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We touched on the rumours of a potential Mazdaspeed MX-5 in August last year, when it seemed the project might actually be happening. It seems though that the bedside prayers and occult-summoning spells of all those Mazda MX-5 devotees have come to nought: the word has come down from above, there will be no NC Mazdaspeed MX-5.
Rumours have been doing the circuit for more than two years now, the popular assumption being that the 2.3 litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit found in the 3MPS would be shovelled into the MX-5—and Mazda was not against the idea until it discovered that it wouldn’t be as simple as everyone had hoped.
Mazda’s Jeremy Barnes was quoted this week as saying that it’s a definite no-go, and entirely for technical reasons.
The lowdown is that a high-pressure fuel pump is situated on the back of the head, powered from the cam, and would require a heavily revised firewall to make it all fit. As a result, converting the 3MPS’s engine from an east-west or transverse FWD layout to a north-south or longitudinal RWD layout isn’t feasible.
While there’s certainly aftermarket support out there for increasing the output of the MX-5, it’s a shame nonetheless to see such dreams put to rest.
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Comment by Alan Li
4 August 2008
As a new fan of the MX-5, especially the NC, its a shame that this has been lost. The car could easily cope with a 25% increase in power without requiring any other mechanical modifications to keep it within OEM-levels of drivability.
I’d like to see Mazda retain the throttle response that comes from a normally aspirated car, and increase the displacement instead. Using the 2.3L or 2.5L variants of its MZR engine, give it some minor head work and a nicer exhaust to suit its sporting pretentions over the practical cars currently using those displacements, and it would make for a great vehicle.
I guess the upcoming Cosworth supercharger is going to be the way to go for people wanting a decent power hike.
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