The Mazda MX-5 has always defined itself as one of the most involving cars to drive by staying true to some key ingredients – one of them being lightness. Mazda isn’t interested in the blind pursuit of power with the lithe roadster.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine engineers over at the Japanese automaker pining for the ability to ditch any non-essential components to make the MX-5 even more pure to drive. Alas, with the increased safety standards and buyers like us demanding more comfort and convenience amenities, Mazda has had to balance those needs with the core concept of the MX-5.
Make no mistake, the MX-5 is more powerful, but main because there’s more weight for it to carry. However, in a recent interview with Autocar UK, Nobuhiro Yamamoto, Mazda’s MX-5 programme chief, revealed that the pursuit of lightness may require the use of carbon fibre in the construction of their next, fifth-generation, roadster.
Currently, the MX-5 (fourth-generation, ND) which has been around since 2014, use a multi-material construction comprising of steel and aluminium which results in a kerb weight of around 1,000kg. The MX-5 RF (Retractable Fastback) is due to be launched in 2017 and comes with a folding metal roof, increasing that all-important scale number.
Carbon fibre, up until now, has been reserved for more weight-focused sports cars and premium brands such as BMW with their carbon core construction. An MX-5 using the material could bump its price considerably. However, Yamamoto said, Mazda is devising a method to making it more affordable. Still, though, we can’t expect the price of an MX-5 to stay flat even with if Mazda found cost-effective way to produce and incorporate carbon fibre into the manufacturing process.
It’s still unclear exactly how much of the next MX-5 Mazda could chose to construct with the light but strong material. Given the still-new status of the fourth-generation MX-5, though, we will likely not see much of the next version until 2020, at least.
A possible route that Mazda could take would be to offer a more expensive variant of the MX-5 with carbon fibre construction while leaving the steel/aluminium version on sale for those less concerned about out-and-out weight and handling.
For more on Mazda vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
