2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF: The Fastback You’ve Been Waiting For, Only Better
Ever since the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata debuted last year, our imagination has run wild concocting fresh bod styles like a Miata coupe, a Miata retractable hardtop, and even a Miata shooting brake. But we didn’t predict the two thousand seventeen Mazda MX-5 Miata Retractable Fastback (RF), which combines a power-retractable targa top with a gorgeous fastback roofline. In other words, it’s the Miata coupe you’ve been waiting for, only better.
The Miata RF’s power-folding targa top operates like the Porsche nine hundred eleven Targa’s intricate roof in concept, albeit it’s somewhat simpler in practice. The 12-second roof-opening process can be performed at speeds up to six mph and works thusly: The two roof panels over the occupants’ goes fold while the rear window lowers itself behind the seats and the two flying-buttress supports lift up to accommodate the folded top. Those sail panels, by the way, are a visual trick, wrapping around a conventional trunklid that opens to a cubby with the same Four.6 cubic feet of cargo space as in the Miata softtop.
Retractable Hardtop is Dead, Long Live the Retractable Fastback
Why did Mazda abandon the previous generation’s more conventional folding hardtop that brought so many buyers into the Miata camp? According to Mazda’s North American president Masahiro Moro, the fourth-generation ND Miata’s shorter overall length doesn’t leave enough space to accommodate a utter retractable hardtop like that on the third-gen NC Miata. The RF’s slightly smaller foldable roof fits in the same cubby space that the regular Miata’s softtop folds into behind the seats, keeping the car’s weight balance and interior space uncompromised. That the design permitted Mazda to craft this wonderful roofline that has already won us over is purely a bonus.
With the top up, the Miata RF looks like a true Miata fastback coupe, with those gently sloping flying buttresses providing the car a vague resemblance to the Jaguar F-type coupe. We love it, albeit from the rear, the visual trick is exposed, as the back window stands vapid like that on early C3 Corvettes. With the roof down, the RF reminds us of the 1990s Honda Civic del Sol—although Mazda surely would rather we compare it with the nine hundred eleven Targa. Our only real complaint about the fresh roofline is the addition of strange rear-three-quarter windows that are actually blacked-out trim chunks made to look like windows. We expect the thriving Miata aftermarket will devise a half-dozen alternatives in no time.
Uncompromised Mechanicals
Mazda isn’t yet talking specific weight figures, but we’re told that the mass difference shouldn’t vary far from that inbetween the previous retractable hardtop and its softtop sibling. That suggests the RF will carry one hundred thirty to one hundred fifty extra pounds, which we’re hoping is nominal enough to keep the 10Best Cars–winning Miata’s wonderfully nimble driving dynamics intact. The only other significant difference is that the RF’s roofline is 0.Two inch higher than the softtop’s, not that you’d be able to tell by looking at it.
The drivetrain is unchanged from the Miata we know and love, with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder available in other markets and a Two.0-liter Skyactiv four-cylinder as standard equipment in the United States. Six-speed manual and six-speed automatic variants remain on the menu. The preproduction car Mazda is demonstrating at the two thousand sixteen Fresh York auto showcase has an automatic and is trimmed in Machine Gray paint with crimson nappa leather inwards. The colors, inwards and out, are fresh to the Miata, with the gray paint sourced from the two thousand sixteen CX-9 crossover and the interior being the very first crimson Miata cabin we can reminisce since the one thousand nine hundred ninety three LE special-edition model. Look for more information to come on the Miata RF’s trim-level structure later this year. We predict it’ll be available in the Miata’s top Grand Touring trim at very first, with other variants possible to go after.
As for pricing, the two thousand seventeen Mazda MX-5 Miata RF should add about $2000 to the MX-5’s bottom line if the previous retractable hardtop is any indication. Now excuse us, because we’re off to fantasize about the next Miata variant—MX-5 pickup, anyone?