Mazda MX-5 put through paces in charity run
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. — As a happy-go-lucky, fun, windin-your-face and affordable roadster, the Mazda MX-5 (née Miata) is about as good as it gets. As a road-gripping warrior facing nature’s fury, it might not be your first choice, but the two-seater hardtop convertible, celebrating its 25th anniversary, more than proved its worth.
By way of explanation, Mazda Canada cooked up an interesting little plot called the Mazda Adventure Rally. Assembling 10 teams of automotive writers (and others) to take part in a 2½-day, 1,200-kilometre-long charity challenge (with cash donations made to the top three teams’ charities of choice) the company coerced us onto a charter turbo-prop — destination unknown, vehicle to be driven a mystery.
To make a long story short, we ended up landing in Chattanooga, Tenn. Upon disembarking the plane, we found 10 waiting MX-5 GSs ready for a run through the forested mountains to the northern part of Georgia. With the sky threatening rain in the distance, our merry group headed off on a 222-km drive to our day’s destination. Not 10 km into the journey the skies opened up in a deluge that would have had Noah reaching for his tool box.
What could have been a glorious ride on roads twisting their way through the mountains — while we searched for answers to challenges that were an important part of this rally — was instead an exercise in determining how much grip the MX-5’s Bridgestone Potenzas had in standing water and the effectiveness of the windshield wipers. Eventu- ally, the downpour subsided and the playful nature of the Mazda was explored.
The uncomplicated MX-5 was in its element, the evergreen third-generation roadster can still plaster a smile on the face of the grumpiest driver out there, thanks to a willing 2.0-litre fourcylinder, a superb six-speed manual transmission with snick-snick gear changes and an athletic agility that is second to none in its price range.
And this little slice of driving heaven that is the part of the southeast U.S. comprising the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains and the states of North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, has road after road that slithers through the countryside like a snake through tall grass.
Day Two had more challenges and more rain and more great driving roads. Unfortunately, on a stretch of gravel road that was littered with debris from the previous day’s storm, I ran over a branch that kicked up and whacked the passengerside mirror, knocking it off its base. Duct tape was applied during a stop and the mirror was rendered functional, if a little worse for wear.
The afternoon found us rolling up to Atlantic Motorsports Park, a private club racetrack that was the early afternoon destination on the second day of the rally. A tricky little autocross circuit was set up on the gokart track for us to test the car and our reflexes. A little too much enthusiasm for the timed event found one team hitting a tire wall, leaving the rear-quarter panel and bumper creased and blackened.
Since both driver and navigator had to run the autocross, my first two of the three allowed runs were spent showing Diana (my wife and navigator) the course. In fact, she had never driven a sports car before (her choice) or used a manual transmission since I last attempted to teach her 31 years ago. My final run was clean and pretty smooth, but was almost nine seconds off the best times posted.
There was an automatic MX-5 available and Diana gave it her best shot.
Day Three’s morning destination was Deals Gap, Tenn., the starting point for The Dragon. Referred to as “a popular and internationally famous destination for motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts,” the 17-km stretch of two-lane road reputedly boasts 318 turns. Despite curves with names that include Gravity Cavity, Brake or Bust Bend and Wheelie Hell, the Dragon proved to be a bit anticlimactic.
With sunshine finally breaking through, we stowed the top and soon found ourselves on the Cherohala Skyway, a 70-km scenic byway that crosses through the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee and the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina.
The roads and views proved mesmerizing and, upon reaching the end, we realized we had missed several important clues that would have garnered us much-needed points in the rally. But, hey, we finished in the Top 10.