Mazda Australia will launch an allegedly track-ready MX-5 this January, but it appears to have shot itself somewhat hilariously in the wedding vegetables in doing so.

Podcast (audio-only version, for listening in the car, etc.): https://anchor.fm/autoexpert

Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contact

AutoExpert discount roadside assistance package:
https://247roadservices.com.au/autoexpert/

Did you like this report? You can help support the channel, securely via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DSL9A3MWEMNBW&source=url

Mazda Australia was apparently looking for a cheap way to sex-up the ageing MX-5 for 2021.

So they added some front Brembos with, they claim, 26 per cent greater fade-resistance, plus 17-inch forged alloy BBS wheels and a strut brace. Glorified bolt-ons. But just enough to justify calling it the new MX-5 GT RS. There’s also wireless Apple Car Play and a new blue colour in the range, as well as black caps on the wing mirrors - be still, my beating heart.

“The Mazda MX-5 is the embodiment of Mazda’s Zoom-Zoom philosophy,” - Vinesh Bhindi.

Big Bhindi is the administrative type who counts the beans at the top of Mazda’s local import shop. I’d respectfully suggest to B-Squared that ‘Zoom-Zoom’ is a philosophy in exactly the same way that the menu at the local Cantonese takeaway is literature...

Anyway, here’s where the fun starts:

“...the MX-5 GT RS models are a natural fit for club motorsport use...

Hold that thought. It’s from the official press release, dated yesterday.

“Augmenting these upgrades are sophisticated Bilstein gas-pressurised dampers that are designed to deliver track-ready grip and feedback…”

That’s also from the press release.

However, on Mazda Shitsville’s official warranty page, section 8: “What is not covered by this warranty?” 8.1:

“Racing”

Specifically:

“Use of the Mazda Vehicle in competition racing or related purposes.”

‘Competition racing.’ Really? Like, show me the racing that’s not actually competition. So there’s that. And what exactly, I wonder, are these ‘related purposes’? Safety car? Display car at a track event?

Is a ‘related purpose’ a driver training day on a racetrack, or a skidpan, or a hill climb, or a personal track session at an open track day?

In any case, here’s a car about which the manufacturer publicly claims (quote) ‘track-ready grip and feedback’ and which is (quote) a ‘natural fit for club motorsport’ - but it seems if you actually do this with your new MX-5 GT RS you are at risk of voiding the warranty, at least as it is currently written. Oops a daisy.

The delicious irony here is found in the detail of Australian Consumer Law. Specifically the legislated guarantee of ‘acceptable quality,’ which says, in part, that consumer goods, including cars, must match descriptions made about them in promotions or advertising.

And if the business fails to deliver these things, then, according to the ACCC, you have legislated consumer rights for repair, replacement or refund, plus compensation for damages or loss. These rights exist irrespective of the warranty status.

So it seems to me Mazda Shitsville has painted itself deliciously into something of a corner with this allegedly track-ready car that is allegedly a natural fit for club motorsport, despite offering a warranty that is apparently voided by doing exactly these things with it...