Mazda 2 MPS speculation

There's a good chance we could see a hot MPS version of the new Mazda2, but only if its champions at the Japanese carmaker can convince senior management.

If they can, the car would compete against strong competition for the little sizzler market, including Ford Fiesta XR4 and Mitsubishi’s Ralliart Colt.

Mazda2 project manager Shigeo Mizuno, recently in Australia for the launch of the car, says he supports the idea of a hot variant.

“I myself want to develop a MPS for Mazda2,” Mizuno says. “But I must convince every one of our senior managers to make it happen.”

Mizuno says such a project would not simply follow the formula set by other MPS versions in the Mazda line-up.

“My image of the Mazda2 MPS is different to that of the Mazda6 and Mazda3 MPS,” he says. “The 6 and 3 can run fast, but a Mazda2 MPS should also be fuel efficient."

This would be similar to the Golf 1.4-litre Twincharger engine (which uses the combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger).

“It has a small displacement but very high performance, and the CO2 emissions would be lower. This combination of concepts would be very interesting for a Mazda2 MPS, I think it would suit."

“We are studying that very point.”

Rumours have started circulating that Mazda is already working with a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine for the smallest MPS, but Mizuno says a good contender for under the bonnet would be a turbocharged version of the efficient little supercharged 1.3-litre Miller cycle engine being used in the Mazda2 in Japan.

“One of the alternatives is the 1.3-litre Miller cycle engine,” he says. “If you add a small turbocharger, that would produce similar results to the twincharger effect.”

“But I think the management will say to use a 2.0-litre or 2.3-litre.

“In their mind, an MPS runs fast because it has more torque, so that means greater displacement.”

Mizuno says an MPS variant could easily extend the Mazda2’s funky looks.

“We would maybe make the fenders more muscular, with bigger wheels and tyres – the brakes will be all four discs (losing the rear drums on the standard 2).

"Chief designer Ikuo Maeda likes that look — like the RX-8 he designed. So I think he will deliver that kind of design.”

Mizuno says that it would take about three years to develop the MPS2.

“We would not see it before 2010 in my experience, on the condition that management will say yes.”

And in order for a business plan for MPS2 to get approval, the Mazda2 itself needs to be a roaring success first.

“We would need to sell at least 130,000 a year to make it viable,” Mizuno says. “A certain cost has to be consumed so that the vehicle can be viable.”

Mizuno would not be drawn on a price level, but the MPS would probably have to come in under $30,000 to be attractive, and above $27,000 to be viable.

“If such a premium cannot be accepted, I think perhaps the MPS2 may not be viable because the price of such a car would not be accepted in that sub-compact segment.

“So maybe we would have to sell 150,000 Mazda2 instead so we can pass on the profit to an MPS project.”

However while speculation about a MPS2 is interesting, Mazda Australia’s marketing manager Alastair Doak says there is certainly nothing planned at this stage.

“Until they say yes to a business plan, the car doesn’t exist,” he says.

“It may never see the light of day.”