Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MIKE SPINELLI: Hey, welcome to Road Testament, a very
stripped down Road Testament.
You'll notice there's nobody here.
That's not exactly true, because Chris Harris is going
to be Skyping in a little bit, and we're going to be talking
about speaking of stripped down that's the theme of the
next Mazda MX-5.
Looking for a new, stripped down, a little bit more
track-focused, a little sportier version coming up.
And we just found out today that Mazda and Alfa Romeo will
be working on the next Alfa Romeo Spyder, or whatever it's
going to be called, with the underpinnings of a Mazda MX-5.
That's awesome.
Go to-- well, we actually don't have it.
We're that stripped down today, and no air conditioning
either, which kind of sucks.
But anyway, @drive on Twitter is where you're going to
subscribe to us, so we can ask you questions like we did
today about the Mazda MX-5, and also on Facebook at
drivetv on Facebook.
Go there, and check that out.
Well, whatever, check it out or don't.
I don't care.
Whatever.
No, check it out because there's going to be stuff
coming up there anyway.
So the Mazda MX-5, what are you guys looking for from the
next Mazda MX-5?
And basically, you could probably guess this stuff.
And I agree, and basically everybody around here,
including Ian.
Ian, you agree on all this stuff, too.
So this is basically the stuff-- oh, great.
Stupid apps.
Damn you, apps.
Stupid apps.
Hold on one second.
[BEEP]
Look at that, wrong app.
Piece of crap.
[BEEP]
OK, so here are a couple of things that you guys want out
of the next generation Mazda MX-5.
Lighter, of course, because the thing's come up in weight
in recent years and the recent generation.
Skinny wheels--
there's a grip issue.
Maybe too much grip, possibly?
That's possibly a topic for an upcoming Road Testament, and
I'm sure Chris Harris will want to be in on that.
Also, more torque, shorter gearing, and limited slip,
always nice to have the limited slip.
Also, smaller, lighter weight, a common theme, and a
legitimate track-oriented trim line, because some of the best
Mazda MX-5s that I've ever driven have been modified by
people who autocross them and do that kind of stuff.
So from the factory, they are a little bit squishy, but once
you add some dampers and all that stuff,
they feel a lot better.
And I think that's what Chris Harris was talking about in an
article he wrote that pissed off a lot of Mazda MX-5 lovers
about how he wasn't really that thrilled with it.
However, Chris is going to clarify his position here in a
couple of seconds when he Skypes in.
And we're going to be talking about the Mazda MX-5.
Actually we're also going to be talking about the video
that he just did with his own BMW M5, and also the whole
Mazda Miata/Alfa Romeo Spyder issue.
So Chris effin' Harris coming up.
So Chris, good to have you here on Road Testament this
week, live from your--
what kind of room is that?
Is that your den, or what do you call that?
CHRIS HARRIS: It's my study where I write words and I
contemplate--
no, I don't.
It's basically the only room in the house that the children
haven't trashed.
MIKE SPINELLI: And, so we just got a video from you, speaking
of your home life.
A car that's near to your heart, because you own it,
it's that BMW M5 from '86, I believe, right?
CHRIS HARRIS: Yeah, it's a E28 square rigger.
Basically designed by a bloke who could only
draw straight lines.
Yeah, it's very dear to me.
I haven't used it for a couple of years for many reasons.
But I rolled it out, and just reminded myself what an
amazing car it is, and why I really must avoid selling it.
I really do need to avoid selling it.
It's a proper piece of engineering, and I always
think to myself when I'm driving it, what did people
think in 1986 when they drove these things, when a fast car
had 110 horsepower?
This thing came along with 286.
MIKE SPINELLI: Other than the obvious technology
differences, when you get behind the wheel of a new M5,
can you feel any kind of thread going back to that car
from a driver's perspective, from a standpoint of being
behind the wheel?
CHRIS HARRIS: No, not really, no.
It would be nice say there were sort of DNA strands
linking the two, but there aren't.
One's a twin turbo V-8 with a zillion foot-pounds of torque.
The other's a straight six.
