Mazda MX-5 IV - Prj. ND (Spy da Pag. 25 e 56)

[Cosimo]

Quindi secondo loro anche la spider Alfa la faranno in Giappone, ma Marchionne non aveva detto che le Alfa future sarebbero state prodotte tutte in Italia?

l'Alfa sarà di sicuro prodotta in giappone. La sorpresa è che la nuova generazione di mx sarà assemblata allo stabilimento G.B. Vico

[Matteo B.]

bannate lo spammer

[Cosimo]

bannate lo spammer

"coglionazzo mi regga il gioco!" [cit.]

[Guglielmi]

il ps è bello ma inverosimile.. insomma.. le punte cromate che finiscono nel nulla e non credo comunque che avrà uno stile alla cx-5 o 3 o 6 ma rimarrà ancora miata..

[Gabrielo]

il ps è bello ma inverosimile.. insomma.. le punte cromate che finiscono nel nulla e non credo comunque che avrà uno stile alla cx-5 o 3 o 6 ma rimarrà ancora miata..

Speriamo davvero che non perda gli ingredienti caratteristici dell'attuale miata... nel render sa' troppo di Z4 o SLK...

[Regazzoni]

Intervista con il direttore del design di Mazda USA, quasi totalmente incentrata sulla prossima MX-5.

Automobile: You’ve managed to give rear-wheel-drive proportions to the front-wheel-drive the Mazda 6 and Mazda 3, but it must have taken lots of work. It must be nice to be dealing with the next-generation design of a car that’s actually rear-wheel drive, like the Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Derek Jenkins: “Who said it will be rear-wheel drive? [Laughs] Absolutely. Having a proper FR [front-engine, rear-wheel drive] architecture to work off of is the dream. And we’re really proud of where that’s headed.

AM: One thing the Miata has never been is on the cutting edge of styling. Will that continue with the next version?

DJ: The next MX-5 needs to be true to the DNA of an MX-5. So much of our energy has to be focused toward that goal.

The challenge we have is evolving the image of that car, which involves expanding the audience of that car. The average buying audience of the MX-5 is continuing to get older and older. That’s something we’ve really been concentrating on. How to reconnect to a younger customer? Honor the tradition of the consummate roadster, but make it fresh enough and new enough that it appeals to a new audience.

AM: The Porsche Boxster, which we think of as sort of a grown up, expensive Miata, has evolved to become more masculine. Is that where the Miata is headed?

DJ: In general, with the new generation of cars, we try to inject a masculine quality. I don’t use the word aggressive in the context of trying to make a beautiful car. We’re not trying to make something that’s a brute or something that’s hyper aggressive. It’s got to be balanced.

AM: One of the things that bothers us about new convertibles is how high the window sills are, which makes the cockpit feel small and confining. Will you keep those low?

DJ: I think our guys will figure that out.

AM: Do you have any input on the styling of the roadster that Mazda is going to build for Alfa Romeo?

DJ:Not really, no. They’re obviously developing their car on the same platform as us, and there’s going to be certainly be certain components of the underlying architecture that will carry over…

AM: Like the cowl location and height, for instance?

DJ: Things like that. Basic platform hard points.

AM: Does the current, more expensive MX-5 Miata model with a power-operated hard top point to where the next-generation Miata as a whole is headed?

DJ: Not necessarily. But the retractable hard top currently represents up to fifty percent of our MX-5 sales. So, we’ll address that going forward.

From the CX-5 forward we’ve had much greater focus on interior design and overall interior layout. And the MX-5 will represent the big step for us in that area. Usability, drivability, attention to detail, material quality—all of that will be at another level.

AM: There won’t be a coupe model, right?

DJ: Well, there never has been. You can be sure that from Mazda MX-5, the focus will continue to be on the convertible.

AM: How about retro cues. It’s got to have retractable headlamps, right?

DJ: [Laughs] Try and get that through pedestrian impact [standards]! I don’t think we’re looking to literally translate any specific elements from the original Miata. But, I’ll tell you this: We did spend a tremendous amount of time focusing again on the first-generation car, and that’s because it has obviously stood the test of time beautifully. The key to that is the simplicity of that car. And it’s got great proportions. Very simple, very pure, and that’s from a surface standpoint as well as from a detail standpoint. That kind of conceptual thinking is more where we’re headed. We looked with the next-generation MX5 to really concentrate on the simplicity and purity of the car.

AM: Is there any input from the Mazda Ibuki concept that debuted in Tokyo in 2003? That car was a very simple section car.

DJ: That car was really more of a precursor of the current car. There’s no relationship to that in where we’re headed.

AM: Will the new Miata open a new chapter in Mazda design or will it be an evolution of the Kodo language we’re seeing on the Mazda CX-5, Mazda 6, and Mazda 3?

DJ: The Mazda MX-5, although it will always be connected to its generation of [Mazda] vehicles, it also sits just slightly on its own. It will have to ride that line.

AM: When will the new Mazda MX-5 Miata debut?

MAZDA MEDIA OFFICER: [interrupting] Someday. Not today.

[Gabrielo]

Grazie, davvero interessante. Sembrerebbe andare nella direzione che un po' tutti ci auspichiamo: evolvere la linea tenendo una linea separata dal resto della gamma di Mazda.

