Beyond the drive
POSTED ON 12/10/2024

Each Mazda must pass a series of strict tests before going public, and it’s at the marque’s Hiroshima headquarters’ test track where Mazda’s engineers are masterminding the unforgettable drive.

There is one mission that motivates everyone at Mazda more than anything – to deliver the feeling of pure happiness by energising every driver once they get behind the wheel. Felt by drivers and passengers across the world, it has fuelled Mazda’s innovations for almost 100 years and, today, helps form a crucial part of the company’s process with new model development.

This unique philosophy is best personified in Mazda’s talented engineers who work tirelessly across all disciplines to provide an invigorating driving experience for every driver. Masayoshi Kanei is one such engineer, having joined Mazda’s development team 14 years ago, and who has been test-driving both work-in-progress prototypes and development vehicles close to production, including the Mazda CX-60 PHEV. Just don’t call him a test-driver.

Mazda engineer behind the wheel of a test Mazda vehicle
High Performance

“At Mazda, we don’t call ourselves test-drivers because we’re involved in every single step of development, from initial planning to signing off a production model ready for launch,” he explains. “Yes, we do get to test-drive a lot of cars that come through our department to cross-check data and evaluate their drivability, quality, and roadworthiness. However, another essential metric is what we call within Mazda the ‘performance feel,’ which focuses on human perception to acceleration and car movement.”

“I’m in charge of powertrains,” he continues. “We collaborate with other engineers to discuss details like engine settings, acceleration, and power output.” Even when the car only exists on the drawing board, these processes are still used to determine the feasibility of the design.

Once out on the proving ground, Kanei uses all his senses to evaluate the vehicle’s performance. “When accelerating, for instance, you need to be able to measure and assess even the slightest change in things such as G-force and jerk through your body,” he says. “These factors massively affect your experience in the car as the driver.” Jerk is a vector that changes in acceleration over time and Mazda considers it as one of the key parameters to further pursue its human-centric innovations.

Front three quarter view of a camouflaged Mazda SUV driving on a test track
“The performance feel focuses on human perception.”

MASAYOSHI KANEI, ENGINEER

However, Kanei also admits that while human senses are crucial, they are not perfect. “We feed back our own assessments to the [powertrain] designer and combine that with the numerical data, in order to configure a better powertrain that can operate exactly as the driver intends.”

The Best of Both Worlds

This process played a particularly significant part when Kanei was working on the CX-60 with its e-Skyactiv PHEV powertrain. “A PHEV is a vehicle that benefits from the best parts of both an internal combustion engine (ICE) car and an EV,” says Kanei. When the PHEV’s battery charge is high, it drives on electric power, saving the fuel. Should you want to speed up on a faster road, then the car chooses to use the internal combustion to amass enough power to generate the speed required.

Looking through the windscreen of a Mazda engineer behind the wheel of a Mazda at the test track

“But sometimes, you feel the car is not accelerating as fast as you want,” says Kanei. “Or, contrarily, you feel the jump to the ICE takes place too fast. That’s one common issue for PHEVs.” This switch from electric power to the ICE can be tricky to fine-tune, he says, but remains a vital task. After all, he queries, “wouldn’t you be scared if the car didn’t react the way you want?”

The CX-60 PHEV brought with it new challenges, but Kanei and his team were happy to solve them by working on the PHEV powertrain system. “It wasn’t straightforward to achieve the kind of drivability we seek in a Mazda, but we got there in the end,” Kanei says with a smile. In short, the car was masterminded to drive the way that you want.

Mazda on a hoist in a workshop with a mechanic working underneath the car
Engineer with a laptop standing next to a Mazda car in a workshop

That said, there’s no denying that test-driving forms a crucial part of the development process, and Kanei admits he gets to do a lot of it – from Mazda’s top-secret proving grounds across Japan to Germany’s world-famous autobahn. “As we’re involved right from the beginning, we set our own parameters and targets for the powertrain to ensure each car delivers the pleasure of driving,” he says. “Whether a PHEV or not, during the test-drive, we need to make sure that those parameters and targets are achieved without fail. The margin for an error in assessment at driving tests is very narrow.”

Ready for Anything

The pressure’s on for Kanei and his fellow engineers, but they’re more than qualified for the task. Having worked on models including the Mazda CX-30 and the latest CX-60, Kanei explains that Mazda employs a system to ensure its engineers are well-equipped for any task.

To get to this point, a regimented system is deployed to help Kanei and his colleagues acquire the skills they need to evaluate fairly, steadily, and, most importantly, safely. It starts with a rank for newcomers – suitable for exploring Mazda’s impressive Hiroshima headquarters – and ascends to the higher qualifications, which permit dedicated drivers, as Kanei explains, to hit “maximum speeds permitted when test-driving.” As befits Mazda’s driver-first mentality, the most important factor here is identifying what will suit the end user.

Front view of a camouflaged Mazda CX-60 SUV driving on a test track
“Continual improvement is the only way forward.”

MASAYOSHI KANEI, ENGINEER

These differences in capabilities from the novice rank upwards can be significant. “When test-driving, you need to assess the car’s performance accurately, regardless of the conditions,” Kanei continues. “If you can’t do that, your evaluations won’t be seen as legitimate or trustworthy by the development team.”

Drivability at various speeds is a key measure of a car’s performance. With Kanei able to test various models at nerve-racking high speeds, on everything from dry straights to wet corners, it proves why Mazda has this stringent licence scheme in place: to ensure each car always delivers the pleasure of driving, even when pushing the needle, and to keep these talented employees safe in the line of duty.

Looking to the Future

Before receiving his calling to work at Mazda, Kanei had already learned the ropes of high-performance engine development at university. Asked which model he enjoyed test-driving the most so far, he says without a pause, “It’s always the latest model that I’ve worked on. With today’s technology rapidly advancing all the time, there is always a new challenge to tackle, and you always need to up your game as an engineer to meet that, which is very exciting for me.”

“I’m sure the next one we will work on would pose another brand-new challenge, but we’ll welcome that challenge because, as far as our job is concerned, there is no end to it,” he says. “Continual improvement is the only way forward.”

Words Shogo Hagiwara / Photography Eric Micotto


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