2016 Mazda MX-5 stays true to its roots

Mazda engineers give the industry a lesson in getting more from less.

In the last 26 years, various “affordable” small sports cars have come and gone while the Mazda MX-5 Miata remains the unwavering benchmark of the genre. It's remarkable how the company's designers and engineers kept the model so true to its purpose-a driver's car in the spirit of the first Lotus Elan-throughout its evolution from the 1989 original (known internally as the NA), through its NB (1997), and NC (2005) successors. Hardcore Miata fans may pick nits about one generation versus another, but the MX-5 has lost none of its mojo atop the purist roadster podium.

Expected to soon reach the 1-million-units production milestone, the MX-5 has entered its fourth generation as a 2016 model. The all-new ND's development cycle was protracted because getting it right was so essential-MX-5 is to Mazda what 3 Series is to BMW, and what Wrangler is to Jeep. Any major misstep would be catastrophic to the brand, as Program Manager Nobuhiro Yamamoto's team clearly understood. Their mission: Take the holistic goodness of the previous-generation car-mechanical simplicity, 50/50 front/rear weight balance, lively vehicle mass-to-power ratio, communicative and nimble chassis dynamics-and improve on it while keeping cost in check.