Looking forward to purchasing a 2016 Mazda Miata MX-5? Well, if you happen to live in Japan, have the yen, and police proof of a parking space, you totally can. Called the Roadster here in the land of the rising sun, the newest version of everyone’s favorite answer goes on sale tomorrow, Thursday May 21st.
The JDM Roadster will come in three variations according to the Mazda Japanese website: the S basic package, the S special package, and the S leather package. The basic package is only available in a six speed manual transmission, but the special and leather packages can be had in an automatic transmission, for those of us who actually thumb our noses at collective wisdom and proudly drive automatics in 7am bumper to bumper traffic... Oh, that’s only me. Okay... Fine. Here’s your leather package interior with a stick:
A far as what that stick is rowing, all of the models come with Mazda’s signature Skyactiv technology and the company is claiming approximately 44 miles per gallon! Maybe you really can afford that manual transmission in the middle of northern Saitama traffic.
There are a lot of interesting features in the new roadster, but by far my favorite might be the “safety hood.” What is the “safety hood” you might be asking yourself? Good question! And the answer is that when the hood detects that you’ve hit a pedestrian (and subsequently lost your gold license FOREVER), it pops upwards and forwards to keep the poor sod from impacting your windshield, keeping you able to operate the vehicle with a clear view forward, and hopefully helping both of you avoid further injury.
Is it just me or does that look less like someone who I just hit with my Miata and more like some one’s 1:1 ratio artist model lounging seductively on the top of the safety hood?
Mazda has also released a “Special Movie” about the 2016 Roadster. Even if you don’t understand Japanese, I think you will enjoy the cool driving scenes, the montages, the sounds, and the editing.
Oh, and yeah, it still looks like a rabbit.
Images and video via Mazda.
Jalopnik East is your daily dose of the latest automotive news out of Asia, covering domestic developments and car culture in Japan, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Just because you can’t drive it, doesn’t mean we can’t share it with you.