If you think that Mazda would give the MX-5—the Miata*—a facelift this year, you’re wrong. You’re also right…but mostly wrong. There’s very little that isn’t changing for the 2009 model arriving this spring after its North American debut at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show.
That’s twenty years after the MX-5 Miata’s world debut at the same event in 1989, when no one knew what an institution the Miata would become, or indeed if it would even sell at all. Intended as a U.S. market only vehicle, it swept the world to become the biggest selling sports car in history. Oh, ye of little faith…
Restyled Now for 2009, the Mazda Miata—sorry, we can’t help it—returns for a late model year release with a significant refresh to its exterior styling, as we noted at the release of the Japanese market. The grille gains a Mazda family five-point design while other contour changes tweak aerodynamics: a bulge below the fog lights, wider air deflectors ahead of the front tires, reshaped rocker panels, even reshaped lower corners of the rear bumpers and taillamps. The headlamps’ new shape is there to give a Miata a discrete change in style.
The MX-5 Miata’s body has been subtly widened at the middle, allowing a wider passenger compartment for added elbow room and improved side-impact safety. Inside, the seats have been reshaped for improved lower body comfort, Mazda says, without reducing the seats’ lateral support, plus a slew of other detail changes.
For those who have driven Mazda’s MX-5 Miata over the past twenty years it has always seemed like the handling couldn’t get any better, and indeed, every time we slip behind the wheel on road or on track, it feels like coming home.
Handling Yet Mazda engineers find more ways to sweeten the handling even further. For 2009, for example, while the front suspension is still made up of two forged aluminum A-arms, the outer ball-joint was moved about an inch to lower the front roll center, the longitudinal axis a car revolves around when subjected to cornering forces. Shocks have also been retuned on both the standard and the optional Bilstein-equipped suspension package. Mazda also dialed back on the optional traction control and stability control systems to allow a little more leeway for sporty driving.
Power The Miata’s 2.0-liter engine was gone over and for 2009 makes 167 hp, up one pony from last year’s 166. It would hardly seem worth the effort, but it raised max revs from 6700 to 7200 rpm, with the power peak at 7000 rpm, yielding a wider rev range, useful when taking the MX-5 through the twisties with sports car equivalent of the CIA’s extreme prejudice.
To allow the extra revs, Mazda gave the familiar “MZR” DOHC four a new forged steel crankshaft, forged steel connecting rods with floating wrist pins, revised pistons with stronger wrist pin bosses, stiffer valve springs and an engine oil cooler. If that’s just technobabble to you, it means that the engine is less likely to fly apart when it’s spun really fast.
Sound The last MX-5 we drove disappointed us with its sound. Mazda had exhaustively—so to speak—tuned the exhaust on the original Miata to make that sports car sound exactly right. A big part of the 60’s vintage sound Mazda was looking for had come from that era’s cars dual carburetors. Making fuel injected engine sound like that, however, takes some work and Mazda had initially tackled that by pointing the engine’s air intake back towards the driver for maximum auditory impact.
That meant drawing hot under-hood air into the air intake, however, so Mazda moved the air intake to the nose of the car, to the other side of the radiator, to induct cooler air. And since 2006, the intake manifold, made from lightweight plastic composite, was tuned to transmit the certain resonances that made the Miata sound like a traditional sports car. For 2009, however, models with 6-speed manual transmissions get an “Induction Sound Enhancer.” The ISE is made up of a series of tuned pipes and “a passive resonance membrane” to deliver the engine’s natural induction sounds to the cowl. Coming from just ahead of the windshield, the authentic sports car sounds go to the passenger compartment just loud enough to be enjoyed without annoying the neighbors.
Transmission The Miata’s manual transmissions have been the benchmark for automotive writers for their precise and lightweight action. The six-speed has been improved even more for 2009 with a new carbon coating on first through fourth gear synchros and larger diameter synchros on third and fourth gears. Sixth gear was also made slightly taller for a more relaxed highway cruise and better fuel economy.
It surely must become more difficult every year to improve the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Yet the latest iteration looks even better, at least on paper. We’re just waiting, however, to allow the Miata to take us home once again. The Mazda MX-5 Miata has never let us down before.
* Mazda has officially dropped “Miata” as a name for the MX-5, apparently so it matches the other Mazda MX, RX and CX models, borrowing from its accumulated good will.
