Automotive Manual, Car Parts and News

Adding a new dimension to the Mazda MX-5 without diminishing its driving joy is no mean feat. The MX-5 is, after all, the icon of two-seat roadsters, the car that reinvented the category in 1989 and nurtured the elemental sports car through three generations. Fiddling with the MX-5 – the world’s best-selling two-seat roadster – is like messing with the Mona Lisa: tidy brush strokes hold the only hope of success.
While the third-generation MX-5 has earned more than its share of praise — including dozens of magazine and newspaper awards — Mazda is vigilant for opportunities to extend the reach of the car that sets the Zoom-Zoom tone for its entire range of vehicles. That’s why there’s a new MX-5 kid on the block. This addition to the lineup builds on the soft-top two-seater’s zest for life by enhancing year-round comfort and security with a new Power Retractable Hard Top (PRHT).
MX-5 Program Manager Takao Kijima, who has helped mind Mazda’s roadster from the program’s inception, set lofty standards for the PRHT edition. After sweating each and every gram of the third-generation’s mass, Kijima-san wasn’t about to condone any significant increase in curb weight. Nor would he stand for any deterioration in structural stiffness because chassis rigidity is also key to the MX-5’s vitality. Since the MX-5’s soft top is one of the handiest folding roofs ever invented, and remains the industry-standard for manual folding tops, the PRHT engineering team identified operating convenience as the third tall peak they would climb.

Download PDF