2017 Mazda MX-5 Cup Race Car Adds Race-Ready Equipment at a Cost

Mazda has announced the next production run of MX-5 Cup race cars, which will be more expensive and feature numerous mechanical advances compared to today’s car.

The MX-5 Cup Car will now cost $58,900, an 11.1-percent increase compared to the car’s launch price of $53,000. The extra money is justified thanks to new features that should make the MX-5 Cup faster around a race track including a motorsports-specific transmission, motorsports-specific engine mounts, differential bushing inserts, a fuel pump-out kit and updated ECU hardware and software.

Mazda will make a special exemption for the original 108 buyers, allowing them to purchase the updated car at the original price as long as it is ordered before September 16, 2016.

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Each one of these cars starts as a fully built MX-5 that comes from Mazda’s Hiroshima, Japan factory. They are then sent to Long Road Racing in Statesville, North Carolina where a full roll cage is installed, 250 motorsports-specific parts are added and unnecessary weight is stripped away.

“When we launched the new MX-5 Cup racecar, our goal was to provide the best value in sports car racing. We believe we have done that,” said John Doonan, director of motorsports, Mazda North American Operations. ” Mazda says that from the time its ordered it takes between four and six weeks to take delivery of an MX-5 Cup.

“An old adage is that racing improves the breed, and in just the first few months of racing, we have made a few significant upgrades to ensure that the car remains a great value for many years to come. To minimize the need for mid-season rebuilds, we have switched to a motorsports-specific gearbox,” said Doonan. “While it uses many of the stock components, it is a track-only part. Likewise we have redesigned the engine brackets to better withstand the constant high-speed pounding that is beyond anything seen on the road. The bottom line, is that this car is even better than it was just a few months earlier and we expect to see even more of them on tracks around the world in the years to come.”

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