Its design is simple and straight forward, exuding an open, spacious ambience. Covering the center stack and other key areas is a high-gloss piano-black finish, complimented by thin red pinstripes. While the black enamel look is highly original for a car, popular in Japan for everything from chop sticks to decorative knick knacks, it's also extremely classy for the compact category. The center stack interface itself is comprised of many of the key elements of the Mazda6, including the horizontal LED information display at top and cool opaque plastic surrounds that wrap around the large HVAC knobs near the bottom.
Mazda's latest concept also sports bright blue cloth seat insets and door panels, a colorful compliment to the otherwise black and silver interior. The seats themselves look terrific and are wonderfully supportive, but it's not clear if a production version will receive anything closely resembling them.
It's safe to say that the next Mazda compact will offer more power from its base engine package. Currently the 103-hp 1.6-L 4-cylinder with 106 lb-ft of torque, standard in the Protegé SE, is hardly acceptable when its competitors, even Hyundai and Suzuki are in the 140 horsepower range. Even the optional 130-hp 2.0-L engine with 135 lb-ft of torque is only passable. The estimated 150-hp, 140 lb-ft of torque 2.0-L I-4 in the MX Sportif is much more palatable, living up to Mazda's sporting image and worthy of the fine chassis the company is known for producing.