Mazda MX-5 Gets Power Hike With Japan-Only Special Edition
![Mazda Roadster 12R](https://static.cdn.circlesix.co/uploads/2025-01/mazda_spirit_racing_special_model_model_scheduled_for_commercialization_s.jpg?width=400)
The 2025 edition of the Tokyo Auto Salon is well underway, which means we’re preparing for a few days of jealously staring at cool cars that will never be sold in the UK. Case in point: the Mazda Roadster 12R, a limited-edition version of the car we know as the Mazda MX-5.
It looks an awful lot like a production version of the tweaked MX-5 Mazda was parading at last year’s TAS to introduce its new Spirit Racing performance wing, and sure enough, plenty of Spirit Racing branding is present and correct on the 12R.
![Mazda Roadster 12R](https://static.cdn.circlesix.co/uploads/2025-01/Screenshot%202025-01-10%20at%2010.09.13.png?width=400)
It’s based on the 2.0-litre MX-5, which is already making a healthy 181bhp from its 2.0-litre, naturally aspirated four-pot. Spirit Racing has tweaked the cylinder head, pistons, cams, intake and exhaust to lift that to 197bhp, making this one of the most powerful MX-5s ever sold. In fact, to our knowledge, it’s second only to the 201bhp, Australia-only SP version of the second-gen car. And that had a turbo.
Other changes for the 12R read like a who’s who of respected suppliers of performance parts: Rays TE37 forged wheels, Advan AD09 tyres, Brembo front brakes, adjustable Bilstein dampers, Recaro bucket seats, and a rorty Fujitsubo exhaust.
There are lashings of Alcantara in the interior, including on the steering wheel and six-speed manual gearknob, and it gets some subtle new aero including a neat little ducktail spoiler.
Mazda plans on building just 200 of these more focused MX-5s, all for the Japanese market, disappointingly. They’ll cost ¥7 million a pop, or around £36,000. That’s nearly twice what most versions of the MX-5 will run you in Japan, but because cars are so expensive in Europe, only a couple of grand more than a 2.0-litre MX-5 RF costs in Britain. Can you find it in your heart to build a few more and send them our way, Mazda?
Comments
No comments found.