A first look at what is apparently going to be the updated 2013 Mazda MX-5 Miata. Images courtesy of MX5OC.
Mazda plans to keep the little Miata around for a while – apparently hanging onto the current model until it can come up with a replacement it plans to develop as part of a new joint venture with Fiat.
But that doesn’t mean the existing model will keep plugging along unchanged. Quite the contrary. Leaked images that made it our way through a series of links – from website MX5OC to CarScoop to AutoBlog – reveal some significant updates for the 2013 model-year.
The new look features a more sculpted front fascia and grille – in keeping with the design cues that Mazda recently introduced on models such as the updated Mazda3 and all-new MX5. That includes a 5-point grille framed by more aggressive fog lamp surrounds.
The new look seems to pick up on elements first seen with the Mazda Spyder Concept and also influenced the MX-5-based concept that ran up Goodwood Hill, last weekend, during the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Mazda is working on an all-new version of the Miata in partnership with Fiat - but that venture is still several years away from production.
Dubbed NC3 internally, the 2013 Miata will get some minor interior revisions, including blacked-out gauges, if the images in a new Mazda brochure prove accurate.
One of the more intriguing updates to the Mazda appears to be a new pyrotechnic hood system designed to pop up in the event the vehicle strikes a pedestrian. Already in use by Jaguar, among others, it’s designed to provide a better cushion to absorb impact forces.
The domestic Japanese catalogue does not indicate where that technology will be offered. It’s likely in Europe, which has enacted tough new pedestrian impact standards, and may also be used in Japan. It’s less likely the costly system would also be integrated into an American version of the Miata, however.
Also unclear is whether the new 2013 Miata will undergo any changes to its time-tested four-cylinder powertrain.
Only last month, Mazda officials announced a new Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, with Fiat. The two plan to work together on a variety of cost-saving ventures that will include the development of a new roadster likely to become the next-generation Miata, as well as a similar offering for the Italian maker. It’s not unlike the joint venture that resulted in the new Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ twins.
That new roadster likely won’t reach market for at least several more years, however, meaning Mazda will have to find ways to keep the current Miata NC platform fresh until then.