By: Dave Abrahams
Las Vegas, Nevada - Mazda has come to the 2015 SEMA show with two concepts specifically engineered to demonstrate that less can be more.
Which, if nothing else, will make them stand out at the world's biggest aftermarket expo, a show renowned for over-the-top specials.
Each is based on the all-new 2016 MX-5, trimmed down to add lightness and driving fun, and both were built in the United States in collaboration with various aftermarket suppliers. The point was to demonstrate that a unique MX-5 such as these is not beyond the reach of the average petrolhead - particularly as the engines are bog standard.
The silver car is the Spyder, complete with carbon-fibre body kit and grille, adjustable coilovers, four-piston Brembo front brake callipers on ventilated discs and 225/45 Yokohama Advan AO48 rubber on 17 inch custom Advan Racing RS II alloys with 42mm offset.
The cockpit has been trimmed throughout in Spinneybeck leather, and the standard folding roof replaced by a lightweight bikini, reducing the Spyder's kerb weight from the 1061kg of the standard MX5 to 1043kg.
SPEEDSTER
The blue Speedster, meanwhile, strips the MX5 down to the barest essentials. There's no provision for a roof and no windshield, just a deflector cowl on the scuttle as in the Mille Miglia racers of the 1950s.
It rides 30mm lower than standard on K&W adjustable coilover suspension, behind four-piston Brembo front brake callipers on ventilated discs and 16 inch custom Rays 57 Extreme Gram Light rims wearing Kumho Ecsta V710 225/50 tackies.
The doors are carbon fibre, as are the lightweight seats developed specially for this car by Mu-Len Delta and trimmed in black alcantara.
The Speedster weighs in at just 943kg - 118kg lighter than a standard MX5.
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