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The Joy of Driving: Supercharged Mazda MX-5 Adventure | Henry Catchpole - The Driver's Seat

Original YouTube Video | Hagerty Published on 2023-08-02 Level：13 Speed：28 maxwordlevel：25

Video vocabulary

heart

US / hɑ:t /

•

UK / hɑrt /

noun
A feeling of care for others; compassion
Courage, confidence, and emotional strength
Be cheerfully encouraging
Most essential, important, or central part
Referring to a promise or something important
State or feelings of affection or deep love
Core part of a vegetable, e.g. a lettuce
The part of the body that pumps blood
Place where emotions are believed to be felt
A shape that represents love

roof

US / ru:f /

•

UK / ruf,rʊf /

noun
Top of the inside a tunnel, cave, mouth etc.
Cover or top of a building or car
verb
To place a cover or top onto a building, vehicle

fresco

US / 'freskəʊ /

•

UK / ˈfrɛsko /

noun
Picture painted over wet plaster, e.g. on a wall

you

US / jʊ /

•

UK / ju /

pronoun
Person someone is speaking or writing to
Person or people in general

stress

US / stres /

•

UK / strɛs /

noun
Emphasis on part of a word or sentence
Pressure on something or someone
A state of mental tension, worry due to problems
verb
To emphasize one or more parts of a word, sentence
To put pressure on something or someone
To say your opinion strongly
To be in a state of mental tension due to problems

the

US / ðə /

•

UK / ðə /

article
Used to refer to something already mentioned
Used to show there is only one of something
determiner
Used to describe all of a family

rate

US / reɪt /

•

UK / ret /

noun
Current price or cost of something
Speed or frequency of events over time
verb
To assess something or consider its qualities

third

US / θɜ:d /

•

UK / θɜ:rd /

adjecitve
3rd: Number after second

science

US / 'saɪəns /

•

UK / ˈsaɪəns /

noun
Study of the physical world, based on facts

wind

US / wɪnd /

•

UK / wɪnd /

adjecitve
(Musical instruments) that you blow into to play
noun
A current of air moving approximately horizontally, especially one strong enough to be felt
Something that has influence
verb
If a road, path, or river winds, it follows a route that turns repeatedly in different directions
To turn or cause something to turn
To twist around something

for

US / fə(r) /

•

UK / fɔr,fə /

preposition
Used to show the purpose, or need of something

with

US / wɪð /

•

UK / wɪð, wɪθ /

preposition
As an employee of a certain company
Against something or someone
By using something as a means
Due to; because of
Including
Possessing as a feature
Related to
(Of the manner/attitude by which you do something)
Used to express that people or things are together

increase

US / ɪn'kri:s /

•

UK / ɪnˈkris /

noun
Fact of increasing; amount something grows by
verb
To make or become larger in size or amount

down

US / daʊn /

•

UK / daʊn /

adjecitve
Being sad, sick, or unhappy
Not operating, working, or functioning as expected
adverb
In a sitting or lying position
Towards or on the ground, floor, or bottom
Written or copied onto a piece of paper or book
noun
A period of play in American Football
The soft, smooth hairs that cover a bird's body
preposition
Along something's path, course, or direction
Going from a higher position to a lower position
verb
To eat or drink very quickly and without stopping

happiness

US / 'hæpɪnəs /

•

UK / ˈhæpɪnɪs /

noun
State of feeling pleased; feeling of satisfaction

really

US / ˈri:əli /

•

UK / ˈriəˌli, ˈrili /

adverb
Used to stress something that is said; definitely
In a true or accurate manner
Very

good

US / ɡʊd /

•

UK / ɡʊd /

adjecitve
Proper, appropriate or right
(Of an amount) enough; plenty
Excellent; high quality
Acting well or properly; of moral character
In a positive or happy emotional state
noun
Advantage or benefit

nearly

US / ˈniəli /

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UK / ˈnɪrli /

adverb
Not completely; almost

reduce

US / rɪ'dju:s /

•

UK / rɪˈdus, -ˈdjus /

verb
To try to decrease, e.g. your weight if overweight
To boil a liquid until it has decreased in amount
To make something smaller in size, amount, level