Inoltre, più mascolina ma non troppo aggressiva. Mi fa sperare bene!

[poliziottesco]

qualche altro dettaglio da Autocar | First for car news and car reviews

New Mazda MX-5 for 2015 launch

All-new sports car due in 2015; Unique look with elongated bonnet, crisp lines and clean surfaces; Normally aspirated 1.5 and 2.0-litre engines n Hard-top and soft-top planned

This Autocar image shows how the new Mazda MX-5 might look

by Julian Rendell

15 January 2014 10:03am

The new Mazda MX-5 will have “very clean and simple” styling to be what a company veteran calls “our best-looking car ever”.

On sale in 2015, the new MX-5 is tipped to appear early that year at February’s Chicago show, where the original MX-5 was launched in 1989.

The engineering and styling details of the eagerly awaited two-seater are understood to centre on new, more muscular proportions in which the front axle is pushed forward to give a long-bonnet look to emphasise the rear-drive powertrain.

“It is such a good-looking car — recognisable as an MX-5, but with very clean styling,” said an insider.

Design chief Ikuo Maeda and his team have developed a new and unique styling theme for both the MX-5 and its platform twin, the RX-7 coupé. The look is different from that used on Mazda’s hatches and saloons.

During an interview at the Tokyo show last November, Maeda told Autocar that the MX-5 would have its own interpretation of the firm’s ‘Kodo’ design language.

“It won’t be like the Mazda 3 or 6,” Maeda said. “Kodo can express our range in different ways. My intent is to make it tighter looking visually, but still to have a strong presence.”

Maeda also emphasised that the design will not be retro, a reference interpreted to mean distancing the new car from the soft and rounded styling of the original 1989 MX-5.

In practice, the next-gen MX-5 is understood to feature simple body surfaces without the pronounced wheel arch bulges and intersecting styling lines that give the 3 and 6 their unique character.

A significant detail will be a simple face built around a smooth front nosecone and lower air intake — the basic stylistic building blocks that have characterised all three MX-5 models since 1989.

That is likely to mean a lower air intake with a little more angular shaping, rather than the ovoid look of past models.The MX-5 definitely won’t feature the brash, five-point grille of the 3 and 6.

An important new feature of the MX-5 will be a relatively long wheelbase inside dimensions that grow slightly and closer to an overall length of four metres. Today’s model is 3975mm long.

Prototypes of the new MX-5 snapped recently at the Nürburgring can now be seen to show off this extended dimension. Multiple layers of disguise between the scuttle and front axle are intended to disguise it.

The longer bonnet is partly necessary to accommodate Mazda’s new SkyActiv petrol engines, which employ a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold that takes up a relatively long space to encourage free-flowing air out of the combustion chambers to improve efficiency.

The same 4-2-1 exhaust manifold has resulted in the ‘long bonnet’ dimensions of the new 3, whose bulkhead and cabin are pushed back by 100mm compared with rivals.

A new generation of stratified-charge HCCI versions of this engine — tipped to be on sale during the new MX-5’s life cycle — might need an even longer exhaust manifold.

The engines will be naturally aspirated versions of the SkyActiv petrol engine, most likely in 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre capacities, but some markets might take only a single variant.

Early reports suggested that the MX-5 would feature a turbocharged 1.5-litre engine, but Mazda has since decided to concentrate on naturally aspirated engines.

Engineers are confident that Mazda can hit Europe’s fleet average figure of 95g/km of CO2 by 2021 without using forced induction.

The new MX-5 is likely to be launched with much-improved fuel economy figures as Mazda targets efficiency gains of 30 per cent by 2015.

Power outputs for the MX-5 have yet to be confirmed, but expect typically conservative horsepower figures matched to a low kerb weight to deliver a rewarding driving experience.

A kerb weight of just over 1100kg will make the MX-5 lighter than its rivals and Mazda has proven adept at making its recent models the lightest in their class.

Insiders are pulling back from an earlier commitment to hit 1000kg. “That’s a very, very difficult figure to achieve in practice,” said one insider.

Given the competitive price of the MX-5, it is engineered around conventional steel construction, although detailed attention to individual componentry is contributing to weight reduction.

Just like today’s MX-5, the new model is being engineered with two roof mechanisms: a folding metal hard-top and conventional soft-top.

The hard-top will be focused on the European and Japanese markets, the multi-layer canvas top on the US market.

High demand in the UK — Europe’s biggest market for the MX-5 — for the folding hard-top has largely been responsible for keeping the two different roofs in production.

The second generation of the folding hard-top is said to be lighter and packaged more efficiently, delivering slightly improved boot volume.

confermati motori aspirati (1.5 e probabilmente 2.0), due tipi di tetto e stile proprio, non in comune con le ultime creazioni...meno male!

Modificato 15 Gennaio 2014 da poliziottesco

[mich_]

Pensavo usassero stessi motori mazda e alfa .

1000 kg di peso fà ben sperare ..

[Regazzoni]

Pensavo usassero stessi motori mazda e alfa .

E' subito stato chiaritoo (anzi forse ci sono dichiarazioni pubbliche dello stesso maglionato) che ciascuna delle due auto avrebbe avuto motori e trasmissioni propri.