ND Engine Range

[Caffeine]

Yeah, add some more power (to please the vocal minority) and since it's more powerful you'd better beef up the brakes, and swap in a stronger clutch, more robust gearbox, some more body bracing, stronger diff, bigger axles, more cooling etc etc

Hrmm, we're up to 1300kg now and it doesn't feel any faster, better add some more power...

[Odd]

Caffeine.....Your Spot on.....

The American system of car development....
You soon end up with a car that is only good for a Drag strip or an oval circuit!

[gslender]

Hang on, the car is supposedly available with either 2.0L or 1.5L engines. Nobody stated that more bracing, brakes or other upgrades are needed.

If it can have a 2.0L engine then capacity basically comes with zero extra parts or effort. After all, it's not like the 1.5 would be any easier to build or require less parts to work, so the smaller and less powerful engine technically should cost the same.

I don't think the extra .5 of capacity is going to spoil the car, obviously if it exists then clearly Mazda don't think it will spoil it either.

I'm just unsure that offering an underpowered version with the claim that any lack of oomph is ok because it handles well, only works up to a point. I'm not sure that buyers who are shopping for a sporty car will agree. Those guys or gals looking for a weekend fun car to go shopping might, but I doubt the sport car enthusiasts with mountain hills and occasional track drive will.

I guess Mazda thinks there are heaps of hairdressers to sell the car to - I'm actually disappointed if that is the approach, as I would've thought Mazda recognised the MX5 can be a brand builder to give them some cred as a manufacturer.

[speed]

For all those saying that the 5 has adequate power I put the following question to you.
If the new car came out with 155kw would you complain that it has too much power???

I want the power but didn't say I'd be using all of it all the time.

How can you knock back more power, makes little sense to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Caffeine]

I'm not knocking the idea of more power, but more power always comes at a cost.

Look at what Mazda did with the SE, it had a modest increase in power and torque, but it also necessitated beefier axles, a stronger gearbox, and who knows what other changes. As a manufacturer, Mazda has much more responsibility than an owner, to make sure that the car is safe and comfortable to drive.

As an owner, you can add more power to the car, and live with the increased maintenance costs, the potential for parts breakages, increased NVH etc, but Mazda can't do that. A significant power increase will necessitate significant cost increases (and I'm not just talking monetary cost, it would also bring a cost in weight, time, R&D, which would then increase monetary cost in further R&D or lightweight materials, to bring the weight / NVH back down, and reliability back up)

And the majority of MX5 owners (who are not well represented on a forum such as this) don't care what power it has. They care that if they put their foot down, it moves forward.

[Lokiel]

Tell me if I'm wrong here but I reckon:

Mazda will never produce a decently powered MX5 when they have another affordable sports car to offer for fear of losing sales on their primo sports car - ie. RX-7 and RX8 (and there is one coming).

This would only change if their sports car becomes significantly more expensive.

[markwid]

It would be great if Mazda has an engine like the Fiat 1.4L MultiAir with 170bhp and 6 L/100km fuel economy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MultiAir

[Odd]

I think you're wrong

Mazda have a concept for the MX5....which they have stuck too...and it's been very successful
they won't be seduced to follow the American model....ie just add more power to every new model

The mx5 has got decent power....power that is relevant to the concept
....it's a car that has to be dríven(use of gearbox) to maximise performance,and that's it's appeal in my opinion

Look at the Honda 2000s....a lot more powerful,a lot more expensive....no longer in production

Note....Mazda don't make the RX range at the moment either

[gslender]

Odd and others, you keep thinking that the 1.5L is the only engine available - it isn't.

Mazda have and will be offering a 2.0L engine in the same light weight body/car.

I think the point is why the flipping hell would you bother selling the car with the soft-c0ck engine if you are pushing an image that says "we're a sports car with sport car handling and sport car looks, oh, and it comes with this zippy slow engine"

Not cool. Not cool at all.... from my buyers perspective it just forces me to think really hard about could I live with the car if the performance is less than what I'd like it to be... ie my options for a convertible car had better be way more important than my desire to have a sporty feeling car. I know I would be looking at 2nd hand Boxsters and anything else similar just to be sure that the performance is something I'd be happy with... made even worse if the motoring community shuns the car as being nice to look at, but bit boring to drive.

That's risk that Mazda didn't have to make if they could easily have launched it in AU with a 2.0L engine - and by looks of it, they could have.

I'd be expecting the 1.5 to be a mistake that doesn't help the brand and image of the car... I hope I'm wrong, but when then MX5 has been this successful, you kinda can't just assume the formula for the NA6 is available as a valid option for today. The world is very, very different now.

G

[Caffeine]

There are plenty of markets where a 1.5L engine is much more desirable (or marketable) than a 2.0L. Australia may not be one of them.

[gslender]

There are plenty of markets where a 1.5L engine is much more desirable (or marketable) than a 2.0L. Australia may not be one of them.

Yep, and that's an excuse not reason for why AU gets the 1.5L lame-ass model....

G

[Caffeine]

Has that been confirmed? Or are you being worked up over rumours?

[JayMo]

Thumbsuck maths

Say half the people on here will be happy with a 1.5 (much more desirable via any tangible driving experience? Nah... maybe via the TAX disk, insurance group or fuel price, but we live in Oz)

Say half the people on here will want the 2.0

Even if half of the peeps that want the 1.5 get thoroughly offended by a 2.0 to the extent that they will go and buy any other brand new sub 1.6l affordable 2 seat rwd roadster/coupe on the market today instead (feel free to list the options, I cant think of any)...

Mazda would have a 50% market reach on the 1.5 versus a 75% market reach on a 2.0...


IMHO the minimum spec engine should be 2.5... the engine we have in our Maz3 SP25GT is just crying out to be turned by 90 degrees send the drive out the back and be clothed in that ND body

The 2.5 in our GT dragging a much heavier car is much more economical than my stock ND... smiles all round! Up the compression to 98 fuel spec (the fact that engine runs happily on 91 octane disappoints me), pull 20 more KW out of that donk and it would be perfect...

[Odd]

Odd and others, you keep thinking that the 1.5L is the only engine available - it isn't.

Not correct....Australia has always been supplied with the largest motor
And I see no different with ND
We will get the 1.5 and 2litre
However......I see no need for the 2litre to develop 200kw+

[Lokiel]

Question for davekmoore, or any Mazda dealers:

Would dealers prefer a single engine variant only for Australia rather than a 1.5L now folllowed shortly by a 2.0L version?

Surely a single engine makes their lives simpler in terms of support/stock.

Would this impact the decision regarding whether or not we get 2 engine options here?