Cars - Mazda MX-5

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	Cars - Mazda MX-5

The Mazda MX-5 is a popular sports car built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan. Popularly known as Miata in North America, it is also known just as the Mazda MX-5 in Oceania and Europe and the Eunos Roadster or Mazda Roadster in Japan. It was initially unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show on 10 February, 1989. The Miata is the world's best-selling sports car, with 720,407 cars produced and sold between February 1989 and March 31 2005. Beginning with the third-generation 2006 model, all models of this vehicle worldwide now use the MX-5 name.

Overview

The Miata was designed to be a small roadster with a minimum of unnecessary weight and complexity. The first Miata was designed in California, USA and Worthing, England. Its design is inspired by, some say copied from, the Lotus Elan, a 1960s roadster that is widely considered to be one of the best handling sports cars of its day.

The Miata has a traditional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and 4-wheel independent double wishbone suspension. It comes with a 1.6 L, 1.8 L or 2.0 L longitudinally mounted engine coupled to a manual transmission (an automatic transmission is available, though rare).

The body is a conventional, but very light, unibody shell. Miatas also incorporate a unique trusswork called the Powerplant Frame (PPF) which connects the engine to the differential, minimizing flex and creating a tight, responsive feel. Many Miatas feature limited slip differentials and antilock brakes, but none have traction control.

With a 50:50 front/rear weight balance (when measured with an average weight driver and a 2/3 full gas tank), the car has a very neutral handling, which makes it easy to drive for the beginner, and fun for the advanced driver. Inducing oversteer is easy and well controllable. The Miata is popular in amateur and stock racing events, particularly the Sports Car Club of America's Solo2 autocross series, as well as Spec Miata driving.

Since production began, over 700,000 Miatas have been made, leading the Guinness Book of Records to name it the world's best-selling sports car on February 13 2002.

Generation 1 (NA)

A competition to design a light-weight sports car

The design of the first generation Miata was the result of a competition between Mazda (North America) and the Tokyo Design Studio. The role of designing a front-engine, rear-wheel drive light-weight sports car was assigned to Mazda (North America) whilst the Tokyo Design Studio designed front engined, front-wheel drive and mid-engined, rear-wheel drive cars for the competition.

The first round of judging the competing designs for the MX-5 was held in April 1984. Designs were presented on paper. On paper the mid-engined car appeared the most impressive, although it was known at the time that such a layout would struggle to meet the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) requirements of the project. It was at the second round of the competition in August 1984 , when full scale clay models were presented, that the front-engined rear-wheel drive design, code-named the Duo 101, was selected as the basis for Mazda's new light-weight sports car.

The Duo 101 design, so named as either a soft-top or hard-top could be used, was referred to International Automotive Design in Worthing, England for the construction of a running prototype. The prototype was built with a fiberglass body, a 1.4 L engine from a Mazda Familia and other components from a variety of early Mazda models. The prototype was completed in August 1985 and code-named the V705 by Mazda.

After some minor changes in the design, presented in clay model form by the designers from Mazda (North America), the project was given final approval on 18 January 1986. The project was now code-named P729 by Mazda. The task of constructing five engineering mules was again allocated to International Automotive Design, who also conducted the first front and rear crash tests on the prototype. The project then returned to Japan for final engineering details and production issues to be decided.

The Miata meets the public

The Miata was unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show on 10 February 1989, with a price tag of US$13,800. The Miata would be available for purchase by the public from July 1989 as a 1990 model. In Japan, the car was not badged as a Mazda, as the company was experimenting with the creation of different brands for deluxe models, similar to Nissan's Infiniti and Toyota's Lexus. Instead, the Mazda MX-5 was called the Eunos Roadster in its own market.

Specifications

Body and chassis

The body shell of the Miata is all-steel with an aluminium bonnet. The overall dimensions are: length 3970 mm (156.3 in); width 1675 mm (65.9 in); height 1235 mm (48.6 in); wheelbase 2265 mm (89.2 in). Ground clearance is 140 mm (5.5 in). Without options, the NA model MX-5 weighed 940 kilograms. The body was reasonably aerodynamic, with a Cd figure of 0.38.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Mazda MX-5 ]

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