Next Mazda MX-5 Will Be lighter and More Efficient Than Ever

The fifth-gen car will use carbon fiber to be more efficient than ever before; it is not due before 2021

The Mazda MX-5 should continue to get even lighter in future generations, with downsized three-cylinder engines Likely to power them.

The current, fourth-generation MX-5 was smaller and lighter than the car it replaced. While the MX-5 program manager Nobuhiro Yamamoto has said the MX-5 is unlikely to get smaller in the future (a fifth-generation car will not arrive before 2021), it should get lighter due to the Increased affordability of lightweight materials such as carbonfibre.

"The size is right," said Yamamoto. "But in the future of lightweight materials will be very important and will be used in this car. Now carbonfibre is very expensive, but we have in development carbonfibre affordable, so the MX-5 will be lighter in the future. "

On the subject of downsized engines, Yamamoto said as the car got lighter, the need for a big engine reduced. Mazda has already Achieved this, with the current MX-5's base engine being a 129bhp 1.5-liter unit.

"It's a simple concept," he said. "The vehicle weight gets lower, there's a smaller engines, smaller tires. It's a lightweight sports car. "

Also Yamamoto revealed that the recent Speedster and Spyder concept versions of the MX-5 were not feasible for production, despite showing the car at its purest.

The pair were unveiled at the SEMA tuning show late last year in Las Vegas, and the Spyder Appeared at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed.

"We have dreams, our customers have dreams," he said. "An open car is very emotional, and you have a good feeling driving this. But it's not feasible and is a very difficult, car [to the make]. It's a dream car. "

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