The Mazda MX-5 – AKA Miata or Roadster – is a pillar of driving fun. A back-to-basics driving experience with a sharp focus on driver engagement, with a realistic entry barrier that gives everyone the chance to feel like Schumacher… or in our case, the Drift King.
Our story begins in 2017, with a young Ben Rowlands. Ben got an itch to drift and got into an MX-5 and, as you do, started gelling with various friends who shared his hobby. Between 2017 and 2020, Ben learned more and more about his hobby and as he gained a better understanding of the craft, he got into other more powerful cars. By 2019, he owned and drifted a red Nissan Silvia S13, but just couldn’t shake the bug – Ben had to get back into another MX-5.
2019 has come and gone, and with it the silver NA MX-5 you see here. You are probably thinkingwhich?’ and bear with me, we’ll get to it.
2020 was a blurry, weird time for everyone, but when he came out of it, Ben was full of energy and ideas to create something fun. A good local friend of his, Connor, had a unit where he stored and worked on his own car. Ben had met him drifting a few years earlier, Connor’s car at the time was a red NA MX-5. I think you see where this is going…
Connor’s MX-5 was eventually replaced by another, which followed another beefed-up MX-5, and then…
Look, I’ll be honest with you, these guys have explained it to me a few times and I’m still at a loss as to exactly how many MX-5s Connor has owned before, but you should know that Connor has a blue one in 2020 and Ben a silver one . You are looking at these cars now.
The two guys were good friends, had similar driving styles, competed in the same events at the same tracks and had nearly identical cars. Of course, their MX-5s matched each other very well, so this was the perfect opportunity for Ben to run with his idea: a group of friends who can participate in team drift competitions and like the same chassis.
So in 2020, Ben and Connor painted their cars red (the fastest color known to man…) and started participating in events together under the team name Gripped Up.
2021 arrived, when I crossed paths with the boys for the first time, although I didn’t know their names then, and I didn’t have a chance to say hello. What I did see, though, was absolutely throwing these naturally aspirated little MX-5s into fast drives, going backwards up a hill at the Anglesey racetrack in North Wales during the Drift Matsuri. I was amazed and walked away from the event amazed at how lively they sounded and how fast they were.
I was then even more shocked to learn that the Ben MX-5 was a standard 1.6L model with a welded differential. It was literally only 113 horsepower new, let alone 20+ years later, and here it was chasing competition-specific drift cars into the main areas of the track. Unreal.
However, Connor’s car has a 1.8L VVT engine from the NB MX-5, which is a truly astounding 20 horsepower more than Ben’s car.
But it takes three to make a party, and Ben wanted to expand the team further. Two identical MX-5s were not enough, and the hunt began for a third team member. Turns out they didn’t have to look far…
Introducing Dan O’Shea, who was also at the Drift Matsuri and had his own NA MX-5. It was bright blue and I liked it so much that I took a picture of it in the pit before Dan was part of Gripped Up. Ben jokes with me today, “Connor and I basically kidnapped Dan and forced him to paint his car red.But Dan was already good friends with Connor and wanted a slice of the wildly entertaining and addictive action.
Dan is another MX-5 addict who has learned his way around the chassis with previous cars, including a car that has been beefed up like Connor. We have three friends here who have experienced more powerful and bigger drift cars, but were quick to point out that power alone does not determine how intense and engaging a drift experience is.
The photos in this article are all from our time at Driftland at Dorifest in Scotland, which was the first time the trio had driven together for an entire weekend. Let’s finally put the names on the faces of the cars…
On the left is Dan, his NA is the once blue, now red 1.8L VVT engined car with an independent throttle body from an AE111 Toyota. In the middle is Ben, whose car was a simple 1.6 liter when the pictures were taken – that’s it. On the right is Connor, who also has a 1.8L VVT mill with a strange quad throttle body from a Honda CBR1000 motorcycle.
So why the MX-5? Ben explained to me:They just drive really, really well. This is the most important. When we drove these cars as a duo, now as a trio, an unparalleled, hectic energy prevails. The sound they make – especially the cars with ITB – is so buzzy and revved up so well it reminds me of the videos we used to watch of AE86s in Japan. These MX-5s are wild and loud things.“
The open sessions are where the three gentlemen really put on a show. The event invited a few teams and driving duos, but the Gripped Up MX-5s ruled the day and entertained the crowd like no other.
If you want to understand why people call ITBs trumpets, these cars are great case studies. Not only do they look like trumpets, but they also sound like a jazz band at their peak. Due to the lower power of the cars, endless clutch kicks are required to keep the wheels turning and momentum. In the s-turn in the middle of the track, Ben kicked the clutch six to ten times to keep up with the powerful cars. This is the trumpeter performing his solo!
There’s actually something musical about these three MX-5s, and mastering that sense adds a layer to the experience that you just don’t get from other cars that just make noise. Ben admits that as much fun as the 1.6L is, after the event he installed a 1.8L VVT lump in the MX-5 to match the other boys and is currently looking into ITBs to level the playing field.
What I haven’t covered is the reliability and affordability of these cars, and I’ve done that on purpose. If you talk about MX-5s to anyone, they’ll tell you thatyou have to get this because it’s affordable” playing cards the way, which for most people, myself included, is the ace in the deck. Currency is an important consideration when considering my personal choice of car, and the MX-5 is second to none.
However, I don’t think my experience with the Gripped Up boys around Driftland should be rated any less than some of the top selling cars. These MX-5s were more enjoyable, more intense and ultimately more fun than some Nissan S-chassis, BMW M cars or even Toyota JZXs. Each car has its own time and place to win a match Best Trumps, but the MX-5s put the biggest grin on my face that day.
And in the real world, on UK streets, the MX-5 will be the most approachable, and I’m thinking: Am I paying five times less for this MX-5 experience because it’s five times less than a more powerful, more sought-after car? Not at all.
Chatting to the Gripped Up guys really opened my eyes to the accessibility of drifting in the UK. Going back from higher performance cars to what they first fell in love with in the MX-5s shows that a cleaner experience is their top priority. Ben gave me the gift of their reliability experience and it seems to me that you can do as much or as little as you want with these cars.
All of their cars have cut steering knuckles, lighter flywheels (definitely help their musical sound), paddle clutches, adjustable levers, and 6-speed transmissions from the NB MX-5. Ben says the 6-speed really transforms the NA MX-5. Ben’s car has a 4.3 ratio welded differential to make up for some of the missing power, while Connor and Dan have welded 4.1 differentials. Ben HSDs and 13″ wheels, Dan Meisters and 14″ wheels, Connor BCs and 15″ wheels.
Ben treats his car like a “nail” and he never does anything except change the oil, while Dané goes through oil consumption problems, even though his car is the most comfortable and nice to drive of the bunch. Connor tinkers with his bike every day, and his ownership experience is somewhere between the two.
So, did Ben’s idea to create a team work? Totally. Gripped Up left Dorifest with the ‘Tandem Kings’ award, and rightly so. But I don’t think that was the team’s ultimate goal. I asked Ben what he thought of Gripped Up and MX-5s and he replied:The “end of it all” is that we’re just some MX-5 mates. The goal is to drive as much as possible and have fun. MX-5s allow us to do that, and we have no plans to change that.“
Michał Fidowicz
Instagram: candy showroom