tone

US / təʊn /

•

UK / toʊn /

noun
Atmosphere or feeling in a message
Firmness and strength of the body's muscles
Difference in pitch between musical notes
Specific shade of color
Quality of sound created by a musical instrument
Sound of a voice that reveals emotion or meaning
verb
To increase the quality of muscles by exercise

hair

US / heə(r) /

•

UK / her /

noun
Long thin strands growing on your head or body
Short distance; a very small amount

variability

US / ˌveəriəˈbɪləti /

•

UK / ˌvɛrɪəˈbɪlətɪ /

noun
(Statistics) degree scores depart from the mean

hedonic

US / hi:'dɒnɪk /

•

UK / hɪˈdɑnɪk /

adjecitve
Devoted to pleasure

Subtitles section

Driving with the roof down.

Al fresco.

The wind in your hair.

It's good for you.

Really good for you.

Science says so.

Hedonic tone, or happiness, increases by up to 19%.

Heart rate variability, or stress, is reduced by nearly a third.

Alertness increases by up to 15%.

Of course, it does help if you're somewhere like this, and driving a car as fun as this.

Didn't just make those numbers up, by the way.

They are part of a genuine study.

Admittedly, there wasn't a great sample size, just 23 people, but it was done by a genuine doctor.

In fact, an Associate Professor of Driver Behaviour at Cranfield University, Dr Lisa Dorn.

Driving with the roof down is something that I've always loved.

It really does add to the experience.

It makes a journey more four-dimensional somehow.

Driving down a beautiful road like this, and it is a beautiful road, you get more in touch with the landscape.

For a start, through all the smells.

That sort of warm, heady, heavy smell of all the bracken at this time of year.

The smell of the pine trees.

The smells, also plant-based, emanating from the occasional caravan parked up at the side of the road.

With the roof down, you feel temperature changes, hear additional ambient sounds, and see more of your surroundings.

Driving en plein air paints a more vivid picture of a journey.

And I can understand the idea that it decreases road rage as well, because in so many modern cars you do feel isolated from the world that you're travelling through, and it's a bit like social media.

If you feel isolated from the world you're travelling through, it's easier to be angry with it, to, I don't know, swear, cuss, and be rude to people.

But when they're just there, when there's no barrier between you, well, you're a bit more likely to mind your P's and Q's, I think.

Safe to say, then, that Dr Dorn is definitely onto something.

The study was actually done in association with Fiat, and that brings us in a rather roundabout way to this car, because the ND generation of the Mazda MX-5 was, of course, transformed into the 124 Spyder.

But, as you've probably noticed, this isn't a standard MX-5 or Miata.

It has been fettled by BBR GTI.

BBR stands for Brodie Britain Racing, David Brodie being a very successful touring car racer in the 70s and 80s.

The company was founded in Brackley in the UK, and remains there to this day, in premises just behind the Mercedes Formula One team.

Over the last 50 years or so, it has probably been best known for turbocharging, but this latest upgrade utilises another type of forced induction.

The very neat installation is designed specifically for the Skyactiv-G 2.0-litre engine, and it comes in two stages.

Stage one brings with it the C3094 Rotrex supercharger and all the ancillaries like the intercooler, the oil cooler, the oil reservoir, the K&N induction kit, and obviously the ECU upgrades, as well as these BBR-branded silicon hoses.

That takes power up to about 220bhp.

Stage two, well, that's all about increasing the breathing.

You can have a more track-specific forged motorsport intercooler as well, but it's really about this four-into-one exhaust system that then goes into the two-and-a-half-inch stainless steel system that runs right the way through to the back of the car.

And that increases power up to the aforementioned 250bhp.

It's, as I say, a very neat-looking installation.

Oops,

Must be an ND filter.

A small gag there for Mazda aficionados that also like photography.

And whilst you're recovering from such side-splitting humour, I'll take this brief opportunity to remind you that if you'd like Hagerty to be able to afford better scriptwriters on these films, then perhaps you might consider taking out a Hagerty Drivers Club subscription,

Which gets you a lovely magazine, roadside assistance, access to Hagerty's online valuation tool, and myriad discounts.

