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2016 – MX-5 – General Information

AIM OF DEVELOPMENT

Product Concept

• “Joy of the Moment, Joy of Life”

  Appealing to the senses and sensations through which people enjoy cars.

Vehicle Outline

Design

• A design that sets anybody’s heart pounding with excitement.

• Beautiful proportions that make the occupants stand out and look good.

• A deeper expression of the KODO design language that conveys agility.

• Body surfaces that richly express the Japanese sense of contrast between stillness and motion.

• An interior design that melts away the boundaries between the inside and outside of the car.

• A snug feeling cockpit with symmetry and a singular axis that enables concentration on driving

  

  

Engine

Engine mechanical [SKYACTIV-G 2.0]

• For SKYACTIV-G 2.0, the following have been implemented to lower fuel consumption.

• Sliding resistance^*1 reduction

• Rocker arm (with built-in needle roller bearing) adopted for cam-contact area

• Reduced valve spring load

• Narrowed down crankshaft journal

• Optimized piston skirt shape

• Lowered piston ring tension

• Lowered drive belt tension

• Suppressed chain tensioner load by stabilized timing chain behavior

• Oil shower pipe adopted

• Mechanical resistance loss reduction

• Optimized oil passage

• Optimized oil pump shape

• Engine oil control adopted

• Cooling loss reduction in early stage of combustion

• Piston cavity adopted

• Pumping loss^*2 reduction

• Variable valve timing mechanism adopted on both intake and exhaust sides for fine control of exhaust amount and internal EGR volume

• Cooling efficiency improvement

• Air seal cowl and flaps adopted

• Optimized cooling fan shape

• Optimized engine coolant passage

• Optimized water pump impeller shape

• Combustion efficiency improvement

• Multiple hole-type fuel injectors adopted

• High-pressure fuel pump adopted

• The HLA has been adopted to achieve the maintenance-free valve clearance.

• The 4-2-1 type exhaust pipes have been adopted for the exhaust manifold to create an engine with a high compression ratio.

• L-jetronic^*3 and D-jetronic^*4 types have been adopted for the intake air amount measurement to achieve stable combustion free from abnormal combustion.

• MAF sensor adopted

• MAP sensor adopted

• IAT sensor No.1 and No.2 adopted

• To improve the fuel economy and emission performance, an electric variable valve timing control has been adopted for the intake side, and a hydraulic variable valve timing control for the exhaust side. The electric type is adopted for the intake side to achieve expanded valve overlap and delayed closing of the intake valve (enlarged intake valve opening angle).

• Intake side: Electric variable valve timing control

• Intake CMP sensor adopted

• Electric variable valve timing motor/driver adopted

• Electric variable valve timing relay adopted

• Exhaust side: Hydraulic variable valve timing control

• Exhaust CMP sensor adopted

• Engine hydraulic pressure switching control has been adopted to reduce the oil pump operation load on the engine.

• Engine oil solenoid valve adopted

• To improve engine reliability, an ion sensor has been adopted which detects pre-ignition.

*1

Resistance (friction force) which occurs when objects slide. The larger the sliding resistance, the greater the energy loss.

*2

Energy loss due to resistance in each part during intake/exhaust process is called pumping loss.

*3

The intake air amount is directly detected by measuring the amount of intake air flow using the MAF sensor.

*4

The intake air amount is detected indirectly by measuring the intake manifold pressure (pressure between downstream of the throttle valve and intake manifold) using the MAP sensor.

Suspension

• Front suspension

• An in-wheel-type double-wishbone suspension has been adopted.

• The front crossmember under cover is made of aluminum. In addition, by eliminating the transverse member and having the front crossmember under cover function as the transverse member, the front suspension achieves both weight reduction and superior rigidity.

• The amount of the camber angle variation has been increased due to the optimized caster angle of the front suspension. As the result, the handling performance has been improved.

• The negative king pin offset improves braking stability during evasive maneuvering or cornering.

• Negative king pin offset: The virtual king pin axis contact point is located on the outer side of the tire/wheel centerline contact point.

  

• Rear suspension

• A multi-link suspension composed of five links has been adopted.

  

Brakes

• Conventional brake system

• A brake pedal with an intrusion minimizing mechanism has been adopted. As a result, driver safety has been improved.

• A plunger-type master cylinder has been adopted, improving durability and response.

• A electric vacuum pump has been adopted, improving braking force.

• For the front brake (disc), a ventilated-type disc brake has been adopted.

• For the rear brake (disc), a solid-type disc brake has been adopted.

  Vehicle front side

  

  Vehicle rear side

  

• Dynamic stability control

• Electrical brake assist control has been adopted, improving safety.

• The DSC HU/CM, integrating both the Hydraulic Unit (HU) and Control Module (CM), has been adopted, resulting in a size and weight reduction.

• An enhanced malfunction diagnosis system, used with the Mazda Modular Diagnostic System (M-MDS), has been adopted, improving serviceability.

• Serviceability improved by the automatic configuration function.

• The Hill Launch Assist (HLA) and Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)* have been adopted, improving safety.

  *: Vehicles with Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)

  Vehicle front side

  

  Vehicle rear side

  

Transaxle/Transmission

• Manual transmission (M66M-D)

• Six-speed M66M-D manual transmission has been adopted.

  

• Automatic transmission (SJ6A-EL)

• Six-speed SJ6A-EL automatic transmission has been adopted.

  

Steering

• Power steering

• A pinion-assist type Electric Power Steering (EPS) has been adopted.

• EPS provides smooth handling from low to high speeds as a result of the excellent steering feel provided by the electronic control and the vehicle-speed responsive control.

• EPS does not require a power steering oil pump and generates assist force only when the steering wheel is steered. As a result, engine load is lowered and fuel efficiency is improved.

• A high output efficiency motor has been adopted, improving responsiveness to steering operation.

• The EPS Control Module (CM) has been integrated with the EPS motor, resulting in a size and weight reduction.

• Serviceability improved by the automatic configuration function and the steering wheel angle neutral position auto-learning function.

  

Safety

• A straight body structure has been adopted which is both highly rigid and light.

• A multi-load path body structure has been adopted which assures a high level of impact safety.

• A ring body structure has been adopted which improves the overall rigidity.

• An immobilizer system has been adopted. This anti-theft device prevents the engine from being started unless the encrypted identification code, transmitted from a special electronic chip embedded in the key, corresponds with the identification code registered in the vehicle.

• Side air bags that effectively protect the chest area have been adopted for the front seats.

• Pre-tensioner and load limiter mechanisms have been adopted for the front seat belts.

• Steering shaft with energy adsorbing mechanism adopted.

• An intrusion minimizing brake pedal has been adopted.

• ABS/DSC adopted.

• Hill launch assist (HLA) adopted.

• Emergency stop signal system (ESS) adapted.

Driver’s support

• Blind spot monitoring (BSM) system adopted.

• High beam control (HBC) system adopted.

• Lane departure warning system (LDWS) adopted.

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