Sunday 17th April 2016

Mazda Global MX-5 Cup: Driven

A brief but bewitching drive in Mazda's Global MX-5 Cup racer

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An out-lap, a fast(ish) lap and an in-lap; this is the extent of our drive in the new Global MX-5 Cup car. Plus a lap with Johnny Herbert to show how it should be done. The drives are part of a wider launch for Friends of MX-5 - more of which in a sec - explaining the rush. Five minutes is not a great deal of time to assess any car, but here it's at least enough to have an absolute tonne (or rather, about 1,100kg) of fun.

How good does this look?

Because that's what the Cup car is: a wonderfully energetic, terrifically entertaining ball of fun. Sure, you will go faster in many other race cars but, much like the road car, worrying about that is totally missing the point.

The spec for this 2.0-litre car has been detailed previously but it's worth pointing out a few key points that transform the experience, the modifications much more extensive than those to the 1.5-litre Japanese version PH raced at Tsukuba last year. The ride height is lower and the dampers are by Multimatic, with 11 settings for compression and rebound. The tyres are BF Goodrich slicks and the brakes, amazingly, are from the road car, albeit with a few additional grooves in the front discs, upgraded fluid and some pretty aggressive Pagid pads.

Bring the noise
There are other bits and bobs that will help in the heat of battle - an uprated radiator, new digital dash and cooling ducts instead of front foglights - but those listed above are the most important. Oh yes, and not forgetting the Kooks Racing Headers exhaust, developed for Long Road Racing that builds the Cup cars. It's magnificent, in a word. As the revs rise the noise climbs from a rasp to an angry, fizzing bark, loud and invigorating in a way the standard car could never, ever be. Apparently it's rated at 110db at the moment, which is easily believable. It will be sold with a muffler kit - indulge the Stateside description - to soften it off for races. Seems a shame given the glorious racket it currently makes, but then the US championship for these cars has a grid of 45...

Exhaust might not look much...

Regardless of where the American racers end up in that huge field, they're guaranteed to have an incredible time. Because, at the end of the day, this is still just an MX-5. But one with a real edge to make it more enjoyable and rewarding. That noise is certainly part of it, particularly when you hit a good downshift - see the onboard video faces for proof of that. The Cup car isn't noticeably quicker than a normal 2.0-litre - with the exhaust and an ECU tweak now being finished, it's expected to gain about 20hp - but that doesn't matter. Hearing the revs crescendo, watching the shift lights illuminate and then having to snick a gear through is so much more of an experience than in the standard car, even if it's not actually happening that much faster.

Hard times
Before you've turned in, the stopping power makes an impression; the uprated brakes will contribute to that, slicks ditto. But it's worth mentioning the dampers here too. On road and track the standard car can feel nervous under braking because of how the body pitches and how it can be deflected by bumps. No such drama here; it brakes straight and hard, pulling up far quicker than you would expect and with absolute composure.

Seat and wheel unsurprisingly transform interior

Naturally those slicks grab the attention immediately through a bend, the lateral adhesion staggering compared to the road car. There isn't the power to overwhelm them here, but push the limits - or rather, misjudge your line and end up on the marbles - and the familiar MX-5 balance is there. It's a small car so it requires pretty swift correction, but that much celebrated 50:50 weight distribution means plenty of warning. The lovely little Alcantara wheel helps here too, the smaller diameter and narrower rim making inputs feel a lot more positive and instantaneous than the production car.

Adding the climbing frame where the roof was will not only cruelly expose any inflexible drivers, it must produce a significant increase in stiffness too. Certainly the MX-5 Cup feels really rigid. The Parcmotor Castelloli circuit isn't exactly Knockhill for lumps and bumps but you won't see the mirror shaking when you're looking out for opponents!

Too legit to quit
What proves so endearing about this frustratingly brief test is that the Cup still comes across as an approachable MX-5 while also being a legitimate race car. That's the benefit of it being production-derived, but it must be a trickier task to pull off than you may initially assume. For the road car, it proves not only what a transformative effect suspension tuning and a load of noise can have, but also the benefit of a new seat and wheel. For someone too lanky to be truly comfortable in an MX-5, the racer was a revelation: low and snug, with the wheel far enough out, it immediately (and noticeably) improves the experience. Perhaps it's a little early to think about these changes for owners of the ND MX-5, but they have to be worth considering if you're put off by a slightly cramped interior.

What's a race car without a fancy strut brace?

In the US the MX-5 Cup Car costs $53,000, which looks remarkable value for money. In the way it drives and the appearance of the finished car, it's clearly a very high quality product. But what if you're not one of the 45 in America?

What if you would love a go in this car but can't afford or justify the MX-5 Cup? There is another way. Through the 'Friends of MX-5 initiative' Mazda is opening up five spots for European racers to compete at Laguna Seca later this year in a Global Cup Event. Come the end of May the leaders of the two BRSCC MX-5 championships, plus the 750 Motor Club's MX-5 series, will get to the European shootout. The winner of an iRacing championship now taking place also gets a seat. There will be 20 European MX-5 racers competing, and we'll be keeping track of the progress. Imagine if the UK racers made it to America; Laguna Seca in an MX-5 this good would be PH nirvana! 

Full spec of the MX-5 cup car here.

Watch a (windy) video of the laps here...

And a video with better sound but Matt's gurning face here.

[spameister]

I expected more from PistonHeads than to promote the fallacy of 50:50 weight distribution.

[spameister]

Gandahar said:

Why is it a fallacy? Are you better 100:0 or 0:100?

Surely you mean it is not the be all and end all?

Kawasicki said:

I'm equally confused.

It's not a bad place to start, is it?

50/50 weight distribution is something that the marketing department promotes. Especially BMW. Note that that it is static weight distribution that is being promoted so maybe it improves handling when the vehicle is stationary. Also something that never gets mentioned in those adverts is where that mass is located; that is, having 40% of the mass in front of the front axles and 40% of the mass behind the rear axles is very different from having 80% of the mass between the two axles but both are 50/50 distributed.

That figure "50/50" is front/rear. There is never any mention in adverts about left/right balance which in road cars is kind of difficult unless one removes the driver.

In road cars the weight distribution is a minor statistic that is incorporated into the rest of the car's design.
I have never found an article, written by an engineer, explaining the benefits of 50/50 distribution although I have read a couple of articles explaining why rear bias is preferable.

Edited by spameister on Friday 15th April 01:57