2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata Overview and Specs
2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata Overview and Specs
The Mazda MX-5 Miata lightweight two-seater sports car started its journey back in 1989 when small sporty roadsters seemed to be a thing of the past. Drawing inspiration from British roadsters of the 60s, the Mazda MX-5 has gone on to become the world's best-selling sports car.
The current fourth-generation 2023 Mazda Miata has stuck to its roots and remains a driver's machine. The original two-seater, front mid-engined, rear-wheel drive layout is still in place, and a fuss-free four-cylinder engine is the sole option available. Thankfully, Mazda has seen fit to stick to this combination, even as customers seek additional sophistication in their cars.
The 2023 Mazda Miata offers pure driving enjoyment and is offered with either a soft top or the Miata RF variant’s retractable hardtop.
Read on as we share what this iconic roadster has to offer buyers.
What's New for 2023?
Mazda's most fun and entertaining model has been carried over for the 2023 model year with a single change: the exterior paint finish, Zircon Sand, has been added as a new color, and buyers get to choose from three trim levels.
Premium Interior
Sticking to its purist roots means that the MX-5 Miata's cabin is a cozy fit for its two occupants, and the interior design prioritizes the steering wheel, pedals, shifter, and tachometer, all befitting of a true driver's machine. The 2023 Mazda MX-5 continues with plentiful standard features, ensuring the cabin of the 2023 Mazda Miata does not disappoint even for the base trim.
Creature comforts include air conditioning, power windows with driver's and passenger's one-touch-down features, power door locks with a speed sensor, and handy side window demisters. Vanity mirrors are fitted for both driver and passenger, with an overhead courtesy light with a dimming function.
Features such as the 12-volt power outlets to power devices and a mesh aero board wind blocker are fitted, adding to comfort when enjoying top-down driving.
The 2023 Mazda Miata Sport trim comes with black cloth-trimmed bucket seats with integrated headrests and a reclining and forward/back slide feature. The driver is treated to a seat that offers tilt adjustment, and the steering wheel is a leather-wrapped 3-spoke item; a leather-wrapped shift knob and leather-wrapped parking brake handle complete the picture along with a driver's left footrest.
Other key interior finishes are padded armrests, black upper door trim and carpet floor mats. Space for stowing away travel essentials includes two removable cup holders, a locking rear center console, and a driver's and a passenger's back panel-covered storage. A remote trunk lid release makes for easy access to the trunk, which features a handy light fitted as standard.
Ensuring drivers are kept in control, the 2023 Mazda Miata is appointed with cruise control, push-button start, tilt and telescoping steering, and Mazda's advanced keyless entry. The full suite of driver instrumentation sees the fitment of classic-looking black gauges with white lettering, including a tachometer, a coolant temperature gauge, and a fuel gauge.
An onboard trip computer offers readouts on the distance to empty, average fuel economy, current fuel economy, and average vehicle speed.
Sleek and Sporty Exterior
The 2023 Mazda Miata's sleek design communicates Mazda's KODO design language and uses a lightweight monocoque unibody construction with a backbone frame.
Key exterior trim highlights include LED headlights, daytime running lights and LED tail lights.
Black power side mirrors are standard fitment, including a body-colored front bumper, rear bumper, door handles, and a solar-controlled/tinted windshield.
The Miata range is fitted as standard with an aluminum hood and aluminum trunk lid for enhanced weight savings. The convertible versions are all fitted with a black cloth top.
Upgraded Weight Distribution and Suspension
To enhance road manners, the 2023 Mazda Miata boasts near-perfect 50/50 weight distribution, with Mazda engineers going so far as to take into consideration the driver's weight when sitting behind the wheel to achieve this result.
The four-wheel independent front and rear suspension systems are attached to the body with subframes, with the front suspension featuring double wishbones with aluminum control arms and monotube dampers, and at the rear, a multilink system with aluminum bearing support and monotube dampers is fitted.
All these components are designed to work together and endow the 2023 Mazda Miata with sporty handling, promoting a fun driving experience.
2023 Mazda MX-5 Engine and Drivetrain
The sole engine fitted across the 2023 Mazda Miata range is Mazda's SKYACTIV-G 2.0 DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder with VVT engine making 181 horsepower @ 7000 rpm and 151 pound-feet of torque @ 4,000 rpm.
The aforementioned front midship engine layout drives the rear wheels through a standard SKYACTIV-MT 6-speed manual transmission operated through a short-throw shifter.
