https://www.motor1.com/news/790895/m...a-lightweight/


Big grain of salt, but it suggests that Mazda is not going to make the next Miata electric/hybrid and will stick with at least one more generation of ICE.

 

Trying to stay under 2200 pounds is fantastic. I wish they would to to around 200whp/200trq but the current power to weight isn't horrible. And here is something I think would go along way for maybe only me, but manufacturers put in some tall gearing for both fuel economy and many times to get one less shift for the on-paper 0-60 time. Short gearing in a lightweight car that you are zipping in and out of traffic is so much fun. Make a ridiculously tall 6th, but one through four should have close ratios to give you a hard shove in the below 65 mph stuff.

 

yeah I am amazed at how they keep them so light with todays safety standards. But, I have also stripped an ND1 down to the frame from the windshield forward and rebuilt it once the frame was replaced once and learned more about how they do it. The panels and parts are about as thin as possible. I have a fender from said car on my shop wall and one from an s2k and if you pick them up our s2k fenders feel like they came from tank in comparison. Every part is about as light as possible on the ND. Even the undertrays are basically like some sort of cardboard like material.

 

Have you driven the NDs? One of the things that I liked about the ND2 I had was that the 6th gear is relatively tall, while 1-4 were short, so they did what you're describing by making 6th into an overdrive gear. It's always something that made sense and I was happy to notice that, but I also learned why OEMs don't typically do it, at least not as pronounced as Mazda did it, because if you're cruising along the highway and need to accelerate, it just does not. Don't get me wrong, I still think OEMs should all still do this, but I understand why they don't.

Even the glass is super thin. I love small cars, but even sitting in an NA vs ND, the NA feels more spacious. But alot of cars these days are the same, heck you can walk into any dealer now and with one finger push the door skins and get them to wobble.

 

I enjoyed autocrossing the ND1 the couple of years I co drove one. Not as fun to drive as the s2k (the ND owner agreed) but it is faster around an autocross course. The ND (even the ND1) feels more peppy off the line than the s2k due to the low weight but of course the s2k pulls on it after that. But on the street... s2000 hands down, even over the ND2. The S2k feels more spacious and overall is more fun to drive for me.

 

I have driven both an ND1 and ND2 but I showed up driving a supercharged S2000 and the Cayman S at the time. Neither were barn burners compared to new Corvettes but maybe that was unfair to compare stepping out of 2900 pound cars with 300+ ftlbs of torque. They left me wanting a little more.

What is funny to me is that the Miata has a roughly 5.7 second 0-60 time, the exact same as my four banger Giulia had, but the Giulia felt like a rocket and the Miata slow just from the torque difference. I also only drove the Miata with a salesperson in the car, which does not help things either.

 

For as light as it is, the S200 has a very solid feeling build quality that is surprising. Nothing ever felt flimsy or cheap to me in that car.

 

Yep I think overall build quality on the S2000 was much better. I guess though looking at prices of the day one should expect that . The S2000 I think was a bout 1.5x the cost of the miata of the same year.

 

while I have no issues with electrics, hybrids, etc, I do find the weight of the vehicles to be the worst part of them. Even if it is low center for gravity the weight is crazy obvious. My son has a Mustang Mach -E which is crazy heavy, even my Ford Escape PHEV was heavy feeling. I just got a VW SUV to replace my Escape and the difference in weight and nimbleness is like a night and day difference, I don't find the difference in fuel economy to be all that bad.

 

Glad to hear they're sticking to the form. Sold my S2000 last year as I ran out of room but I do miss the roadster experience. Could see myself either buying another S2000, or perhaps a Miata when the time comes for another roadster. The S2000 feels special in a way that the Miata does not - from the focused interior design to the sound of the engine to the power curve being at the tippy top. The engine character has held me up from buying a Miata. While the ND2/3 generation has improved it still lacks that raw edge that makes the S2000 feel so special. I'm not so convinced Mazda will be able to add character in the area that matters to me - the engine - in this regulatory environment, but perhaps when the time comes to compare buying another S2000 vs buying a Miata, not having to deal with 20+ year old car issues might just outweigh the upside of the S2000 experience.