You've got to rev the nuts off it to make it go anywhere.
They don't steer the same, they don't stop the same, they
don't handle the same.
They're totally different cars from a different time.
The main difference, for me, is the immediacy of the
performance we have in modern cars.
You don't appreciate just how *** and go they are.
If you're in a new M5, F10M M5, and you want to overtake
something, you've kind of overtaken it before you've
even thought about doing it.
It's so much torque, you just go *** and you're through.
But in this old car, you've go to row the thing down.
You'll probably be in the wrong gear, so you've got to
make a gear selection.
You've got to bring the revs up, and then you've got to rev
the nuts off it to get it into the next gear, to make sure
you're in the meat of the torque in the next cog, all
that stuff.
And by the time you've done that, you've probably lost
your opportunity.
I find it engrossing, but in a practical sense, to just get
places quickly, the modern cars are so much faster.
MIKE SPINELLI: So, good luck with it.
And moving on to the big news this week, that a car that is
not as near and dear to your heart as the M5, the Mazda
MX-5 and the Mazda Miata, the next generation will share a
platform with the Alfa Romeo according to a tie-up that
Mazda is working out with Fiat.
And I know that you have come out strongly in
disfavor of the MX-5.
CHRIS HARRIS: So this is the reason why you
wanted to Skype me.
I understand know.
It's basically a great big stitch-up
over the Mazda MZX-5.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah, it was a little bit of an instigation,
but I wanted to--
CHRIS HARRIS: OK, well, look, the MX-5 thing is not as
simple as perhaps it was presented.
The first gen MX-5 Miata, that was a really cool little car.
But as it's just got older, it's got flabbier.
It's become less of a driver's car, and we
feel that quite strongly.
And obviously the MX-5 loving community has got little
voodoo dolls of me now, and they stab [BLEEP]
in them, which is fine.
What I would say is that this is a great use for Alfa Romeo,
because Alfa Romeo needs a rear wheel drive platform.
They've got to have a rear wheel drive platform.
It's not acceptable to have wrong wheel
drive Alfa Romeos anymore.
We've had enough of them, and the world kind of doesn't love
them, so great news for Alfa.
I also hear that Mazda is making a sportier MX-5 next
time around.
They're going to take it back to its roots as more of a
driver's car.
Is that a sort of tacit admission that the MX-5 has
become a bit more of a cruiser than it perhaps was, and
they're going to turn it into something to enjoy?
One point I would make about this tie-up, these tie-ups
always have a winner and a loser.
There's never parity when you have
this engineering exercise.
And, to me, this looks like a potential win for Alfa Romeo,
because if you look at their abilities to style cars,
Italian companies just have that licked, don't they?
So I could see a situation where the MX-5 is just a
slightly uglier version of the new Alfa version.
There's an exact parity at the moment with the Fiat 500,
which you guys have now got.
Well, Ford jointly engineered that vehicle with Fiat.
And the Ford Ka, as we call it in Europe, doesn't even get a
looking compared to the 500, because 500 is so much cuter.
So are we about to see the same thing with the MX-5 and
this new Alfa?
MIKE SPINELLI: So it could be a matter of the Italian gets
all the attention, because it's just hotter.
CHRIS HARRIS: They tend to be, don't they?
They just tend to do more beautiful looking cars, and
beauty sells that kind of car.
So, yeah, I think it's a slightly
dangerous game for Mazda.
All I can say is I hope they're charging them a lot of
money for the platform.
MIKE SPINELLI: So we haven't had Alfa in this country for a
number of years.
What's the latest bunch of Alfas like to drive?
You've had them, you haven't had any let up
of Alfas over there.
CHRIS HARRIS: No, but the rate of development slowed down
dramatically as the brand has kind of floundered, and Fiat's
had to concentrate on other areas.
Quite rightly, went back to sorting out its home
territory, which is small cars, so the 500 has been a
great success, and they're rolling out
new models as well.
159 is the mainstay.
It's an incredible proposition, because it's so
good looking, and yet dynamically, it's just a long,
long way behind any of the competition.
