The Dogfather
14th September 2011, 08:43 PM
Well I’ve had the MX 5 for two weeks now and have added 500 miles to the Mazda speedo. In that time the MINI has barely moved partly because I’ve been getting it ready to go back to BMW, but I did have a little drive out to check for rattles and to give the battery a quick charge. During this little blast the MINI seemed almost alien. Anyway I thought I’d put down some thoughts on the differences between the two cars.
One of the biggest criticisms of the MX5 is it relative lack of power and whilst I’ll admit the chassis could handle a lot more I’m quite happy with the overall performance.
The MINI’s engine is a cracker (dieselish sound and coking aside) it has loads of torque and returns fairly good fuel economy figures. There’s no real need to rev it and in fact its better not to so you get back into that huge band of torque again.
The Mazda’s engine is a different beast altogether, it thrives on revs with the redline sitting at 7200 rpm. Power output is very similar with the Mex5 putting out 168bhp to the MINIs 175bhp but you need to work it to keep it moving, which is probably why despite the 5s lower kerb weight the new car has only returned 29mpg compared to 33mpg for the MINI. Mind you it could also have something to do with the howl it makes at 7k and the fact that the gear change is an incredibly short throw.
There’s now a BBR Cosworth conversion that sticks a supercharger on to the MX5 to boost power to 240bhp to give it Boxster rivalling performance, very tempting…..
When it comes to handling, it would be unfair to compare a fairly large supermini with a two seater sports car, especially one with a chassis as good as the Mazda’s. The Mex5 has the MINI beat hands down for speed through the corners and poise, however the MINI is a damn site easier to extract every last drop of grip with confidence that you’ll not end up in the hedge, especially in the wet. I’ve had a couple of moments when I’ve been driving the 5 hard and had the back end step out due to diesel in the wet. The first time it happened I was doing well over 50mph and I’m not sure whether my reactions or the car’s DSC stepped in to correct the slide. For a split second I thought I’d lost it. Each car has plus and minuses but they are both a great deal of fun, you just have to give the Mazda a bit more respect in the wet.
The steering on the Mazda is as precise as I’ve come across and the feedback and feel is as good as a 1st Gen Cooper. There’s no artificial weight in the system like you get in the R56 with the sport button pressed. I would prefer a quicker steering rack and/or a smaller steering wheel though as the initial turn in isn’t as good as the MINIs. Maybe a change of tyres might improve that, who knows.
I don’t miss the torque steer or that bump steer thing you get when you hit a bump mid corner in the MINI though.
The Mazda is as light as its possible to get without seriously compromising comfort and there’s quite a lot of road noise and the odd rattle. The car is generally well built but you don’t get that resounding thud when you shut a door like you do with a german car. However, I do intend to improve this a bit with some sound deadening when I finally get round to taking out the awful Bose amp and speakers.
I’ll probably add some more to this after a few more hundred miles…...
One of the biggest criticisms of the MX5 is it relative lack of power and whilst I’ll admit the chassis could handle a lot more I’m quite happy with the overall performance.
The MINI’s engine is a cracker (dieselish sound and coking aside) it has loads of torque and returns fairly good fuel economy figures. There’s no real need to rev it and in fact its better not to so you get back into that huge band of torque again.
The Mazda’s engine is a different beast altogether, it thrives on revs with the redline sitting at 7200 rpm. Power output is very similar with the Mex5 putting out 168bhp to the MINIs 175bhp but you need to work it to keep it moving, which is probably why despite the 5s lower kerb weight the new car has only returned 29mpg compared to 33mpg for the MINI. Mind you it could also have something to do with the howl it makes at 7k and the fact that the gear change is an incredibly short throw.
There’s now a BBR Cosworth conversion that sticks a supercharger on to the MX5 to boost power to 240bhp to give it Boxster rivalling performance, very tempting…..
When it comes to handling, it would be unfair to compare a fairly large supermini with a two seater sports car, especially one with a chassis as good as the Mazda’s. The Mex5 has the MINI beat hands down for speed through the corners and poise, however the MINI is a damn site easier to extract every last drop of grip with confidence that you’ll not end up in the hedge, especially in the wet. I’ve had a couple of moments when I’ve been driving the 5 hard and had the back end step out due to diesel in the wet. The first time it happened I was doing well over 50mph and I’m not sure whether my reactions or the car’s DSC stepped in to correct the slide. For a split second I thought I’d lost it. Each car has plus and minuses but they are both a great deal of fun, you just have to give the Mazda a bit more respect in the wet.
The steering on the Mazda is as precise as I’ve come across and the feedback and feel is as good as a 1st Gen Cooper. There’s no artificial weight in the system like you get in the R56 with the sport button pressed. I would prefer a quicker steering rack and/or a smaller steering wheel though as the initial turn in isn’t as good as the MINIs. Maybe a change of tyres might improve that, who knows.
I don’t miss the torque steer or that bump steer thing you get when you hit a bump mid corner in the MINI though.
The Mazda is as light as its possible to get without seriously compromising comfort and there’s quite a lot of road noise and the odd rattle. The car is generally well built but you don’t get that resounding thud when you shut a door like you do with a german car. However, I do intend to improve this a bit with some sound deadening when I finally get round to taking out the awful Bose amp and speakers.
I’ll probably add some more to this after a few more hundred miles…...