2016 Mazda Miata Sees a Huge Jump in Fuel Economy

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata (Credit: © Mazda)

There is no confusing the fact that the Miata has long been one of the most fun vehicles available with only four cylinders under its hood. One thing that it never did too well in when considering its four-pot engine was fuel economy. In the 2015 model year, the roadster got just 21 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, and 24 mpg combined. Well, this is all set to change for 2016, as the Miata’s new engine results in a huge spike in mpg.

As much as I have borderline whined about the 2.0-liter Skyactiv engine under the hood of the new Miata, I must say it is impressive in the fuel economy department. According to the EPA’s estimates, the 2016 MX-5 Miata will get 27 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, and 30 mpg combined with the six-speed manual transmission.

For those keeping score at home, that is an increase of 6 mpg across the board. Doing some rather elementary math puts that at a 25 percent increase over the last model year. That is quite the impressive increase to say the least.

The new Miata is also a cleaner car, as it emits just 296 grams of CO2 per mile with the manual transmission – a 19.5 percent decrease over the 2015 model. This is enough to slide it from a six to a seven on the EPA’s emissions rating scale.

With the auto transmission , the numbers get even better, as the highway rating jumps to 36 mpg, while the other two rating s remain unchanged. Emissions on the automatic model also drop by 21 percent to 296 grams per mile, pushing its rating from a five to a seven.

I must say that I am downright impressed by these dramatic improvements.