Mazda revealed two design concepts today at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, based on its all-new 2016 MX-5: the MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster.
These two designs are intended to take the MX-5's fundamental tenants—lightweight efficiency—to an extreme. Interestingly, the extreme seems to produce a rather simple and and almost vintage attitude. So let's take a look at what …
The Speedster reminds me of Aston-Martin's 100th anniversary concept:
They really should put a 2L engine option in the ND in any case, they'd have no problem selling them!
GameboyRMH wrote: They really should put a 2L engine option in the ND in any case, they'd have no problem selling them!
In the US it's not a option, it's standard.
We need the V8 factory option !!
Weight: 2080 lbs. 
The Spyder is gorgeous!
The Speedster is a gorgeous...death trap. 
When the car is rolled, your vertebrae will wish they opted for roll bars of sensible height. A beautiful car, but I couldn't drive it bending the pedal stop for that reason.
The Spyder, however, checks all the boxes. Beautiful, simple, well proportioned, ample recognition of F=m*a
Of course, me being 6'4" tall, it gives me the big middle finger I imagine. Just the same, Germans know how to engineer cars well, so my 34" inseam and orangutan arms and legs fit inside my daily driver 1973 914 2.0 pretty easily. I know I didn't come close to fitting in the sweet looking Sky/Solstice, and don't fit in late model Miatas either. Just the same, how many tall Asians are there vs Europeans or Americans? (Sports cars and motorcycles are the only drawbacks of being tall. That and having to pay more for dress shirts!)
Still, my 914 had a fiberglass roof, 15 ft^3 of trunk space, and it weighed 60 lb less than the Speedster. Well built too, aside from the factory rust exacerbated by the fact that it lived in CT the first 20 years of its life. I rear ended a big, old American boat after Formula SAE competition in May of 1995 looking for a spot to turn into the VT campus parking lot and the chassis faired well. The 4500+ lb American geast car's pointed rear bumper added extra curvature to my front hood and the impact barely wrinkled the body seam where the spare tire holder attaches to the front chassis. It was a hard hit and my bumper was still in straight, though the chrome bumper was totaled. I was impressed. Thanks Dwayne Moses for the $50 straight front trunk lid and what's his name, also a PCA club racer, who sold me sweet chromed factory steel bumpers with VGC bumper guards for $300. (Dwayne was only doing track events back then, just like me after I rustled my chassis, but he started to race his 911 a year or two later.)
Tim, Ed, or editor:
Your caption is misspelled.
"The Speedster weighs a meer 2800 pounds."
Like a meer cat?
Me thinks it's "a mere 2800 pounds." 
[Just the same, one online dictionary claimed meer is nearly equal to mere, but I've never seen it used in print this way.]
Nice write up, thank you. My favorite magazine never fails to disappoint!
Non-functional roll hoop height aside, the speedster looks absolutely fantastic...And the 16" wheel/tire package on it definitely looks better proportioned than the 17" wheel/tire package on the speedster.
The downside of course is that the MX-5's folding top is superb. I love that my NC's top can be flipped down and folded up in a matter of seconds.
The Porsche Spyder's top has great lines, but having to put it down or up would be such a drag.
http://youtu.be/ny8qcnhrkBs
That Bikibi top is gorgeous
Looks awesome.....
The Spyder concept also reminds me of the Porsche Boxter of a few years ago. It made it into production, but obviously at a much higher price-point to justify the limited numbers - following the common P-car theme of charging you more to give you less. Not sure Mazda could do the same.
Both a cool concepts, nonetheless. A ND is still on my short list of a possible new cars within a few years.
Actually, both of them are retreads of previous Miata concepts - the Speedster was 1995 and the Spyder was 2011.
There were four ND Miatas at SEMA this year. I'm willing to bet that ours was the only one being driven on public roads this weekend and used for commuting to work today
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