[Ryephile]

So if I read your post correctly, you're thinking they'll take the base FB20 and put direct injection/high flow/high RPM cylinder heads on it?

I think we both agree that the base 148HP FB20 would be a total flop. That said, the exec's have been adamant the FT-86 will be a high-revving engine, something the base FB20 likely will not be. This makes the case for a tweaked FB20 highly likely, though how tweaked is way up in the air at this point.

Personally, I would opt out of relatively unreliable and noisy direct injection and put the money towards some good CFD development and using a full-time closed loop wide-band O2.

I wish I could agree the weight will be that low, but it just won't be. The Miata weighs 2500 pounds. The FT-86 will have less expensive materials [i.e. steel] to fit the price point, a rear seat, more glass, and likely target better crash ratings. That will easily add 200 pounds to the car. The only way to bring the weight back down under 2700 pounds will be to make it shorter and more spherical [a la Fiat 500 or Mazda2] or go expensive [like the extruded/bonded aluminum chassis Lotus uses, or full carbon monocoque like McLaren or Lamborghini]. The number of steel unibody cars on the road at or under 2700 pounds can be counted with very few fingers:

Mazda2, Fiesta, Fiat 500, MINI Cooper hatch, and MX-5 Miata [which has a steel backbone underneath the unibody]. Apart from the hybrid construction Miata, they're all hatchbacks, not low-slung coupes. Did I miss any? I did, the Kia Forte' Koup is pretty close at 2737 advertised base curb weight. That's rather admirable from Kia especially since it's much larger than the FT-86 is. I doubt most want the FT to be compared to the Forte' though since it's front drive!