In the fall of 2023, Mazda unveiled its Iconic SP concept. A delicate yet muscular coupe that looks, simultaneously, to have been resolved fully from the first stroke and honed from endless iteration, it was meant to presage the future of the brand’s sports cars. Two pieces of good news were imbued in this reveal. First, that Mazda aimed to continue producing sports cars. Second, that, with its extremely low nose, this two-seater was designed around some compact alternative powertrain.
“What if I said there was a lightweight motor that is the size of a milk crate, can deliver a couple hundred horsepower, has few moving parts, and can make a great solution for combusting gasoline, hydrogen, or biofuel,” says Jeff Guyton, the brand’s global chief financial officer. “And that we’re working to develop that powertrain into another generation as a range extender for a hybrid.”
Gallery: Mazda Iconic SP Concept
Guyton was referring to Mazda’s unique fascination with the Wankel rotary engine, a gas powerplant known—beyond the equities to which he refers—for high consumption of fuel, lubricants and gaskets, and for its stubborn resistance to meeting American tailpipe emissions standards. Mazda has promised, over multiple generations, that it has the skill to tame these issues, but it has been unsuccessful.
The company’s most recent volley, the MX-30 R-EV, suggested that it had met these challenges by utilizing the Wankel solely as a generator for its hybrids’ battery, allowing it to work only in the most efficient portion of its rev range. However, that car was never available in the US. “The problem is American emissions regulations,” says Ryuchi Umeshita, the brand’s chief technical officer. “The air almost has to come out cleaner than it goes in.”
But the marque’s engineers promise that the next-gen rotary will definitely be the one to achieve its goals. Perhaps they’re relying on the current administration’s intended regulatory rollbacks to open a window, or perhaps they’ve really made some advances. Regardless, the most intriguing potential use of this system could come in the next generation of Mazda’s best-loved sports car.
“Our engineering team is studying whether electrification can be implemented in MX-5,” says Umeshita. “We want to show that we can create classic design, even with electrification. And I want to extend the existence of MX-5 as long as possible.”
This would be an interesting application and might add desirable performance and refinement—a silent rush of low-end torque, improved fuel economy—to the roadster’s package.
However, Umeshita is concerned that such implementation would undermine the Miata’s historic mission, much of which revolves around the brand’s commendable commitment to maintaining mass and cost.
To wit: the current fourth-generation Miata weighs only two pounds more than the first-gen 1990 “NA” version, and costs (adjusted for inflation) about 15% less than the NA. In contrast, consider that the current BMW 3-Series weighs at least 800 lbs. more and costs (adjusted for inflation) 95% as much as its 1990 forebear, the E30.
“We are and will be capable of making the lightest roadster on the market,” Umeshita says. “But with current technology, a hybrid MX-5 would be too heavy, heavier than our current MX-5.”
Note the use of the phrase “current technology,” which leaves open the idea that Mazda’s forthcoming tech could ostensibly achieve such results. Certainly recent patent applications–which show a Miata-like vehicle equipped with a tessellation of batteries under its hood, in its passenger seat footwell, along its transmission tunnel, and in its trunk–suggest that a fully-electric Miata, or spinoff vehicle, may be under consideration.
But perhaps only if these new batteries make a leap forward in composition, and are magically denser and equal in mass to the mechanical components they replace. “Size and lightness and fun-to-drive will never change in MX-5,” Umeshita says resolutely. “We will change only what is necessary.”