Competing with the Germans in that sort of baby executive
market now, it's just so tough.
It really is going into battle holding up a banana when
everyone else has got machine guns.
It's just not fair on them.
So I think, really, sorry, my warning, my low battery
warning's come up.
I think it's tough.
The current product range really hasn't got an awful lot
to recommend it.
It's disappointing.
It's front wheel drive.
It's badly engineered, and it's not that special.
MIKE SPINELLI: So the other obvious question is we're
looking at cars like the Subaru BRZ here, the Toyota
FRS there, and the Scion F--
I'm getting the alphabet soup of those cars.
Are we looking at what might be a new niche, and maybe the
Mazda/Fiat tie-up might provide a competitor from them
that's worth the $30,000 or something you
might pay for it?
CHRIS HARRIS: Absolutely There is no doubt that Mazda fully
understand how to engineer a real wheel drive chassis.
There's probably someone still there from Alfa Romeo.
What was the last rear drive Alfa?
Unless I'm mistaken, it was a probably '75 or maybe the SZ
Il Monstro?
Maybe so there's someone in Alfa who remembers how to
engineer a rear wheel drive car.
I know the 8C.
Obviously, it was a special, but that was kind of a
different thing.
Yeah, these are good times, aren't they?
We're getting rear wheel drive cars with a little less
horsepower.
Someone from Michelin or Dunlop just needs to develop a
really narrow tire that works in sort of more
circumstances now.
Because if we could have a sort of 175 section, 220
horsepower, then we're going to have some fun.
What worries me is they've all got big fat rubber on them.
The Mazda and the Alfa will have the advantage of the roof
coming off, as well.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right, right.
Well, that's another thing.
Do cars have too much grip?
That's a whole other show.
[LAUGHING]
CHRIS HARRIS: Oh, yeah, we're not going to
get started on that.
I can tell you the E28 M5s don't have too much grip.
That's for sure.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah, yeah.
And it looks fantastic.
MIKE SPINELLI: Mike, it's always a pleasure.
And don't cut that hair.
You're like Samson, you think about cutting the hair off,
you'll lose all your powers, Mike.
So don't do that, alright.
MIKE SPINELLI: I look like a wet seal without it, like a
badger or something.
It's terrible.
It's a bad look without it.
So--
CHRIS HARRIS: I reckon you look like a
very skillful she-male.
MIKE SPINELLI: [LAUGHING]
You have no idea.
CHRIS HARRIS: By the way, I'm going to hijack this now with,
I just found this.
This is my signed photograph, can you see that?
MIKE SPINELLI: Aw, beautiful.
CHRIS HARRIS: Signed photograph, to Harry--
one of my nicknames--
from Colin McRae.
MIKE SPINELLI: Aw, that's fantastic.
CHRIS HARRIS: From his championship year, 1995.
MIKE SPINELLI: Wow.
RIP Colin McRae.
Chris, thanks.
Have a fine--
what's it-- kidney pie?
What do you have over there?
What are you having for dinner?
CHRIS HARRIS: We're going to have something, I think we're
having some kind of fish pie, which will no doubt have every
teenager in the room tittering.
MIKE SPINELLI: Cool, thanks.
I'll talk to you soon.
CHRIS HARRIS: Cheers.
MIKE SPINELLI: Alright, see you.
Thanks, Chris.
So the Mazda Miata, Mazda MX-5 coming out 2014, 2015.
We'll probably see a lighter, more sports focused
competitor, possibly, to the Subaru BRZ and with an Italian
version, Italian designed version, that'll end up as an
Alfa Romeo coming here.
And that is if all this stuff goes well, because basically
the press release that came out today was saying that all
of these things are speculative.
So they're going to hammer out these details by
the end of the year.
And we're going to see in the coming months what the actual
plan for the next Mazda Miata or Mazda and its Alfa Romeo
counterpart will be.
But it sounds cool.
I can't wait to see it, and that is it for this Road
Testament today.
And we'll see you next week.
Maybe we'll have somebody in this chair next week.
Alright, later.
Adios.
[MUSIC PLAYING]