Video: 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata - First Look

That couldn't be more of a fear for the Miata MX-5. Good news, it didn't. What it did get is a host of new technologies, including Mazda SKYACTIV-Drive train technologies and some pretty intense new styling. Now the new Miata is wider and lower than its predecessor. Wheelbase relatively unchanged, but overall length of the car is actually down about three inches versus before. So that gives it kind of more of a wheels pushed out to the corner stance, much more aggressive looking car here. Similar grill as before. This is Mazda's KODO design language here, kind of gives you this creased smile here. The big change for the Miata's face is these headlights, much more creased, much more sinister looking than before. Dramatic new styling in the tail here. Now Mazda grouped the two tailpipes here together. Earlier Miatas have had them kind of split out, I like that look better than this, but less to argue about with the tail lights here. Very cool looking. They kind of evoke the Jaguar F-TYPE, not a bad car to emulate if you're a car designer. Now the cup holder sit behind the gear shift, but farther back than before, that allows you to actually shift gears through this pretty short throw shifter, rather than having kinda your cups interfere with where your elbow sits. Mazda says it wants the interior to be more aspirational in terms of look and feel and toward that end there's things like a stitching here along the center part of the dashboard, color keyed sections to the upper part of the doors, pretty handsome looking overall. But I do hope that you aspire to have pretty deep pockets to store all your stuff because there's really not much space in the new Miata to put it. There's a little storage area here behind the gear shift or behind the cup holders, but very, very small door pockets and actually no glove box at all. It would seem that the new Miata MX-5 is trying to really return to its roots as a purpose-built sports car for this redesign. So the real question's gonna be, how well does it drive? Well, we don't know that yet, but what we do know is that the car weighs a little bit less, though exact specs are still to be determined, thanks to things like aluminum fenders and aluminum hood and an aluminum trunk lid. Also, it should get some more power thanks to new direct injection technology through Mazda SKYACTIV system in the engine. All of that should influence drivability. We won't know yet until we get behind the wheel closer to it's on sale date sometime in 2015. (car engine revving)