Reviews are now trickling out of early drives of development prototypes of the 1.5 liter 2016 Mazda Miata, but it appears that the spec of the car that we're getting here in America is also being confirmed: How does 155 horsepower and 148 pound feet of torque sound in a car that weighs around 2,200 pounds?
The word comes from driving.ca, which also drove the brand new Miata just this week. The 2.0 liter under the hood has 155 horsepower and 148 pound feet of torque, which is less than the 167 horsepower and 140 pound feet of the current car. Still, this fourth generation car should weigh a few hundred pounds less than the NC Miata, so performance shouldn't be diminished.
These figures are the bare minimum that we assumed when it was announced that the ND Miata would be getting that engine, so it's not really that surprising. We'll probably here more about weight and performance figures as the auto show season rolls on.