A BELL RINGER; MazdaSpeed's second product makes even the Miata more fun.(News)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

Best conditions for try- ing out your new MazdaSpeed Miata? How about rain-dampened pavement, plenty of potholes, a narrow two-lane mountain road in the Malibu hills, oncoming monster SUV traffic with high-beams on full blast driven by inattentive actors and TV producers juggling cell phones? Oh, and it is pitch-black nighttime so if you do go over the edge they won't find you until next fire season. But by then you will have done your part in keeping some vultures fed.

Luckily, we weren't driving that particular stint. Townsend Bell, the Indy Lights, CART and F3000 racer angling for an F1 ride, was our pilot. Bell had returned from a Euro test session in Jaguar's F1 car and was resting and plotting his ascent of the Grand Prix ranks from the harsh confines of his father-in-law's stately seaside Malibu mansion. Bell was happy to give the MazdaSpeed a whirl.

"We're about the same size,'' he said, buckling up the seatbelt. The car was parked in the huge brick courtyard between the main house and the garage. The bricks were wet with rainwater. "Does this thing have traction control?'' he asked, starting the car.

Before we could say it had a Bosch torque-sensing limited-slip differential, he had the back end sliding around from launch in a nice, smooth arc.

"No, I guess not.''

That's how race car drivers do these things, like you or I might scribble with a ballpoint pen to see if it has ink. In addition to the LSD, the car has 17-inch Racing Hart wheels with 205/40 Toyo Proxes tires to keep it in line.