The Forgotten Mazda MX-5 SP Was The Most Powerful Miata Ever

At its heart, the Mazda MX-5 has never really been about offering massive power, but that hasn’t stopped plenty of people from giving it more poke. N/A tuning, engine swaps, supercharging – we’ve seen it all, but one of the go-to methods is turbocharging.

There’ve even been a few occasions where you’ve been able to walk into a Mazda dealer and buy a turbo version of the otherwise steadfastly nat-asp MX-5. In 1991, there was the rare 150bhp UK-market Le Mans Edition, released to celebrate the legendary 787B’s victory in the French endurance classic that year. Finished in a lurid green-and-orange livery based on the racer’s, its turbo conversion was carried out by longtime MX-5 tuning specialists BBR, but it was sold through Mazda itself.

Then, Japan and North America got a turbocharged Mazdaspeed version of the NB, which lifted its 1.8-litre four-pot’s output from 146 to 178bhp. That’s the turbocharged MX-5 you probably think of first. Unless you live in Australia, in which case g’day, remember to check under the toilet seat before you sit down, and we hope you’re enjoying the Mazda MX-5 SP.

This was a project from Mazda’s Australian division to produce a properly powerful MX-5, and saw the 1.8-litre fitted with a turbocharger, intercooler, new air filter and remapped ECU. The result was 201bhp and 207lb ft of torque – increases of 55bhp and a massive 83lb ft.

0-62mph was dropped to 6.0 seconds, compared to 8.5 seconds for the regular 1.8 and 7.8 for the later turbocharged Mazdaspeed. The SP's turbo conversion, incidentally, was carried out by a little outfit named Prodrive which, in addition to its massive motorsport success, has had its fingers in a surprising number of road cars.

Anyone who’s tried to turbocharge an originally nat-asp car will know that it’s not always the easiest task to make everything work properly, so in 2001, a prototype MX-5 SP was entered in the Targa Tasmania. This brutal road rally takes place on Australia’s island state, and Mazda Australia’s then-motorsport manager, Allan Horsley, instructed driver Murray Coote to drive the SP “as hard as possible.”

Coote duly obliged, and the car ended up finishing the six-day event in 20th overall. This, in Mazda’s book, meant the SP was ready for the public, and a very limited run of 100 went on sale in 2002. It cost AU$55,540, which in 2025 money is nearly AU$100,000, or a shade over £50,000. Most were either silver or black.

To this day, it remains the most powerful factory MX-5 ever. In fact, the latest ND version has only just come close with the Japan-only 12R edition, which favours good old-fashioned N/A tuning rather than forced induction.

Despite this accolade, though, the SP remains largely forgotten outside of Australia. This seems like a bit of an injustice, so if you’re ever Down Under and catch sight of a silver or black NB, listen out for a turbo whoosh – you could be looking at a piece of MX-5 history.