This is the Mazda MX-5 Speedster Evolution concept

Mazda is the latest mainstream manufacturer to tease the cars it’s hauling to Las Vegas for this year’s SEMA show. They may not be quite as outrageous as Hyundai’s 1040bhp Santa Fe, but we reckon they’ll do the job. 

The Mazda MX-5 Speedster made its debut at last year’s show, but it’s back again for this year, only with even more weight stripped out of it. The windscreen-less Speedster Evolution weighs 159kg less than a conventional soft-top MX-5, and 45kgs less than last year’s concept, putting its total kerbweight way south of a tonne. It’s painted ‘White Ether’, in case you were wondering, and it’s excellent because all speedsters are. This is a fact. 

Slightly less excellent (only just) is Mazda’s other concept – the RF Kuro. It’s based on the retractable hard-top variant of the MX-5, and possesses 17in Rays alloys on sticky 215-section rubber, and the suspension from the MX-5 Cup car. The normal MX-5 (we’ve not driven the RF) is quite softly sprung – we think this is part of what makes it so entertaining to drive, but others disagree and yearn for something stiffer. Hence, the Kuro. Oh, and ‘Kuro’ is Japanese for charcoal, a nod to this RF’s semi-matte grey paint finish. 

Which one would you choose?