2003 Mazda Mx-5 Miata Ls 2dr Roadster on 2040-cars

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'Ringbanana' Miata is improbable 9-minute Nurburgring car

The combination of being inexpensive, capable, reliable, and friendly to all skill levels makes the Mazda Miata one of the world's most popular platforms for motorsports, but the roadsters aren't exactly rocketships. What would it take to lap a ratty, first-gen example around the Nurburgring Nordschleife in less than nine minutes? We're not exactly sure, but the Ringbanana team intends to discover the answer. The project is the type of thing that gets dreamed up after a few too many pilsners: buy the cheapest running Miata available and put as little money necessary into the roadster to make it capable around the 'Ring. As the Best-Motoring-inspired intro explains, the Mazda is largely stock other than some Fulda performance tires, possibly aftermarket springs, and a stripped interior. The video above shows the baseline test, and the convertible manages a 9:21.8 circuit, which doesn't seem too bad as a start. The video below goes into far more detail about the project's genesis and its goal. Plus, the two hosts are quite entertaining when replying to the comments from the original clip. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to following along on Facebook to see what it takes to get the Ringbanana below nine minutes. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Honda, Nissan and Mazda recalling 3 million vehicles for airbag inflators

Three million more vehicles can be added to the worldwide tally to be repaired for the faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata. Honda, Nissan, and Mazda have all issued recalls to replace the bad part, including about 1.2 million of them in North America. NHTSA has been investigating all three companies, plus Chrysler and Toyota, for potentially affected vehicles.
Honda is recalling roughly 1.02 million Civic, CR-V, Odyssey and Element models In North America, built between April 2000 and October 2002. Mazda needs to repair 14,794 units of the RX-8 and Mazda6, and Nissan has 228,000 vehicles in North America to be fixed.
Chrysler is also starting what it calls a "regional field action" to replace the inflators in the 2006 Dodge Charger, according to a company spokesperson. The company says that it has not yet found the problem in any of its vehicles, but it's being done "out of an abundance of caution." The final number of Chargers affected will be announced later this week.

2014 Mazda6 to start at $20,880*

We got our very first taste of the impressive 2014 Mazda6 back in October, and had more than a few good things to say about the midsizer. One piece of information that was conspicuous by its absence, however, was a sticker price.
Now, with zero pomp and circumstance (not even a press release as of this writing), Mazda has dropped what looks to be official pricing for the 6 on its consumer website.
$20,880 is the asking price for the base Mazda6 Sport with a manual transmission (plus $795 worth of destination charges, for a total of $21,675). Alaska residents will need to cough up $840 for destination. The loaded-up Mazda6 Grand Touring shown on the site will set you back a total of $30,290 (MSRP of $29,495), but it isn't clear if that's the starting price of the Grand Touring trim. Mazda is taking orders for the new 6 right now, and the cars will be available on January 2, 2013.