Mazda Likens MX-5 Development To Porsche 911

Speaking recently with Dave Coleman, Vehicle Development Engineer at Mazda R&D and the man responsible for much of the engineering in theMX-5 Miata,CarBuzzlearned of everything from electrification plans toalternate body stylesMazda would love to pursue. But with the threat of an electrified Miata for the next generation looming large, we had to know, how much longer does the current ND-generation MX-5 Miata still have before we lose out on some of that purity? As it turns out, the ND might stick around longer than expected.

When Coleman was asked about the long product cycle the MX-5 Miata tends to have compared to more mainstream vehicles, he explained that when building a dedicated sports car - not one sharing a platform with other cars - the time it takes to pay off the engineering is longer. "The business of sports cars is such that you can't change them every four years like you do with a mass market car because the sales volume is lower. To move enough metal to pay for your engineering, you've got to take longer."

But this has benefits, too, as once the car is on sale, it can continually evolve. "This gives us the opportunity to continually improve the car that's out there," he says. He likens the philosophy to that of Porsche with the 911: "They just have the same platform forever. They just keep tweaking, keep tweaking, keep tweaking, and that evolutionary process really drives you to a kind of perfected and engaged car that's always the best version of itself until the next one comes out," he explains, "And then well, that's the best version of itself."

When asked if there was more to come from the ND chassis, even if there was a major update in the near future, Coleman responded positively. "Yeah, I think it's got life," he says. "Obviously, I can't tell you what our future product plans are, but look back at the NA and NB as an example of what kind of life you can get out of a sports car platform."