Making its world debut during a press conference at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), the vehicle's all-new SKYACTIV®1-CHASSIS bared its sports car soul and affirmed that the future model would be lighter, stronger and with a physical footprint more in tune with its first-generation predecessor than with its heavier, larger current-day cousin.
"This SKYACTIV-CHASSIS expresses a deep-dive chronicle – complete with beginning, middle and conclusion – of the passion, challenges and triumphs being poured into the next-generation MX-5 Miata," said Robert Davis, senior vice president, U.S. Operations, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO). "The dedication of the R&D and Design teams to honor the vehicle's dynamic heritage and globally-recognizable features is evident from the chassis' structural blueprint, and will undoubtedly translate into what we believe will be a remarkable production car."
With the fourth-generation MX-5, the soul of the sports car is not only revisited but reinvented. With no richly layered, character line-laden sheet metal to hide beneath, the SKYACTIV-CHASSIS lays out a narrative of MX-5's continuing story with a perfectly arranged table of contents.
This chassis is the first time SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY has ever been shown in a front mid-ship engine rear-wheel-drive design. Also, its compact configuration showcases an engine closer to the vehicle's center, a center of gravity which itself is lower than that of any previous generation. And not only lower but decidedly leaner with a weight reduction goal of more than 220 lbs (100 kg), all with the goal of continuing to achieve the highest standards of body rigidity and collision safety performance.
This unwavering determination to keep the MX-5 faithful to its roots of being compact, light and fun-to-drive also is a further evolution of the brand's Jinba Ittai signature – the oneness between a car and its driver.
An early example is that of engineers painstakingly researching the optimum driver position for behind-the-wheel excitement and comfort as further proof that a driving experience intertwined with a history of courage, creativity and conviction is the Mazda way.
