New Mazda MX-5 990S Edition Is A Pure, No-Frills Sports Car That Weighs Just 990 KG But It's Only For Japan | Carscoops

Vehicle Attitude Stabilisation Control using braking is one interesting aspect of this lightweight Japan only model.

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Lighter, less kit….bet it won’t be cheaper !!

Well, it moves on the suffix from NRA, which is what Mazda used for its JDM clubsport cars (base engine combined with bigger engine brakes and supension, and lightweight wheels), but Mazda are now, essentially, pinching Lotus nomenclature?

All that effort for a weight saving most of us can achieve by pruning the contents of the boot and glovebox- and running with minimum windscreen wash fluid… If only they had concentrated on improving the single area which prevents the ND being quite what it could be . Steering with more feel and feedback…

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Still too much unnecessary technology. I would like to take one back to basics, a street legal drivers car.

No glovebox in the ND. I don’t have 7lbs of junk in the boot. Mazda has made significant changes in spring rates and shock rebound/compression in this model. Japanese sources indicate the power steering has been recalibrated. Mazda were clear why they based it on the base “S” model without the LSD: “LSD is effective when you want to get strong traction at the corner exit, but it also works at turn-in, so in that case the nose will not enter obediently. Speaking of which, the open differential feels better…”

Apparently the new KPC system is transformational to the handling of the car. The KPC lead to the fitment of shock with a reduced rebound/compression rate. In a practical sense, the KPC reduces loss of traction on bumpy roads.

Mazda.co.uk state ND 1.5 as weighing 1106kg including a 75kg driver.
Carscoops article headlines 990kg which means the 990S is ~10% lighter. However, if the 990S mass is without a driver then the difference is only 41kg.

UK/EU measures kerbweight differently. And its measured differently in the US.

Mazda Japan is giving a range of weights for the JDM ND MX5

When the car was originally launched in Japan, the basic model was 990kg

So this new model isn’t the lightest model of ND ever made. But its the lightest with big brakes.

Mine has a glove box , if not where they are normally located .Mine even has gloves in it . And I’m probably not the only owner with several kg worth of sundry coats , spare washer fluid etc in the boot. New car sounds intriguing , but I’'d be happier if steering feel and not traction was the key change .

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I’d be interested in finding the part number for those wheels. :grinning:

I think they are Rays Volk Racing alloys, not sure which ones but shouldn’t be too hard to figure out from their site