The 2006 Miata will make its debut in Canada this August, It will be called MX-5 Miata for a year or two, but Canadians and Americans can look for Miata name to disappear after that, unifying vehicle as an MX-5 worldwide.

It will be wider and more muscular in appearance with a prominent front and rear fender arches that recall same style on flashy RX-8; a more smoothly tapered nose and tail; inboard placement of headlights and taillights; and a particularly appealing revised grille.

The body structure is now 47 per cent more rigid, and has a lower center of gravity that should enhance handling. One unusual feature of '06 Miata is convertible roof, which, is a manually raised and lowered metal top.

Two years ago, this program has been launched primarily for dwindling environmental condition as main reason. Among concerned partners of SELEV are U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), California Air Resources Board (CARB), and Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association. The university’s College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) spearheads this innovative research. The study has been endowed by at least $10 million from Ford as a donation. The amount has been of great help for researchers in their tactics of finding ways of lessening fuel emissions of new-generation vehicles so as not to add up with already degrading air pollution that poses great risk to people’s health.