• When developing a new FR platform for the Mazda CX-60, Mazda’s starting point was the human body
• Body schema is the science of body motion, the foundation of sports science
• Biggest challenge with FR platform is maintaining Mazda’s signature Jinba Ittai driving position – zero offset between pedals, steering and driver’s seat

Mazda is very different from Toyota or Honda. It sells a lot less cars but rather than trying to close the gap in sales volume, Mazda is happy to stay where it is, taking pride in its artisanal character.

Mazda sees itself as an omakase chef operating out of Hiroshima, serving only a select few. It has no intention of building a chain of franchise restaurants, cooking something for everyone to meet every budget. Instead, Mazda wants to build cars only for people who care deeply about cars.

At the core of Mazda’s identity is its human-centric Jinba Ittai driving experience, which seeks to achieve one-ness between the car and the driver. The goal is not to shock and awe drivers with high power output, but to deliver a very smooth and natural driving experience, a car that even inexperienced or elderly drivers will feel confident driving.

The underlying science behind this is the study of body schema – the foundation of sports medicine, neuroscience, and even rehabilitation exercises.

In simple terms, body schema is the science of body motion and motion is of course, the goal of every car – to move us in ways our legs can’t.

One can’t talk about Jinba Ittai unless one understands the importance proper seating position when driving, and how the human body’s posture is supposed to be when placed in an ideal, stress-free zero gravity environment – crouched with a slight S-shape bend of the spine, arms stretched out with a slight bend at the elbows, knees bent up slightly – this is the natural resting position of astronauts in space.

To minimize fatigue when driving and to allow drivers control the car like it’s an extension of their limbs, this is the posture that Mazda needs to recreate.

The goal is to build a car that drivers can control so naturally, like it’s an extension of their arms and legs, a tool your body will no longer consciously control, moving it into the realm of the sub-conscious.

Think of it as chopsticks that you manipulate without thinking. Your mind’s focus is on the fine food, not the manipulation of the chopsticks.  

This is a very basic philosophy in building good cars but you will be surprised how so many car companies, including high-end ones, missed it by a mile.

Instead, these manufacturers get distracted by squeezing more power out of the engine and fitting increasingly big screens to wow drivers who don’t know any better.

Underneath a car’s floor pan and behind the cabin’s bulkhead lay many complex mechanical parts. Packaging all these parts while ensuring ease of assembly, maintenance, and passing crash safety regulations is an extremely difficult task.

To achieve all of the above and still maintain a good driving position, with zero offset between the pedals, steering rack, and driver’s seat – is a task too expensive / too difficult to get right, so most companies don’t bother.

The previous generation W205 Mercedes-Benz C-Class for example, has one of the worst driving position in any recent car. It's bad enough to give you a backache after a long distance drive but few drivers recognize the cause of the problem because brand, engine performance and hi-tech features tend to be the focus.

Thankfully, the current generation W206 generation C-Class has made a lot of improvement on its driving position. It's still not quite at Mazda's level, but it's acceptable.

When Mazda was developing a new longitudinal engine, rear- / all-wheel drive platform for their 3.3-litre turbo diesel straight-six engine Mazda CX-60, replicating the near-perfect driving position of the transverse engine, front-wheel drive Mazda 3, Mazda 6, and Mazda CX-5 proved to be a huge challenge.

Since the engine is now mounted north-south instead of east-west, the transmission housing will have to run through the middle of the car, forcing engineers to move the pedals and steering wheel further away from the centre. This would’ve resulted in a ‘crooked’ driving position, something that was unacceptable (and non-negotiable) for Mazda’s very high Jinba Ittai standards.

To find a solution, Mazda reviewed the CX-60’s mechanical layout from a top, bird’s eye view. Attempts to adjust the placements of the mechanical parts proved too complicated because it would’ve resulted in even more compromises further down the engine’s power transmission path.

There are many limitations to work around – ground clearance, cost, and weight. What’s optimal for powertrain engineers may not be optimal for chassis engineers.

To achieve the desired handling, Mazda’s chassis engineers require carefully calibrated parts that increases in rigidity along the powertrain’s path, as well as a parallel axis front-rear suspension architecture.

Handling is a word that is used very often by car enthusiasts, but few know what it means, often confusing it with grip or body roll.

In simple words, good handling means minimal lag between a driver’s steering input and the vehicle’s change in direction, as well as the vehicle’s ability to track a curved path with minimal steering correction, and (lack of) change in upper body movements of the vehicle’s occupants – a big delay in the latter versus steering input is the cause of motion sickness.

Building a good handling car is a bit of a black art. There’s a science behind it but it’s also a highly subjective art form, like seasoning a fine dining dish. No chef will measure the seasoning used, because how much / how little to season is highly dependent on many other factors.

To breakthrough the impasse, Mazda engineers mapped out the requirements of each component, and overlaid them on a diagram.

The engineers then took on the task of repositioning the drive shaft, which they say is akin to ‘threading a needle’ through the mechanical mess surrounding it, to secure more space for the pedals.

They had some success, but it wasn’t enough. As much as they tried, Mazda still couldn’t get enough space to align the pedals straight with the steering rack and driver’s seat.

Another solution is needed, one that crash safety engineers dread because it's a nightmare to achieve - they would need to move the driver’s seat further way from the cabin’s centre line. Instead of trying to force the steering rack or pedals to move closer to the centre, the driver’s seat will be moved further out – sounds simple enough?

Doing so makes side impact protection more difficult. As the driver is now sitting closer to the door, the car’s crash protection structure, side and curtain airbags need to be improved, which was what Mazda did.

The Mazda CX-60 has a 5-star Euro NCAP rating, with a maximum 16.00 score in side impact protection. Contributing to the perfect score is the inclusion of a centre airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger.

Mazda didn’t say how much manpower was spent in getting the seating position right, but it’s reasonable to think that it’s not a task that other manufacturers, including high-end German ones, are willing to do.

One reason many manufacturers can get away with this is because few drivers notice the problem. Many of us have gotten used to bad driving positions, just like how forcing ourselves to sit / walk in a correct posture makes us uncomfortable. Also, drivers are more wowed by snappy acceleration and an expensive badge on the steering wheel.

For example, even the Toyota GR Supra which rides on a BMW platform, has a terribly off-set seating position. The 6-speed manual version had mismatched pedal heights too.

To Toyota’s credit, their Toyota GR86, GR Yaris, and GR Corolla has near-perfect seating positions, which goes to prove that high-end German marques often shock and wow with performance figures and hi-tech features but often skip in getting the basics right.

To realize how poorly designed the controls of many cars are, you have to experience sitting behind the wheel of a Mazda MX-5.

Of course, the Mazda MX-5 is not for everyone, but you will be glad to know that Mazda takes great care in getting the basics of driving position right even when developing a tall SUV.

The Mazda CX-60 is now on sale in Europe, Japan, and Australia. Bermaz Motor have yet to confirm its launch in Malaysia, but the company has already hinted to its plan for a Toyota Harrier-rival for this year.

Depending on market, the CX-60 is offered with the following powertrains:

• 2.5-litre 4-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol plug-in hybrid (PHEV): 328 PS / 500 Nm
• 3.3-litre 6-cylinder turbocharged petrol mild hybrid (MHEV): 284 PS / 450 Nm
• 3.3-litre 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel mild hybrid (MHEV): 254 PS / 550 Nm

All variants are paired to an 8-speed multi-plate clutch automatic transmission. Similar to Mercedes-AMG cars’ MCT transmission, this automatic transmission doesn’t have a torque converter.