Mazda Straightline Archives

As usual the U.S. market is a few steps behind when it comes to Mazda. This refreshed version of the Mazda6 is headed for a debut at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show in March. The Japanese get to sample it even earlier as it's just gone on sale in Japan as the Atenza.

Other than a few minor styling updates, the biggest news emerging from this update is the installation of Mazda's new "Sky G"  a new four-cylinder engine which delivers both improved mileage and lower emissions. No word yet when the U.S. will get in on the action, but it shouldn't be long.

UPDATE: Mazda officials confirmed that the new DISI 2.0-liter engine is not part of the Sky-G engine family.

Categories: Future Vehicles,Geneva Motor Show,Mazda,Sedans,Wagons

Big congratulations to Team Eyesore for its win at the 24 Hours of LeMons in Phoenix this past weekend. They dominated the race, and the costume contest, with their ghetto-charged Alice in Wonderland Miata, a car which has now finished in the top five in each of its five races.

Team Eyesore also made history as the first two-time winner in 24 Hours of LeMons race series.

Inside Line Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh took the wheel for first stint on Sunday while our very own Copy Chief Caroline Pardilla was once again part of the pit crew.

MotoiQ: How the Miata Was Built

Categories: Mazda,Motorsports

The next-generation Mazda5 was unveiled on the internet today prior to its auto show debut in Geneva in March. As you can see, the configuration of Mazda's small van hasn't changed much, but it's styling now incorporates some of the "Nagare flow" language from Mazda's various concepts.

It's still a 7-seater and has sliding doors on both sides. The European version will feature a direct-injected 2.0-liter four-cylinder and a 1.8-liter base engine, both available with a six-speed manual. Expect to see the 2.0-liter in U.S. version with both manual and automatic transmissions.

Categories: Geneva Motor Show,Mazda,Minivans

Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.

It's rare that we get a Mazda 3 that doesn't have the bigger of the two four-cylinder engines the company offers in its compact sedan. And make no mistake, we like the 2010 Mazda 3 a great deal with the company's 167-horsepower, 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine. We voted to give this car one of our 2010 Editors' Most Wanted Awards.

But the Mazda 3 is pricey for a compact. Realistically, if you want to buy one near the $20K mark, it's going to be an i model with the 148-hp 2.0-liter engine. Recently, a Mazda 3 i Touring showed up here with the optional five-speed automatic transmission (a five-speed manual gearbox is standard).

We took it to the track. And the word of the day is tires.

Continue reading IL Track Tested: 2010 Mazda 3 i Touring.

Categories: IL Track Tested,Mazda,Sedans

No, it's not because it's ineffective or too expensive. In fact, it doesn't really cost all that much and it does help improve overall economy. The problem is the EPA test cycle.

At least that's what Mazda's product development chief Robert Davis told Automotive News. He said that because the EPA test cycle doesn't reveal any benefits of shutting down the engine when a vehicle stops, the technology doesn't improve official window sticker numbers. And if the numbers aren't there why bother having it?

We would like to think that consumers would be smart enough to know the difference, but we know Mr. Davis is right. If it's not there on the window sticker, most buyers will assume there's no improvement no matter what explanation you give them.

Automotive News

Categories: Green Tech,Mazda

Despite the tough economy, the Mazda RX-7 revival is still going to happen. Sources close to Mazda tell us that we could see a new RX-7 as early as 2011. However, the arrival of the 2012 Mazda RX-7 of the RX-7 will almost certainly signal the end for the expensive, slow-selling Mazda RX-8.

As we reported early this year, the next RX-7 will use Mazda's new-generation Renesis 16X rotary engine which debuted at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show in the Taiki concept. This 1,600cc, two-rotor Wankel engine has a 800cc x 2 configuration versus the 654cc x 2 configuration in the current RX-8.

The upshot of the extra displacement should be better performance, as the 16X is said to be capable of up to 350 horsepower and 215 pound-feet of torque versus the RX8's paltry 232 hp and 159 lb-ft.

Early reports suggested that Mazda would take advantage of this power potential and build a 300-hp RX-8 with styling cues from the Furai concept (shown at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show)and a mid-$30Ks price tag.

However, sources close to Mazda now suggest that the company will take a simpler approach and create a car whose character evokes the original RX-7 (sold in the U.S. from 1979-1985). Horsepower is expected to be in the 200-250 range and the pricetag will be about $25,000.

