1990 Mazda Miata on 2040-cars

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Evo pits Toyota GT86 vs. Mazda MX-5 Miata

The latest Deadly Rivals episode from Evo gets the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota GT86 (our Scion FR-S) on track for a shakedown and a whole lot of drifting with Dan Prosser behind the wheel. The UK-spec coupes have slightly different power ratings than ours, but it's all close enough to be comparable. Their Miata has 158 horsepower (ours has 155), 148 pound-feet of torque, takes 7.3 seconds to run from naught to 60 62, and costs 22,695 pounds. The GT86, on the other hand, lists a 7.6-second dash to 60 62, and a base price of 25,000 pounds. The GT86 also weighs 400 pounds more than the Mazda. That's true in the States, too – curb weight for our MX-5 is 2,332 pounds, whereas the Scion FR-S comes in at 2,758 pounds. Both cars lauded for excellent shifting, but one of them has a better front end, a sweeter engine note, more controllable cornering behavior, and is faster by a tenth of a second around the test track. And Prosser doesn't mention it, but one has a lot more body roll. But it takes more than all that to make a winner, so check out the video above to see which is which. News Source: Evo via YouTube Mazda Scion Toyota Convertible Coupe Performance Videos toyota gt86 evo

Mazda officially hints MX-30 could get a rotary range-extender

Mazda recently penned a paean to itself celebrating 100 years in business. This, naturally, meant the document also served as a love letter to the rotary engine, since, "The joy of driving, lightweight design and the rotary engine [are] three elements that define Mazda’s DNA." One of those elements has been AWOL for eight years, since the end of RX-8 production. After years of rumor feverish enough to impress Slenderman, two years ago Mazda announced it was prepping a rotary range-extender engine for a model to debut in 2020. Here we are in the anticipated year, and we still don't know anything else about that vehicle — or perhaps we do. When Mazda debuted the MX-30 battery-electric crossover in Tokyo last year, it bore an e-SkyActive powertrain with a 35.5-kWh battery sending current to an e-motor on the front axle producing 141 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. With a range of around 130 miles on the European cycle, even though the crossover was meant for markets like Europe and Japan, almost everyone chimed, "This would be perfect for that range-extender engine." The automaker has hinted at that very thing for its centenary celebration. In a paragraph touching on alt-fuel RX-7 variants, the Mazda press department wrote, "Later, the company developed a prototype Mazda2 EV with a small single-rotor engine used as a range extender. A similar system could find its way onto the Mazda MX-30, a brand new battery electric crossover SUV arriving at dealerships this year." The word "could" didn't make the leap from the printed page into the video translation of the presser, a Mazda video on "The Dream Engine" ending with footage of the MX-30 rolling under the caption, "Mazda MX-30 with rotary range extender." When asked, Mazda's head of R&D in Europe explained the battery size and resultant range with wheel-to-well considerations that factored energy input and emissions output from making the battery to exchanging the battery after 100,000 miles of driving. Since the carmaker doesn't deem the pure-electric MX-30 suited to the U.S., the question bubbling beneath the latest news is whether this revised model with more range could make it here. Given a suitably sized fuel tank that could power the little people mover beyond 150 miles on U.S. roads, and a fair price, we suspect there'd be a great deal of interest. Now, Mazda, about that rotary-powered RX-7 ... Related Video:    

Farmer moves illegally parked car with tractor

Bad parking in London can get you a ticket or the boot, but bad parking in the West Country is treated in a more direct manner. One motorist learned this fact in early May when a video published by The Daily Mail showing a farmer moving a car with his tractor went viral. Lianne Dunn and Ally Boxall were out for a drive near Marksbury when they came upon a strange sight. Coming at them down the narrow country lane was a tractor with a red Mazda6 perched on its front-end loader attachment. One of the women pulled out her cell phone and filmed the odd scene while the other backed into a convenient driveway to let the tractor past. As the tractor trundled by with its load, they asked the young man guiding the driver what was going on. "They parked in this chap's drive," he said in his broad, West Country burr. "He asked us to move the car, nobody claimed it." When asked where the pair were taking the car, the unnamed farmer replied, "We're going to put it up on the main road. It's the police's problem then." The two women, obviously entertained by the spectacle, exchange a few more words with the young farmer before they finally drive off. "This is the best!" one of the women says as on the video. "Never piss a farmer off!" News Source: The Daily Mail, The Western Gazette Humor Weird Car News Mazda Nissan Driving Diesel Vehicles Sedan parking tractor farmer