2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata 0-60
Mazda has not released any official 0-60 mph acceleration figures, but reliable test figures from Car and Driver found the Mazda MX-5 fitted with a soft top can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph as low as 5.7 seconds, and RF trims featuring the hardtop, clock in at 5.8 seconds.
Fuel Economy and MPG
Thanks to the relatively lightweight body, the 2023 Mazda Miata 2.0-liter engine offers EPA fuel-economy numbers of 26 mpg city and 34 mpg highway for manual transmissions and 26 mpg city and 35 mpg highway for trims fitted with the automatic transmission.
Infotainment and Connectivity
Standard audio and infotainment are a 7" full-color touch screen with AM/FM audio system and six speakers, including driver's side headrest speakers. This standard audio system allows hands-free phone and audio streaming capability with Bluetooth,
The steering-wheel-mounted audio, phone, and cruise controls make for convenient control of these systems. Standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with speed-sensing automatic volume control, an auxiliary audio input jack, and twin USB audio inputs, complete the 2023 Mazda Miata audio experience.
Safety Ratings and Driver-Assistance Features
Standard active driver assistance features on the 2023 Mazda Miata include rear cross-traffic and blind-spot monitoring, a lane-keeping system, and Mazda's Smart City Brake Support, which is a low-speed automatic emergency braking system.
Top Miata trim levels also receive adaptive high beams, curve-adapting headlights, rain-sensing wipers, and traffic sign recognition.
2023 Mazda Miata Trim Levels and Pricing
Buyers get to choose from three trim levels with the standard soft top fitted or extra cost RF retractable hard top roof on the range-topping Grand Touring trim.
Sport
Starting at $28,050 MSRP, the base model MX-5 Miata Sport trim offers all of the above-mentioned standard interior and exterior features.
Key features on the Sport trim include:
- AM/FM audio system with six speakers, including driver's side headrest speaker
- 16 x 6-inch aluminum alloy wheels finished in Metallic Black with P195/50 R16 high-performance tires
- Rear-mounted mast antenna
The 2023 Mazda Miata Sport is available in a choice of two exterior colors, Soul Red Crystal Metallic and Jet Black Mica.
Club
Available exclusively as a "build to order" model from all Mazda dealerships, the Club trim, starting at $31,550 MSRP, adds to the already highly spec’d Sport trim the following equipment:
- Sport-tuned suspension with Bilstein dampers
- Front shock tower brace, aiding chassis stiffness
- Torque-sensing limited-slip rear differential
- Black front air dam
- Black rear lip spoiler
- 17 x 7 aluminum alloy wheels finished in metallic black wrapped in P205/45 R17 high-performance tires
- Trunk-mounted "shark fin" antenna
In the Club's cabin, the following enhancements are added:
- Black cloth-trimmed seats with light gray stitching
- Piano black finished seat back bar trim
- Body color upper door trims
- Heated seats with three heat settings
In-car Infotainment sees fitment of a Bose 9-speaker audio system with AudioPilot that plays through the driver's and passenger's headrest speakers and a subwoofer. Wireless Apple CarPlay is available and SiriusXM Satellite radio with a 3-month subscription is on offer.
Buyers get to choose from seven exterior colors when ordering their 2023 Mazda Miata Club.
Grand Touring
The top-of-the-range Grand Touring starts at $33,050 MSRP and caters to those buyers who seek a little bit more in the way of luxury.
A 6-speed automatic transmission option is available, which adds a $300 premium to the price tag; the limited-slip differential, however, is not available with this option.
Further exterior additions include:
- Auto on/off headlights
- Adaptive front-lighting
- High beam control
- Rain-sensing variable-intermittent windshield wipers
- Body-colored heated power side mirrors
- 17 x 7 aluminum alloy wheels are finished in dark silver.
The Grand Touring trim adds to the cabin:
- Black leather-trimmed seats with an extra-cost terracotta Nappa leather option
- Black / stainless steel insert doorsill trim plates
- Auto-dimming rearview mirror
- Paddle shifters
The rigid power-folding hardtop option (RF) is available on the Grand Touring, and buyers get to choose from six exterior color options for their 2023 Mazda Miata Grand Touring.
Get Your 2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata at Autex Mazda
When it comes time to buy yourself pure driving enjoyment of the 2023 Mazda MX-5, make sure to visit the Autex Mazda of Keene dealership and make us your dealership of choice.
Discover more about the 2023 Mazda Miata range, book a test drive and allow our dealership's dedicated sales staff to assist you with your every motoring need.