A simpler, more efficient RX-7 would likely be a better fit with current economic and legislative realities, though we hear Mazda is still trying to reduce the weight of the 16X engine while lowering fuel consumption (the age-old problem with rotaries). If the company can sort it all out, the 2012 RX-7 should provide interesting competition for the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and the production version of the Toyota FT-86. -- Mak Tokuyama, reporting from Japan 

Categories: Coupes,Mazda,Sports Cars

When Mazda introduced its new Sky-G family of direct-injected four-cylinder gasoline engines at this year's Tokyo Auto Show, the company also announced its intention to slash curb weights across its entire vehicle lineup to keep performance up while reducing fuel consumption. And we hear the next-generation MX-5 Miata roadster will be one of the first to get the fat cut out of it.

Expected to debut in 2011, the future MX-5 roadster is likely to be smaller than the current model, and should tip the scales at a lean 2,200 pounds -- versus almost 2,500 pounds today. Although wild and impractical, the windshield-less MX-5 Superlight concept (shown above) from Frankfurt suggested Mazda has been thinking about reducing weight in the MX-5, which has grown from a simple, lightweight roadster into a softer, pudgier convertible over the years.

Sources close to the project suggest the next-gen MX-5 will use a version of the Sky-G engine with either 1.3 or 1.5 liters of displacement. Look for a horsepower rating near 150, as Mazda aims to maintain the current, 167-hp Miata's power-to-weight ratio.

Whatever size engine Mazda chooses, a significant improvement in fuel economy is expected. The 1.3-liter Sky-G is said to be capable of returning over 50 mpg in a car of this size. Inside Line has heard that Toyota has already been making inquiries about the Sky-G engines. -- Mak Tokuyama

IL News: 2011 Mazda MX-5 To Get SKY-G Engine

20 Years of MX-5: Then and Now

Categories: Future Vehicles,Mazda,Sports Cars

There were a bunch of us swarming around the 2011 Mazda 2 after the curtain had dropped down around it just moments before at its reveal during the Los Angeles auto show during press day. Mazda's new entry into a B-car segment pool already crowded with Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa was making its much-anticipated debut and I was among 22 people hand-selected by Mazda to check it out.

We moved awkwardly around the car unsteadily holding aloft our new freebie FlipVideo cams provided by Mazda and trying to capture the stationary car on its stand. "It's so cute!" "I like the wheels!" "Looks very fun to drive" -- we each spoke into the camera microphones trying to document this moment per the carmaker's request.

You see, I was invited by Mazda to come check out the reveal of the Mazda 2 not as an automotive blogger but as an everyday schmo. They had initially reached out to me because of my L.A.-centric lifestyle blog which does not have nearly the amount of traffic that Straightline does let alone have anything to do with cars. But they wanted me to take part in their new Mazda 22 Program, which is made up of 22 "influential bloggers" who would serve as a "blog advisory group" and help introduce the Mazda 2 to the North American market. We didn't need to be knowledgeable about cars or even interested in them. Mazda was just looking for bloggers of all different genres who would participate and share their opinions with their readers.

Continue reading Mazda Reaches Out to Bloggers for the Mazda 2.

Categories: Auto Shows,LA Auto Show,Mazda

According to Takashi Yamanouchi, President and CEO, Mazda Motor Corporation, the on-sale date of the Mazda 2 hatchback has been moved up in anticipation of strong demand.

He wouldn't be any more specific, so it could be a week or maybe a couple of months earlier than the original July 2010 launch. 

Either way, it's a sign that Mazda feels pretty confident about the emergence of the ultra-compact hatchback market. Or maybe, like us, Mazda is sick of hearing all about the Ford Fiesta. 

Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor, Inside Line

Categories: Future Vehicles,Hatchbacks,LA Auto Show,Mazda

There we were, confronting what appeared to be a can of concentrated Zoom-Zoom some 30 feet high while the music played. Then the kabuki curtains dropped to reveal the 2011 Mazda 2. Afterward Mazda handed around cans of energy drink scaled down for human consumption that contained the real stuff in the same shade of metallic green as the Mazda 2 showcar. We later allowed as how the car had been finished in the same color as the patent leather shoes that ex-Mazda designer Franz von Holzhausen (now at Tesla) used to wear.

Jim O'Sullivan, president and CEO of Mazda North America Operation, later told us that the unveiling went pretty smoothly, much better than the time the showcar took a ladder through the rear glass the night before the public presentation and he could hear the air compressor for the paint sprayer as the car was being finished behind the curtain even as he gave his speech to the assembled media.

More important, O'Sullivan says that the future in North America for B-size subcompacts like the Mazda 2 looks very bright. "As soon as the economy recovers," he says, "the price of gasoline will rise and there will be more room for small, affordable and fuel-efficient cars like the Mazda 2. You'll see the market for these cars expand significantly, and we think that delivering our core Mazda attributes like style, fun-to-drive and a good level of standard equipment will set us apart." He also notes, "You'll see the U.S. market getting a lot more like Europe."

