Motor Trader The award-winning and longest running UK magazine for car retailing professionals. Your first stop for News, Jobs and Reports for the motor industry.
Next year Mazda dealers will once again have two distinct versions of the popular MX-5 sports car to sell when a new hardtop model arrives in showrooms.
The MX-5 RF was unveiled this week at the New York International Motor Show and features a retractable metal roof.
A UK launch date and price is yet to be confirmed but industry observers believe it will cost around £2,500 more than the roadster, which starts from £18,495.
Evolved from the fourth generation roadster that went on sale in August 2015, the new model is designated MX-5 RF, the letters standing for “retractable fastback”, and the car is very different from the MK3 hard top that preceded it.
Mazda has completely redesigned the folding mechanism of the roof, and in the RF the rear section raises on hinges so that the top can fold back to sit hidden under the rear, on top of the boot.
The system has immediately been compared to the targa-top folding mechanism Porsche uses for its 911. The major advantage is that the folded roof does not intrude into the boot space, allowing the RF to offer the same 130-litre capacity as its roadster sister.
Unlike previous MX-5 hard tops the RF roof folds back completely automatically. It can also be operated on the move though only at speeds up to 6mph. The presence of the folding mechanism and extra body strengthening see the RF weigh in at around 40kg more than the roadster.
Mazda intends to offer RF MX-5s with both the engines available for the roadster, the 1.5-litre of 130PS and the 2.0-litre 160PS unit. A six-speed manual gearbox will be standard, while the RF also debuts a six-speed auto transmission – currently there appear to be no plans to offer this option to roadster buyers.
The New York show car was displayed in a new exterior finish, Machine Grey, which Mazda describes as one of a series of new premium colours on offer for the model. The paint is applied in three coats, colour, reflective and clear, with thin aluminium flakes included in the first coat and a jet-black pigment between them, producing a deep metallic sheen to the finish.
The MX-5 is one of the most successful cars in Mazda’s UK line-up and Britain takes more than half of all European sales of the model.
