Outside, Mazda is making its Zircon Sand color available on the roadster for the first time. Once exclusive to the CX-5 Turbo (read our review here) and North American CX-50, Zircon Sand is a special color meant to convey the outdoors and its calming effect.

According to the carmaker, it’s an earthy tan tone with hints of yellow. When combined with the reflection of the blue sky, it will appear to have a hint of green to the human eye. It will not replace Platinum Quartz Metallic (the other silver/gold-like color).

Inside, the Terracota nappa leather seats (check out the photos in our review) is replaced by an almost white Light Stone shade. Opting for these special seats mean that the door cards and lower dashboard are also in the same almost white color. Overall, Mazda says it gives a feeling of airiness to the MX-5’s cabin.

In terms of functionality, the 2023 MX-5 gets wireless Apple CarPlay too. Sadly, there’s no wireless charger nor wireless Android Auto.

Mechanically, the MX-5 remains unchanged for 2023. This means tractive effort is provided by a 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G engine with 184 horsepower and 205 Nm of torque. The transmission choices are still between a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic.

As before, manual transmission-equipped cars have a front strut brace, limited slip differential, and Bilstein dampers as standard. On the highest-trim model, the carmaker has added red-painted Brembo front brake calipers along with the 17-inch BBS forged alloy wheels. Meanwhile, all MX-5s enjoy a technology first introduced in 2022 models: Kinematic Posture Control (KPC). Mazda’s KPC system is designed to increase stability during cornering without impacting the purity of the MX-5’s handling and driver engagement.

The KPC system applies a very small amount of brake force to the inner/unloaded rear wheel during cornering, the resulting brake force pulls the body down, suppressing body roll to provide more reassuring cornering so subtly that the MX-5’s engaging handling remains unpolluted.

Masashi Nakayama, program manager and chief designer for the MX-5, said “the key phrase for our development of the fourth-generation MX-5 was ‘Innovate in order to preserve’, and I strongly believe that this model’s ongoing appeal is the result of our unceasing commitment to refining the vehicle over its 30-year history. We want it to it to continue to offer customers unique excitement and cement its position as a cultural icon.”

The 2023 Mazda MX-5 has been revealed in Europe and Japan, and it should be made available to buyers in other regions (including the Philippines) in the coming months.