From Mazda to Mustang: driving five traditional sports cars

[EVIL BABY.]

Sketch out in your head the perfect mechanical specification for your ideal driver’s car. One that’s everyday accessible and can be enjoyed on the majority of UK roads. Not a hypercar or some other exotic, but a balanced, approachable and engaging machine to be enjoyed any time and anywhere.

So what have you got? Rear-wheel drive is a definite, as is a manual gearbox. And the engine is more than likely at the front, isn’t it? It’ll be naturally aspirated, too, for its purity and response. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Now try to find a new model that meets that brief. It’s tough, isn’t it?

The fact is what was once the default mechanical layout for driver thrills is very much on the wane. Front-wheel drive has obviously played its part, its benign driving dynamics and packaging benefits making it the number one choice for mainstream machines, while the greatest minds in motorsport have made their case for sticking the motor in the middle. And even those who have persisted with the original Système Panhard have been forced by ever-increasing eco-friendly pressure to adopt sophisticated automatic gearboxes, plus power- and efficiency-boosting turbos. As a result, the atmospheric-engined, rear-wheel-drive car with a manual transmission has become an endangered species.

However, it’s not quite extinct yet, and if look carefully, you’ll find at least five machines that still stick with a century-old template to deliver their thrills: the Caterham Seven, Mazda MX-5, Toyota GT86, Nissan 370Z and Ford Mustang.

In many ways, these cars are very different – there are wildly varying power outputs and physical dimensions – but their commitment to the old-school cause binds them together, and it’s no coincidence they’ll all rev happily to 7000rpm. More important, bringing our quintet together allows us to see whether they are still relevant in today’s increasingly sophisticated motoring landscape or simply four-wheeled anachronisms living on borrowed time.

If the latter, then the Caterham’s been awaiting its demise for quite a while now. Over 70 years, in fact. Starting out life as a Lotus in 1948, the Seven is arguably the strongest proponent of this front-engined and rear-drive philosophy. With the exception of its supercharged 620 flagship, the Seven is nat-asp, manual and rear drive all the way. In fact, it’s essentially an engine, transmission and some suspension components that have been loosely covered in the least amount of bodywork possible. As result, in 310R guise driven here, it tips the scales at just 540kg, most of that mass being attributed to the 152bhp 1.6-litre Ford engine, the Mazda-sourced five-speed gearbox (Caterham’s six-speeder has been dropped after the demise of its supplier), a short propshaft and a de Dion rear axle with limited-slip differential.

Getting into a Seven has always required a certain amount of contortionism, especially in a narrow-bodied version like our startling orange example, but once you’re in, you won’t want to leave (especially as getting out is even more challenging). If ever there was a car company that highlights the beauty of this layout, then it’s Caterham. For starters, like all the cars here, the Seven’s engine responds instantly to your right foot, the amount of urge you get being directly proportional to the amount of throttle you apply. There’s no lag here, or sudden spike of turbocharged torque – just a precise, linear riposte to your wishes. Of course, it’s enhanced on this R-spec car with its lightened flywheel that allows the four-pot to spin even more quickly, accompanied all the way by a barking, crackling exhaust note and scintillating acceleration. All of this is orchestrated by that five-speed ’box, which serves up the sort of delicious, whip-crack changes that have you swiftly shifting up the ratios and happily heel-and-toeing back down again just for the hell of it.

More important, the 1.6-litre motor has just enough grunt to exploit the Caterham’s beautifully balanced handling. With wrist-flick steering, the engine out front, the rear wheels driving and so little mass to move around, the near-viceless Seven can be thrown around with abandon, no situation requiring more than some extra lock or a stab of throttle to get the car pointing just where you want it. It is quite simply a pure, undiluted hit of driving pleasure. As a back-to-basics reappraisal of why we love cars and driving, nothing comes close.

 

That said, both the MX-5 and GT86 get nearer than you’d think, albeit from slightly different directions and with a sheen of everyday refinement. Each has a 2.0-litre engine, weighs around a tonne and has been designed for driving fun rather than outright performance.

Of all our contenders here, the Mazda is the most familiar sight these days, its status as the world’s best-selling roadster seeing to that. Through its three decades and four generations, the MX-5 has stuck staunchly to its founding principles. The engines have got larger and there are more cogs in the ’box, but the essential simplicity remains.

No mainstream manufacturer is more deeply committed to natural aspiration than Mazda and it shows in the raspy soundtrack and eager delivery of the 181bhp 2.0-litre engine (there’s also a 1.5-litre option). Like the Caterham, there’s no delay or sudden surge in acceleration, just a beautifully direct response to the throttle. It’s brisk rather than quick, but such is the engine’s enthusiasm for forays beyond 7000rpm that you never feel short-changed, plus the slick and quick six-speeder’s snappy shift action makes it a joy to maximise what’s on offer.

Like all MX-5s, there’s a fair amount of body movement as you press on, but this is all part of the car’s way of easily telegraphing its limits, which are gloriously approachable at real-world speeds. And there’s no reason to fear the Mazda even as the grip runs out, its balance and adjustability allowing you to widen or tighten your line with subtle lifts and prods of that surgically precise throttle.

By contrast, the GT86 aims to amplify its rear-wheel-drive genes, hanging it all out at the drop of a right foot. In many ways, it’s very similar to the Mazda, but with its stiffer suspension and hard-compound Prius-spec low-rolling-resistance rubber, the Toyota eggs you on to exploit its mechanical layout. With the traction control sent packing, the GT86 gets hilariously expressive, exiting slower corners and the odd roundabout in a fashion that suggests the rear wheels have been replaced with castors. It’s precise and keenly adjustable at speed, too, the Sachs dampers of this Blue Edition keeping everything nicely tied down.

If there’s a downside, then it’s the throbbing and slightly breathless flat-four engine, which to those schooled in the way of the turbo can feel feeble low down – even compared with the Mazda – and wheezy at the top end. Yet once again, this negative can be spun on its head and turned into a challenge for the driver, who is motivated to make the most of the robust gearshift to keep the boxer on the boil. But when there’s so little grip and such an exploitable handling balance, the lack of outright performance hardly seems to matter.