Continue reading 2011 Mazda 2: Concentrated Zoom-Zoom.

Categories: All Auto Shows,Hatchbacks,LA Auto Show,Manufacturers,Mazda

Today Inside Line published the 2010 edition of our annual Editors' Most Wanted Awards. Unlike many of the other automotive awards bestowed on the latest models, ours are based solely on the cars we want to drive.

The voting process is simple: 11 editors in one room, no ad executives allowed. After two hours, we have our winners. If we wanted, all the awards could go to supercars. Of course, that's not exactly how we'd like it to come out, either, so in an effort to keep it real, we attempt to choose a vehicle for each of the following needs: speed, luxury, hauling, commuting and family.

Check the results and tell us what you think.

2010 Edmunds' Inside Line Editors' Most Wanted Awards

Categories: Audi,Auto Industry,Ford,Mazda,Porsche

The second-generation Mazda 3 earned 5 stars in the National Highway Traffic Administration's (NHTSA) frontal-impact crash test, and this week, it achieved the same result in European NCAP testing.

And because we never can seem to get our fill of cars getting smashed, we bring you additional clips of the Mazda 3 participating in NHTSA's new pole side-impact test, plus the regular side-impact test, plus the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) side-impact test.

Continue reading Crash Test Videos: 2010 Mazda 3.

Categories: Hatchbacks,Mazda,Sedans

If you own and love a sport compact, Ed and Ron Bergenholtz are names you should know.

Starting in the late 1990s, Bergenholtz Racing ran this Honda CRX in drag-race competition. It was no weakling, as its turbocharged B18 motor produced a ridiculous amount of horsepower. This car, driven by Ed and prepared by Ron, legitimized front-wheel-drive cars in drag racing. It was the first front-driver to run a sub-10-second quarter-mile (9.76 at 147.1 mph at Palmdale, CA, in 1999), a feat it accomplished with the help of what were then quite innovative wheelie bars fashioned by Ron -- they kept the Honda's front wheels from lifting off the ground on its way out of the hole.

Eventually, the CRX was retired, and Ed and Ron went onto drag-race a first-generation Mazda 6 (with factory support from Mazda) in 2003. It used Mazda's 2.3-liter engine, destroked to 2.1 liters and turbocharged to the tune of about 600 horsepower. This car was good for quarter-miles in the 8s.

These days, the Bergenholtz brothers have moved onto drifting, using this RX-8.

They've added a significant chapter to drag-racing history, though, and last week they were inducted into the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Museum's Hall of Fame in Pomona, California, and their famous CRX is currently on exhibit there.

You can read more about the Ed, Ron and the Honda at either of the links below. And there's a 17-minute clip of racing footage and home movies involving the CRX and the Mazda 6 drag car after the jump.

Urban Racer, Motor Mavens

Continue reading Honda CRX Drag Racers Inducted Into NHRA Motorsports Museum's Hall of Fame.

Categories: Honda,Mazda,Motorsports

Curious whether the new 2010 Honda Accord has an optional neck massager? How about the tow rating on the Ford F-150? And what about those European cars, they're always adding some new totally nonessential technological "feature."

Now there's an easy way to find out. Our 2010 Buyer's Guide lists every model change from every manufacturer. From colors to options to full redesigns, it's all there.

2010 Buyer's Guide 

Categories: Acura,Aston Martin,Audi,BMW,Bentley,Bugatti,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Dodge,Ferrari,Fiat,Ford,GMC,General Motors,HUMMER,Honda,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jaguar,Jeep,Kia,Lamborghini,Land Rover,Lexus,Lincoln,Lotus,MINI,Maserati,Maybach,Mazda,Mercedes-Benz,Mercury,Mitsubishi,Nissan,Pontiac,Porsche,Rolls-Royce,SMART,Saab,Saturn,Scion,Subaru,Suzuki,Tesla Motors,Toyota,Volkswagen,Volvo

It's now official, the 2011 Mazda 2 will arrive in the U.S. late next year. Call it Mazda's Fiesta fighter, a Mini fighter or whatever kind of small, warrior-like reference you want, but it should be a nice little hatchback.

Although the car shown above is an European version, we don't expect to see many changes to the U.S. model. Got to keep those small cars profitable you know. Look for the official unveil at the 2009 L.A. Auto Show on Dec. 2nd.

Categories: Future Vehicles,Hatchbacks,LA Auto Show,Mazda