Updates to MX-5 synch with e-fuel breakthrough.

ARRIVAL of latest local market updates for the world’s strongest-selling – and, thus, arguably best-loved - roadster has timed with news that will buoy enthusiast hope of keeping it relevant in an age when fossil fuel might become scarce.

The just-in-time-for-Christmas Kiwi market amendment to the Mazda MX-5 for Kiwi owners is the arrival of Kinematic Posture Control (KPC), a software-enacted suspension tune designed to provide more stability when turning at a high speed by applying slight braking force to the inside rear wheel.

KPC pulls down on the inner wheel in order to suppress body roll. It is only activated during high-g situations meaning – so you’ll need to find  race circuit to get the full and most enjoyable benefit.

Which synchs nicely into the global news element … 

Sustainable fuels, also called e-fuels, which function exactly the same as petrol, but is manufactured synthetically with no oil drilling, and can be put in internal combustion engines with no modification, could well be the panacea for cars such like this in a future where the roadscape becomes electrified.

Mazda is among makers (another being Porsche) particularly keen on e-fuels; eben though it has recently hinted strongly about a future electric MX-5, it nonetheless doesn’t want the four generations of fossil fuel-reliant examples becoming garage queens and oversized paperweights.  

The brand has been working with a British specialist, Coryton, in testing of a synthetic petrol, called Sustain, created entirely from something NZ has no shortage of, agricultural waste. The basic components are straw and crop by-products unfit for consumption. 

The latest trial has involved driving a total standard MX-5, running exclusively on Sustain, 1600 kilometres around the United Kingdom, visiting famous race tracks and setting record laps for alternative fuel cars.

 The week-long roadtrip consisted of stops at Anglesey Circuit in Wales, Oulton Park in England, Knockhill in Scotland and Kirkistown in Northern Ireland.  

Even including the pace-setting laps, the car returned decent thrift of 5.2 litres per 100km and, just as importantly, the Mazda was able to perform with no impact on performance or reliability.

Mazda is the first OEM to join the European Union's eFuel Alliance, an organisation promoting sustainable fuels for a variety of applications, from maritime to aviation.

Hiroshima says it is also still committed to electrification, but says exploring alternative fuels in order to accelerate carbon neutrality is also important. Ninety percent of the cars on UK roads are still fossil fuel burners, the brand points out, and if they can be switched to e-fuels while waiting to be replaced by EVs, that's a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.

This testing isn’t just relegated to the UK. In Japan, Mazda has been campaigning a Mazda2 running on a cooking fat and microalgae-derived biodiesel in the Super Taikyu endurance series, the same one in which Toyota runs a hydrogen-combustion GR Corolla. Next year the bid will switch to a more powerful Mazda3-based race car.

Meantime, back in NZ, the MX-5’s update arrives with announcement of a new colour option, Platinum Quartz Metallic (above), and the return of the GT grade to the soft-top model with 17-inch BBS forged alloys, Bilsten shocks, Brembo front brakes, front strut brace, and gloss black mirrors now featuring. That car’s a $57,590 opportunity.