1990 Mazda Rx-7 Convertible Convertible 2-door 1.3l on 2040-cars

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Bighearted enthusiast rescues stranger's Mazda RX-7 from floods

With Tropical Storm Cristobal charting a path for the Gulf Coast, a Biloxi, Mississippi, local named Khuong Nguyen wanted to get his FD-series Mazda RX-7 out of the storm — the coupe had some bad seals that would let in rain. He parked the orange and black coupe in the bottom story of a parking garage at the city's Golden Nugget Casino, which kept the rain from getting in. But Cristobal came on stronger than expected, creating a new threat of water from below when the parking garage began to flood. Austin Owens, a Gulfport resident about 10 miles from Biloxi, saw photos of the RX-7 with water up to its rockers on a local Cars and Coffee page. As he would later tell Jalopnik, the RX-7 being one of Owens' dream cars, he decided he needed to rescue it. Just to make sure we're all on the same page, a young man braved a tropical storm in his own vehicle to save a stranger's RX-7 in another city. Owens dragooned a friend and hopped in a Ford Bronco, dodging closed roads and fording three or four feet of water on open roads. They drove to Home Depot to pick up cinder blocks, then headed to the Golden Nugget parking garage. As Owens and his friend arrived, they met Nguyen and a couple of his friends pulling Nguyen's second car, a Ferrari 360, out of the garage on a trailer. The RX-7 had already been set on wood blocks, thin bricks, and some orange wheel chocks, but the stilt job wasn't high enough in front; the water in parts of the garage was knee deep. Owens jacked up the RX-7 to get the cinder blocks under the front wheels; the rear end was fine, due to the slope of the garage floor. Success. As one of Nguyen's friends told Jalopnik, Owens' actions "did give us adequate time to combat the rising water." The success came at a cost, though, Owens reporting, "We actually killed the [BroncoÂ’s] transmission on the way out. We actually had to drive in second gear all the way home" due to floodwater seeping into the transmission. He has no regrets, explaining his derring-do with, “ItÂ’s a rare car ... I would hope somebody would do the same for me if I was in the situation with a car of that stature. I didnÂ’t have it in my heart to leave it there." With the story blowing up on Facebook, he told the legion of enthusiasts sending their respects, "Appreciate the love, but IÂ’d expect the same for one of my cars," followed by, "Alright, whoÂ’s down for some Forza?" Save for the original seal issue, the RX-7 came out of the storm with no issues.

Mazda, Suzuki, Yamaha — more vehicle data fabrication found in Japan

TOKYO — Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha improperly tested vehicles for fuel economy and emissions, the Japanese government said on Thursday, revealing fresh cases of compliance failures by manufacturers. The results came to light after the Japanese government had ordered the automakers to check their operations after revelations of improper testing at Subaru and Nissan last year. The conduct of automakers globally has come under intense scrutiny after Germany's Volkswagen AG admitted in 2015 to installing secret software in hundreds of thousands of U.S. diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests, and that as many as 11 million vehicles could have similar software installed worldwide. In the Japanese cases, the carmakers have not broken any laws or prompted massive recalls. But a growing list of improprieties has tarnished the image of the country's manufacturing industry for high-quality products and efficiency. Suzuki, Mazda and Yamaha cleared vehicles for emissions or fuel efficiency even in cases where they were tested under invalid conditions, the ministry said in a statement. The errors related to slight deviations in the speed of the vehicles during testing that should have invalidated the test results. The automakers examined tests they had conducted over different periods of time, and in Suzuki's case they stretched back to 2012. None of the automakers found significant problems with actual emissions and fuel economy performance of the vehicles, which were destined for sale in Japan, and do not plan any recalls. Suzuki, Japan's fourth-largest automaker, said that of 12,819 sample vehicles tested for fuel economy and emissions since June 2012, around 50 percent of them had been inspected improperly. "I deeply apologize and will lead efforts to prevent recurrence," Suzuki Chief Executive Toshihiro Suzuki told a news conference. Mazda said there were irregularities in 4 percent of similar inspections on its cars, or just over 70 vehicles. In Yamaha's case, irregularities were found in 2 percent of inspections, or just a handful of vehicles. Both Mazda and Yamaha apologized. Suzuki and Yamaha shares fell 6 and 5 percent, respectively, and Mazda shares were down 1 percent, underperforming a steady benchmark Nikkei average. In July this year, Nissan admitted it had improperly measured exhaust emissions and fuel economy for 19 vehicle models sold in Japan.

Next-gen Mazda MX-5 Miata mule spied 'Ring testing

Fans of simple, lightweight motoring, rejoice - we now have images of the next-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata undergoing testing at der Nürburgring Nordschleife. Now, to be fair, this isn't some lightly camouflaged example that will give us a great peak of what the next Miata, which will also become the next Alfa Romeo Spider, will look like. This is a mule, with the new bits hidden under a current Miata's body. That doesn't mean there aren't a few scraps of valuable information here, though.
According to our flock of camera-toting spies at the Nürburgring, the next Miata is likely to grow a bit, as new models are wont to do. In particular, it will be longer and wider, and the wheelbase is likely going to be stretched, based on the shape of the wheel wells and doors. Both of those factors will add more space in the cabin.
Those are the big indications provided by these photos, but while the MX-5 might be growing, it's a safe bet based on these images that it, and the (likely pricier) Alfa, will retain the classic, long-hood, short-deck styling that so typifies rear-drive roadsters.