Miata Mailing List: May 1993, Message #99
sponsored by



     


   From: (none)
Subject: Redesigned Miata (yet again)
   Date: (none)


Steve Grossman writes:
>Hmmmmm. . . My understanding (from Michael Butler, I think) was that  
>the new mill would be a totally redesigned 1.8l, as the current 1.6l  
>design came from the 323 and hence is about 10 years old.  Rumor had  
>it that they had trouble meeting emmissions with the 1.6l, and to  
>bore it to 1.8 would only exacerbate the problem.

  The Miata shares an engine with the 323?  I feel cheated!  :-)   
Seriously...  I assume you mean the _block_ is the same, or at least  
related.  Is this the case?  Surely the 323 wasn't released with a  
DOHC version???  On a related note, how similar is the Miata engine  
to the newer MX-3?

>I'd like to hear the straight dope on this.

  Me, too, just out of curiosity.  Of course, I don't plan on trading  
my baby any time soon.

  It's interesting how the designers of specialty cars in some large  
auto corporations often try to avoid the possibility of substituting  
ho-hum corporate engines and parts into their exotic designs.  For  
example, the Jaguar Vaanden Plas (sp?) team, when faced with the  
rumor that their bosses wanted to eventually substitute the standard  
Rover V-8 for the new Jag inline six, they deliberately designed the  
engine compartment so that it could accomodate only an inline engine.   
(Source:  Road & Track)

  Another example:  Apparently the Jaguar E-type team was so miffed  
that they quit and went to Mazda to work on the design of the current  
RX-7...  :-)

  Somehow, I don't think it works that way at Mazda-- at least not to  
the same extent.  I'm afraid Kenneth Buck's description of marketing  
driven design updates applies here.  Of course, that's fine with me;  
any cheesy modifications to the current model will probably increase  
the value of my car (all of ours, in fact!) in years to come.  (Cup  
holders and the new silver badge are relatively minor, right? :-)

Regards,

Steve
'93 Classic Red 'A'
Cape Canaveral, FL