1992 Mazda Miata Base Convertible 2-door 1.6l on 2040-cars

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Fiat 124 spied with top down

With fall officially here, the days are rapidly running out for much of the country to put the top down and enjoy a convertible. Fiat apparently wants to take advantage of the good weather while it lasts, given these fresh spy shots of the 124 Spider testing with the roof down. In terms of styling, these photos show the droptop with an extremely similar look to the ones from July. The roadster still appears to have rounded headlights and a wide grille up front, which the kidney-shaped cladding does nothing to hide. The hood bulge continues to be there, too, and so is the spiderweb-pattern camouflage. However, these new shots let us check out the roll hoops that are visible with the top out of the way, and we even get to see the manual roof in operation. Also, note there are now dual exhausts at the rear, rather than the quad tips from before. Underneath all this camo and cladding, we know that the 124 Spider shares underpinnings with the new Mazda MX-5 Miata. The engine remains a mystery, but competing rumors suggest the 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder from the current 500 Abarth or the 1.7-liter turbo four from the Alfa Romeo 4C. Thankfully, an answer might not be too far away because the roadster is mooted to debut this year, possibly at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. With the latest Miata receiving high praise from critics, the motoring world soon gets to find out whether Fiat can find any room for improvement. Related Video:

Mazda considers expanding Takata recall nationwide

Vehicle recalls have come in force recently. Honda expanded its front driver's side Takata airbag inflator recall nationwide to cover an estimated 5.4-million vehicles, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration added 19 notices to its database covering safety campaigns dating back to October. It looks like there could be one more to add to the list soon because Mazda is considering a possible nationwide expansion of its own inflator repairs. A company spokesperson tells Reuters that there is no decision yet when to actually make this nationwide expansion of the driver's side inflator recall official, and the company isn't sure how many vehicles may be affected. Mazda just expanded the scope of its Takata inflator recalls to additional regions earlier in December. The move took its total number of units in need of repair from around 65,000 under the earlier NHTSA estimate to 86,773, according to the company. So far, the automaker's US campaign has included the 2003-2007 Mazda6, 2006-2007 MazdaSpeed6, 2004-2008 Mazda RX-8, 2004-2005 MPV and 2004 B-Series pickup.

Mazda planning more powerful MX-5?

The new Mazda MX-5 will be available with a 1.5-liter four with 129 horsepower or 2.0-liter with 155. And while either engine may seem a tad on the small side for a sports car, they keep perfectly in line with what the Miata is all about. That doesn't mean, however, that more powerful options aren't under consideration. Speaking with Motoring.com.au at the launch of the new MX-5, Mazda's global PR chief Kudo Hidetoshi revealed that two options are under consideration. One would be a larger engine, and the other a turbocharged version of the existing 2.0. The former option would deliver the extra punch while keeping things naturally aspirated and free from turbo lag, but could throw off the weight balance Mazda has worked so hard to preserve. The more likely option, then, would be the turbocharged route that would allow the Zoom-Zoom brand to keep the roadster light and nimble, while still delivering an extra boost. Neither would be without its challenges, but if overcome, the resulting high-performance model could be sold as a Mazdaspeed model in some markets and as an MPS version in others. And, even if such a performance roadster were to get the go-ahead for production in some markets, there's no guarantee that it will be sold in the United States. Here's hoping. Related Video: