RE: Mazda MX-5 Global Cup: Driven

RE: Mazda MX-5 Global Cup: Driven

Sunday 17th April 2016

Mazda Global MX-5 Cup: Driven

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



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?
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...
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
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?
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.

 

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

spameister

Original Poster:

42 posts

145 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
I expected more from PistonHeads than to promote the fallacy of 50:50 weight distribution.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Amazing that. Reduce the weight, keep the controls simple, reduce the techno crap getting in the way and fit it with decent dampers. Suddenly without the mass and better body control the car steers and stops properly.

If only someone had figured this out before wink




Atmospheric

5,305 posts

207 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
hehe

WANT, though,

Daston

6,074 posts

202 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
I take it this will be eligible to compete in the MX5 race series, would make a good entry point.

MustardCutter

238 posts

119 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
"Headers"? "Mufflers"?! Very murican.

No changes to the "sway bars"? smile

Gandahar

9,600 posts

127 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Holy sound of wind at 115db batman.

Gandahar

9,600 posts

127 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
spameister said:
I expected more from PistonHeads than to promote the fallacy of 50:50 weight distribution.
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?


matpilch

246 posts

139 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
where is the redline on the cup car?
the road car cuts out at a disappointing 6500

andy97

4,691 posts

221 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
spameister said:
I expected more from PistonHeads than to promote the fallacy of 50:50 weight distribution.
What is it then, please?

Dan Trent

1,866 posts

167 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
MustardCutter said:
"Headers"? "Mufflers"?! Very murican.

No changes to the "sway bars"? smile
Well, it was built and developed by 'em so we'll talk their language in this instance!

Dan

Jam12321

164 posts

109 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
matpilch said:
where is the redline on the cup car?
the road car cuts out at a disappointing 6500
thought it was 7k for the 2.0 and 7.5K for the 1.5?

breezer42

132 posts

150 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Dan Trent said:
Well, it was built and developed by 'em so we'll talk their language in this instance!

Dan
Also, you know, who really cares? Forums make it far too easy to complain about the little things.

Good article, thanks. I'd love to race these in a UK version! When funds allow, of course. Which will likely be never.

Kawasicki

13,041 posts

234 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Gandahar said:
spameister said:
I expected more from PistonHeads than to promote the fallacy of 50:50 weight distribution.
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?
I'm equally confused.

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

Robmarriott

2,633 posts

157 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Why does the OMP seat have Sparco cushions?

spameister

Original Poster:

42 posts

145 months

Friday 15th April 2016
quotequote all
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

samoht

5,633 posts

145 months

Friday 15th April 2016
quotequote all
Good read, thanks.

I think Mazda seem to be missing an opportunity here. They have the standard car, fundamentally well engineered but a bit soft in final setup, by all accounts. Then they have this racing model, which you can't drive on the road.

What I think many people want is something in between, with some of the tautness and noise you describe here, but road legal and practical. At the moment the aftermarket are offering this, but it would be much more attractive to have an in house, fully warranted performance version. No worries about warranty, insurance or resale values, and the credibility of the OEM behind the chassis setup, yet bringing out the underlying talent of the MX-5. Mazda very briefly tried this with the 'M2' setup in the nineties, but I think it would sell like hot cakes if they tried again now, in a world where most prestige performance brands have their own in house 'specials' department.

Kawasicki

13,041 posts

234 months

Friday 15th April 2016
quotequote all
spameister said:
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
The moment of yaw inertia is important, but that's a different discussion.

The weight distribution is the strongest tuning tool for the steering stability of a car. Is it a fundamental of vehicle dynamics...definitely not a minor statistic for road cars. For racing cars or very powerful road cars rear weight distribution is good for quick lap times.

50/50 combines good traction with good tunability for steering and handling characteristics, it is not marketing.

Side to side weight distribution is set up early on in car design...but optimised most often for lhd cars.
I weight 68kg, I measured a road car yesterday, with a full tank of fuel it was within 0.5% difference left to right.


anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 15th April 2016
quotequote all
The more I look at MX5's the more I like the idea. We had one in 2001 and at the time I probably wasn't very fair on it as I was smitten with the DC2. I think perhaps a test drive is in order at some point to see what the new ones are like. My desire to get back into something light, devoid of masses of technology and half decent running costs are becoming far more important than the theatre of a certain engine configuration.

HorneyMX5

5,306 posts

149 months

Sunday 17th April 2016
quotequote all
Seems a shame that BARC MAX5 championship aren't included in the chance to have a go at this, especially as the only UK series that actually has MK4s racing in it!