Welcome to an Auto Express track battle with a difference. In this video we’re going
to be putting this modified Mazda Mk2 MX-5 up against a brand new Boxster to find out
if you can get Porsche performance and fun on a budget of just £5,000. In part one we
took my 16-year-old MK2 MX-5 1.8is to Skuzzle Motorsport in Winchester where mechanic Nick
Baily installed an M45 Jackson Racing Super Charger. This increased power at the rear
wheels from 113 to 196 horsepower. He also fitted some MeisterR coilovers, EBC yellow
stuff pads and turbogroove discs, Yokahama AD08-R tyres and a stronger clutch and lighter
flywheel from Flyin’ Miata in the States. The total cost of the car, parts and labour
came to £4,976, while fitting the mods added £70 to our classic car insurance policy organised
through Adrian Flux. We then spent a further £114 on a full geometry set up at Wheels
in Motion in Chesham to ensure the MX5 would handle as best as it could – and good job
too, as it appears I’ve been driving around for years with the wheels all over the place.
However, before we get into the lap times, let’s first compare the straight-line performance
of both cars starting with the Boxster…The Boxster with its 2.7-litre flat six engine
did 0-60mph in 6.2 seconds and the standing quarter in 14.4 seconds. So how will my tuned
MX-5 compare? The supercharged 1.8-litre MX5 did 0-60 in 6.1
seconds – that’s 0.1 seconds quicker than the Boxster. However, it took the same 14.4
seconds to do the ¼ mile. So the cars are pretty evenly matched in a straight line.
But what about round a circuit? First Auto Express resident racing driver Owen Mildenhall
is going to set the time to beat in the Boxster. OK, so let’s come round and start a flying
lap. Just so much traction in this Boxster. Up to third gear, hard on the power, down
to second gear it’s so well balanced through these long corners, just beautiful. On the
power, just absolutely lovely Sounds amazing with that sports exhaust as well. Mat’s
car is going to do well to match this car on the brakes because its mighty on the brakes
– really stable It’s just a stunning thing, really well balanced. Get the thing working
on the way into the chicane, hard on the power, third gear, I love this car. I could drive
this car around a circuit all day long, I’ll never tire of it. Pedals are beautifully set
up for heel and toe on the downshift. Its so nicely balanced, there’s so much feel
through all the controls. Such a beautiful thing. It’s so good through that high speed
change of direction. Hard on the brakes here, coming up to the line, last corner. Out of
the last corner, coming up to the line and across the line. The Boxster did a flying
lap in just 1 minute 13 point six seconds. In part one of our video Owen recorded a time
of 1 minute 23 point 7 seconds with the Mazda in standard trim. This means the modifications
need to shave more than 10 seconds off the lap if the MX5 is going to win. Straight away,
then, he's done some work on that engine so it's got a supercharger - about 80bhp more
than before and you can really notice it as soon as you get on the throttle. The power
builds from really low down. When I drove this car originally it didn't have a lot of
power and it was a little bit soft and roll, but Mat's got some different shock absorbers
on it and he's done some work to the suspension to try and help this car cope with the power.
So, let's see what it's like.i've got to say, in terms of raw acceleration, it doesn't feel
far off the Boxster and the gearbox is great and the chassis is the big thing that matters
for the changes. He's stiffened it right up and now there's loads of grip. Through these
e long corners I can really lean on the car. There's quite a lot of grip in the car and
the Yokohama tyre, that's a track day oriented tyre so there's not a lot of roll in the sidewall,
so that gives you plenty of confidence and plenty of grip. It feels very neutral on this
first little warming up lap, so let's come round and start a flying lap and see what
sort of lap time it can do. Because the torque is so low in the revs, I'm not actually going
to be using second gear at all throughout the lap. So I'll start the lap in third gear,
4,000 on the exit there, plenty of torque accelerating across the start/finish line
up to the full revs. Now here, I'm just trying to roll lots of speed into the corner. The
thing with this car is of course the brakes are nowhere near as good as the Boxster, so
you've got to drive it like a historic race car, you sort of roll plenty of speed into
the corner and because there's lots of grip there, you can carry more speed in to the
high speed corners than you might imagine. This is where we're going to lose out against
the Boxster braking hard down to third gear into the chicane, again not using second then
on the power on the exit.really good traction, not even a hint of any loss of traction. Up
to fourth gear, up to about 90mph, just touching 100 hard on the brakes. Straight back onto
the throttle as I come in. It's really good and taken away that body roll that you'd imagine
on a standard MX-5. Just a little bit of oversteer on the entry, just a little bit of oversteer
through the middle, but loads of grip. No squirming in the tyre and you can really attack
this high speed S. Flat out through here, really loading the tyres but the tyres work
really consistently front to rear. Hard on the brakes, down to third gear, again not
using second. The nose goes in really well, it turns in really nicely and, again, lots
of traction on the exit. This is a really cool car, you'd really enjoy driving this
on a track day. But, as we go across the finish line, what's the lap time? My modified Mazda
MX-5 crossed the line in 1 minute sixteen point one seconds, so that's two point five
seconds slower than the Boxster, however this was only 0.1 seconds slower than Owen previously
recorded around this circuit in a Subaru WRX Sti and that has 316bhp and all-wheel-drive.
So, in the end, the Mazda MX-5 wasn't as fast around our track as the Porsche Boxster and,
in hindsight, I could have probably improved its laptime had I done stuff like stripped
out its interior, fitted a roll cage to stiffen up the chassis and maybe fitted some rock
hard suspension, but that would have ruined it as a road car and I didn't want to do that
at all. Do you know what? Owen told me after he drove it that it was a great fun little
road car. Let's not forget that up to 60mph, the Mazda was actually quicker than the Boxster.
I think I'll end on that. Click on the video windows to watch part one of Mazda MX-5 versus
Boxster or Subaru WRXSTi versus the BMW M135i. Click on the play icon to watch our very latest
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