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Watch this 1,500-hp Mazda MX-5 smoke a race track

In December 2014 we watched New Zealand drifter "Mad Mike" Whiddett assemble his RADBUL, an NC-series Mazda MX-5 Miata with a four-rotor engine aided by twin Garrett turbochargers. The Dr. Frankensteins at engine builders Pulse Performance expected their creation to be good for 1,500 horsepower. This year we get to watch Whiddett run the monster around Highlands Motorsports Park in New Zealand, brewing up enough tire smoke to set of fire alarms in the International Space Station. When the car was finished in February Pulse Performance put it on the dyno, toning down the boost because "the tires easily smoked the rollers." The result on the day was 1,032 horsepower from the 2.6-liter engine. When Whiddett campaigned it at the Forth Worth, TX round of this year's Formula Drift Pro Championship, he said tiny adjustments have a huge effect on the way the car behaves so they were still trying to find the right balance a few months into the season because of the testing limit outside of competition. Unsurprisingly, he also said the car "is so damn fast that I'm actually having trouble slowing down." RADBUL is the third in Whiddett's line of Mazda drift specials, after the RX-8 BADBUL and the RX-7 MADBUL. Check out the video above for the ballet, and for more, check out the behind-the-scenes and the 360-degree POV videos.

Editors' Picks February 2021 | Ford F-150, Genesis GV80, Mazda CX-30 and more

If we’ve driven and reviewed it, thereÂ’s an Autoblog Rating for it. ItÂ’s been over two years since we launched a new rating system to help you evaluate cars at a glance. We tweaked and improved it along the way and quickly arrived at a consistent process for giving each and every car on sale today a fair score. Cars that are exemplary or stand out in their respective segments get EditorsÂ’ Pick status. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. Every car we rate gets a score from 1 to 10, making it easy for you to tell if itÂ’s a car worth pursuing and possibly purchasing. YouÂ’ll find the scores of previously-rated cars attached toward the top of our written reviews. For example, the Bronco SportÂ’s rating can be found here. The Acura TLXÂ’s rating is in this post, and the Nissan RogueÂ’s rating is right here. There are hundreds of examples to be found. The above examples make up the most natural ways to find the Autoblog rating when researching for your next car, but starting today, weÂ’re going to begin calling out each new set of Editors' Picks per month in their own breakout stories. This will put the newest and most recently refreshed cars on sale on a pedestal for you to see which ones are worth your while. WeÂ’ll typically rate anywhere between 5-10 new cars per month, so you can count on just a select few from those to make this list. Expect to see this recurring ratings post each month going forward, and read on for FebruaryÂ’s EditorsÂ’ Picks.   2021 Genesis GV80 2021 Genesis GV80 View 18 Photos Quick take: The stylish GV80 offers useful safety features, compelling design and sporty dynamics to push it near the top of the segment. Genesis takes risks with this aggressive crossover, and the result is a luxurious vehicle that is rewarding to drive. Score: 8.5 What it competes with: Lincoln Aviator, Volvo XC90, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, Acura MDX, Lexus RX Pros: Beautiful design, good road manners, awesome value Cons: Small third row and cargo space, less comfortable standard suspension  From the editors: Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore — “The GV80 is a hugely important vehicle for Genesis. It makes a style statement, has an elegant interior and is a compelling all-round execution. It looks like a Bentley, and I give Genesis props for taking some risks with the GV80 and largely pulling it all off.

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Mazda 929 S

In the late 1980s, Toyota, Nissan, and Honda were cleaning up in the American market with the Cressida, Maxima, and Legend, respectively. Mazda wanted some of those dollars, so the HC-series Mazda Luce was modified for the US market and sold here as the 929. It had rear-wheel drive, a powerful V6 engine, and lots of luxury features, but not many were sold. Here's a rare '90 that I spotted in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service yard. In 1990, the sporty 929S version got 190 horsepower from its DOHC 3.0-liter V6. Unfortunately for Mazda, American buyers associated the marque with sensible econoboxes and screaming rotary engines, not luxury machinery, at the time. For the 1990 model year, American-market cars were required to have either a driver's-side airbag or automatic seat belts. The 929 had the automatic belts, the less said about the better. The Luce-based 929 became the Sentia-based 929 for the 1992 model year. Meanwhile, the new luxury brands from Honda, Nissan, and Toyota were kicking the crap out of 929 sales; Mazda had planned to launch the Amati brand in the United States, but didn't have the resources to follow through. The last 929s were sold in the United States for the 1995 model year. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1990 Mazda 929 S View 16 Photos Auto News Mazda