5.

“The next MX-5 needs to be a big step,” Laurens Van den Acker said. “The last one was too conservative and we can’t do another car like that. We need to make it more dramatic and give it some *****.”

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...a-MX-5/234584/

Of course, I'm hoping that one option might be some kind of Kabura RX-5 coupe with a 16x but time will tell.

 

Annoying that they're talking about the next MX5. A little more focus on the next RX would be comforting especially since it is supposed to be out the year before the next MX-5. I can't remember the last snippet from anyone in Mazda about it.

 

I know what you mean. Even more frustrating when you think that the new RX-7 was originally supposedly supposed to be released before the NC Miata and now we're already talking about the ND Miata.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/rx-8-nomenclature-fe-63/

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/rx-8-mechanical-prototype-caught-road-109/

BTW, for those who don't know him, this bwob guy is Bob Hall, the so-called Father of the Miata, who has been a great resources and especially entertaining poster over the years at Miata.net

 

The market for the MX-5 is much larger than the market for RX cars. So there will be more chatter.

Or maybe they can't figure out how to make the 16x ready for production

 

not gonna close it.....i know the car could use allot more power.....but with a ton more it might become scary to drive.....then its only good for a select few

 

old news...

The inhouse Mazda guys have been lobbying for a much more radical NC and ND for a long time, but the US dealers keep saying they wouldn't be able to sell it.

 

of course not, I've not seen a single Solstice GXP or Sky Redline on the road




(**** man, I see at least a dozen a week, they're freakin' everywhere)

 

You planning on doing any crazy mods to your MX-5 Chism?

 

I hope they keep the weight down above anything else. The light weight feel makes it fun to drive, not the power. The NA is waaaaay more fun to drive than the newer ones...

 

Honestly I don't know why automakers even listen to their dealers when it comes to product offerings. All the dealerships seem to do is offer feedback that affects the models in negative ways (Landau roofs on everything? Of course!) and/or hamstring the brand so as to dilute the uniqueness of an offering (was there really a reason for the Solstice AND the Sky?). Dealerships have a very myopic view of product and it really begins and ends with what their customers seem to tell them. They very rarely seem to realize that an offering might attract different people from what went through their showrooms before.

Oh yeah. If Mazda produces a Miata coupe they have at least one guaranteed sale from me.

 

+1 for miata coupe.

and when they said give it some ***** i think they meant power AND looks. granted, a well modified miata looks pretty mean. but.. compare a miata to a z3 or a miata to a honda s2000 and ask which is manlier...

 

Had they actually built this (I took these pics at SEMA on 2003), I would have bought it instead of my RX-8.





There probably won't be another RX-8. There definitely won't be another RX-7 or anything like it.

The MX-5 is Mazda's sports car. The '8 is just a weird tick in their product line.
And with each passing year, it gets closer and closer to the axe.

 

^^ why do you always have to rain on our parade???

 

define crazy.......mine is already nicely modded

 

Well Jeff weren't you a Miata guru before you became an RX-8 guru? I mentioned your name to one of the mechanics at my dealership and he knew you from your Miata days when you were in the DC area.

I doubt I would ever buy a Miata, coupe or not. If I was going to buy a piston engine coupe it wouldn't be a Miata heh. I don't like how they look for starters, but the car has just never appealed to me for a bunch of reasons. I hope you are wrong about the RX line Jeff. I hope Mazda does find a market for a 2-seater, 2-door, rotary engine, factory turbo car in the future. If not then I will just have my fun with the RX-8 until the fun is squeezed out of all the rotors.

I am somewhat convinced though that rotaries are addictive. It probably isn't healthy.

 

I dabbled. I was mostly a KL-engine guy until I got the '8.
My Miata experiments were mostly concurrent with the stuff I did with the '8.

Which dealership? Rosenthal (Gaithersburg)?

 

Miata is manlier than a Z3, but the S2000 is manlier than the Miata IMO... Although i'm sure i'll have many people disagree with that.

 

What?! The next RX car is in the works, and it will apparently be very much like an RX-7.

The rotary engine is the core of Mazda DNA. The true Mazda sports car will always be a rotary; they have been building them since the 1960s through hell and high water. If anything, the MX-5 is a weird tick in their product line, though a very successful one.

 

I doubt theyll use the name rx7.

I bet this kill the rotary for at least a couple years after the rx8 run is over.

My guess would be they would call it the rx10. The rx9 was a bulky sedan built in the 70's I believe. Wouldnt make much sense to call it an rx9.

 

Doesn't matter much what they call it. If it's a two-seat coupe with a rotary engine, it will be the new RX-7 for all intents and purposes. I expect it to be NA though, I doubt they will put a turbo in the 16x, at least not for the first generation.

 

rx-10?

 

Do you think theyll deviate from the 4 seater platform. Im sure itll be a 2 door but for marketing purposes, I wouldnt be surprised if they kept it a 4 seater and left the MX5 as Mazdas sports car.

 

RX7 = past model

RX8 = current model

RX9 = past model

RX10 = Unused.

 

I think it will be a 2 seater. Maybe a 2+2, but not with real back seats like the 8.

The MX-5 is Mazda's *low-cost* sports car, which is a big reason for its popularity. The RX car will be the flagship sports car.

 

I think they will keep it similar to the kabura concept, I wouldnt mind that car being the next RX, I liked it.