It's a bargain.

Talking of which, back to the Mazda and those BBR upgrades, which start at £3,895 excluding VAT for the DIY Stage 1 kit and rise to just under £8,000 including VAT for the fully-fitted Stage 2 with a motorsport intercooler and the full 250bhp.

Of course, with this, it's not just the power.

Perhaps even more important, it's the torque that this has.

220lb-ft of torque.

It helps drop the 0-60mph time from over 7 seconds down to just 5.1 seconds.

Weighing just 1,000kg, it's really potent.

Not quite as potent as the LS swap I once tried, but enough.

And because it's supercharged, not turbocharged, this conversion actually feels quite subtle in some ways.

If you look at the power and torque curves in fact, you'll see that they've been wonderfully linear, and there's still definitely a reason to rev it right out.

You don't get the real supercharger whine or scream with this either, which I'm quite glad about somehow.

You could be forgiven for thinking that there was no forced induction in a way, because other than just the little sort of almost chime as you lift off, you really don't get any sound from it.

Now

You've no doubt noticed that this car also has some other BBR additions, notably a brake upgrade with four piston front calipers that will set you back just over a grand, fully fitted.

There's also a set of 17-inch OZ ultra-legera alloys with Goodyear Eagle F1s.

They're £1,848.

And finally, a fast road suspension kit that you can have fully fitted with the geometry setup of your choice for a smidge over £1,400.

Total that up, add in a second-hand Gen 1 ND for about £13,000, and you're looking at about £25,000 all-in.

You could probably argue that the law of diminishing returns starts here.

I love the fact that with these views you can see the road for miles ahead.

You get good sidelines through the corners, but also you can see what's to come.

It whets the appetite wonderfully.

What a view.

And of course part of the magic of a car like the Mazda MX-5 is that it feels at home, exploring a narrow, Welsh, single-track road like this.

You could fit a Ferrari down here, but I don't think it would be as enjoyable in a bigger car the line would be prescribed.

In this, you get to choose still.

It's a car you feel like you can just fling down the road and place really accurately.

Dive into the corner and then all that torque, just steer through, hook it on the inside there.

It is quick!

But as with all good cars, you don't have to be going quickly to enjoy it.

As soon as you get into this car, it's the gearshift I think.

That's what tells you straight away that this is going to be fun.

A tighter, more precise gearshift, it's harder to think of.

The pedals are really well placed as well.

So if you like indulging in a bit of heel and toe, it's easy.

No, I'm not saying this car is perfect.

There are things that perhaps, yes, you'd spend more money on.

The suspension, it's good.

It's really good.

It definitely gives you extra control and actually has enough compliance over particularly the bigger bumps.

I'd like a suspension that perhaps just breathes a little more with the road whilst retaining that control.

But I suspect that would only really come with more expensive dampers.

And as luck would have it, BBR does offer a quartet of Ohlins call-overs for about £1,000 more than this setup.

And I'd be intrigued to try them.

Other things?

Well, the steering.

The steering has perhaps never been the best on certainly this generation.

In fact, the last couple of generations of MX-5, it's definitely better with the new suspension in this.

But you still don't quite get the really sort of textural feedback that it would be nice to have just to know how much those front tyres are gripping.

It's direct in the way that it turns in, but it would be nice to just know how hard you're pushing those Goodyear Eagle F1s.

To that extent, the sense of connection with the rear is actually much better.

The fact that you're practically sitting on the rear axle obviously helps to that extent.

If this were mine, I think I would have to put a different seat in it though, just to get a little bit lower, because for somebody of my height, it does feel a little bit like a 9 tenths scale car.

The bottom line though, is that this little Mazda is just really fun, and attainable.

Much as I love having the chance to drive the mega expensive resto mods and the hypercars that will set you back seven figures, it's important to remember that something like this can bring so much driving joy to the party with a vastly lower barrier to entry.

It's like the brilliant backstreet pub just round the corner from the exclusive club with a guest list and bouncers.

Even with the roof up, I think this MX-5 would make you feel happier, less stressed, more alert.

So this MX-5 with the roof down, it's a winning combo.