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Stock Miata beats bunch of high-powered cars in wet 1/4-mile drag race

When is a stock, 167-horsepower Mazda MX-5 Miata quicker than a Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Lamborghini Gallardo, Lotus Elise and a Porsche 911? When it's raining. Sort of.
Mazda Canada arranged a unique drag race to show off the fact that the Miata's optional power retractable folding hardtop can go from top-down to top-up in just 12 seconds flat. In this video, all six cars line up for a drag race, and it starts to rain (well, sort of - but you'll have to watch the video all the way to the end to see what we mean). The green flag is waved, and the timer starts as soon as the convertibles begin to put their tops up. But because the Miata's roof mechanism gets the car's roof back up a full 5.1 seconds quicker than the second-place car, the Mazda gets a serious advantage off the line for the actual drag race.
It's a fun video. And while we've spoiled the results (come on, the video was uploaded by Mazda, you knew the Miata was going to win), be sure to see how it all unfolds, below.

Lamborghini confirms Urus SUV will be its only plug-in hybrid

According to Autocar, we'll be seeing the first production hybrid Lamborghini soon. The publication reports that Lamborghini's research and development chief, Maurizio Reggiani, confirmed that the Urus SUV will be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. This would also makes sense considering former Lamborghini CEO Stephen Winkelmann's statement that if the company ever produced a hybrid, the Urus would be "the logical place for it to launch." Aside from this, Reggiani revealed nothing more about the gas-electric Urus. Reggiani did, however, provide some insight to Autocar into Lamborghini's powertrain decisions. He told the publication that the Urus's already confirmed twin-turbo V8 was chosen because of a need for torque in an SUV. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see what the company does with the hybrid since a big enough electric motor (or motors) could provide a remarkable amount of torque and, in turn, some impressive performance figures. Lamborghini has even shown this potential in the Asterion concept, which produced 910 horsepower from a 5.2-liter V10 and three electric motors. Of course we'd expect an Urus hybrid to be much less potent and probably connected to a version of the turbocharged V8. Reggiani also told Autocar that, just as the Urus has specific powertrain needs, the supercars do as well. He said that the company has no intention of adding turbocharging to any of its cars. On this subject, he told the publication, "A supercar is completely different; you need the responsiveness of the engine, to feel the spark of every cylinder." It will be interesting to see how long people like Reggiani can keep turbocharging and hybrid assistance out of the sports cars in the face of stricter emissions targets. He hints that future advancements in weight reduction and other areas may be key to that. It's certainly nice to hear that there are people at Lamborghini that still value the subjective aspects that make sports cars great. It's also news that's sure to put fans of Lamborghini's classic, naturally aspirated sports cars at ease. Related Video:

Autoblog's top 50 car photos of 2016

This one shouldn't need much explanation. We like cars a whole lot, and that includes not just driving them but taking great pictures of them. We've collected our 50 favorite images from this year in the mega-gallery above. It's a mix of old and new, with a healthy dose of vintage and modern race cars mixed in, and not one single shot under the harsh lights of an auto show. So click through and enjoy. Featured Gallery Autoblog's Top 50 Photos of 2016 View 50 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2016 Autoblog.com Audi BMW Chevrolet Dodge Ferrari Ford Lamborghini Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Porsche Rolls-Royce Volvo Convertible Coupe Motorcycle Luxury Racing Vehicles Performance Supercars Classics