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Mazda-Toyota partnership has us dreaming of a rotary hybrid

As you may have seen, Mazda and Toyota are going to be working a little more closely with each other. In their announcement, the two companies said they'd be building an American assembly plant together, and working on electric vehicle technology. But one of the companies' goals got our mental gears turning: It's listed as "Expand complementary products," and it's left very open-ended. The companies say they "will further explore the possibilities of other complementary products on a global level." These are in addition to Mazda providing the Mazda2 to Toyota as the Yaris iA, and Toyota providing Mazda a commercial van to sell in Japan. So what could these future complementary products be? We have a couple of ideas, one that's ludicrous but awesome (and, sadly, probably won't ever happen), and the other grounded in reality. Let's start with the fun one. What's the one thing Mazda fan has been wanting for years? A rotary sports car, of course! And while Mazda has repeatedly said that it has a small band of engineers plugging away at the spinning triangle problem, the odds of Mazda putting it into production have been slim. The inherent thirst of the rotary would make it tough to introduce when fuel economy regulations have been tightening. Plus, Mazda is a small company that needs to stretch every dollar, and having a one-off engine not based on anything else would be expensive. How could Mazda get around these obstacles? This is where the partnership with Toyota comes in, in our long-shot fantasy. Aside from having deep pockets, Toyota has a wealth of knowledge in the realm of hybrids. Thus, why not a rotary hybrid? Electrifying their oddball motor would fix two issues. One is obviously the fuel economy, since the gas engine wouldn't have to run all the time. The other is in providing torque. Rotaries infamously have little torque, especially down low, so adding an electric motor would allow this hypothetical rotary sports car to have a grunty low end, while still providing the Everest-high redline rotary fans like. The idea would be sweetened with the solid-state batteries that Toyota is developing, which could provide lots of electricity without weighing a ton. The rotary-electric mashup notion isn't totally alien to Mazda, either, since the company created an electric Mazda2 with a rotary engine for a range extender — albeit for different reasons. The company even filed a patent for the rotary range extender recently.

Honda sees sales up but profit sliding 16 percent in 2017-18

TOKYO - Honda forecasts a 16 percent fall in operating profit for the current financial year as the Japanese automaker sees higher auto sales being offset by a stronger yen and research-and-development costs. Japan's No. 3 automaker said it expects an operating profit of 705 billion yen ($6.34 billion) in the current FY2018, down from 840.7 billion yen posted in the fiscal year just ended, and lower than an average estimate of 850.8 billion yen from 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It sees a 14 percent slide in net profit to 530.0 billion yen this year, down from 616.5. Honda's projections are based on a forecast that the yen will average 105 yen to the U.S. dollar through next March, stronger than the 108 yen rate in the year just ended.BUT CAR SALES ARE UP At the same time, there's good news as Honda expects its global vehicle sales to edge up 1 percent to 5.08 million this year, bolstered by growth in Asian sales to 2.06 million units, beating out North America to become Honda's top market as more Chinese drivers flock to its cars. The company expects to sell 1.92 million vehicles in North America, 2.5 percent less than the year just ended as it struggles to sell sedans including the Accord, which have fallen out of fashion in the past few years. Honda has been ramping up production of SUVs to keep up with strong demand for larger models in the United States, although overall vehicle sales show signs of slowing following a boom cycle after the global financial crisis. Mazda is taking a similar strategy, announcing on Friday it would expand production of SUV crossover models at home, while equipping overseas plants to enable more flexible production of models according to market needs. Japan's No. 5 automaker forecast a 19 percent jump in operating profit for the current financial year as it expects higher sales volumes, particularly in North America, to help it recover from last year's profit slump.A CONSERVATIVE OUTLOOK Executive Vice President Seiji Kuraishi acknowledged that Honda's expected currency hit of 95 billion yen was based on a "conservative" yen forecast, adding that growing costs to create next-generation cars would also impact earnings. "Our costs are rising to develop new technologies which will be needed in the future, like automated driving functions and electric cars," he told reporters at a results briefing.

MotorWeek proves '90s were awesome with Supra, Stealth, RX-7, Corvette, 968, 300ZX comparo

Oh, the heady days of 1993, back when the Clinton Presidency was just getting underway, and it seemed like every hot new rock band was coming out of Seattle. Sports cars in the US had finally shaken off the shackles that slowed them during the '70s and '80s, and you could buy any number of legitimately quick vehicles again. MotorWeek recently went digging into its archives to find this six-model test from 1993 showing off some of the best semi-affordable performance coupes that money could buy at the time, and it's priceless.
Featuring the 1994 model year Toyota Supra in twin-turbo guise and MY 1993 versions of the Porsche 968, Nissan 300ZX TT, Mazda RX-7, Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo and Chevrolet Corvette LT-1, MotorWeek definitely covered all of the bases. One thing that might surprise younger readers is these cars' performance. The video only provides 0-60 acceleration times, but several of these vehicles would still be considered pretty potent today - over 20 years since going on sale. The Supra is especially impressive, hitting 60 miles per hour in just 5 seconds. Even today, that's nothing to sneeze at.
Given their performance potential and still-attractive looks, it's amazing that some of these coupes are old enough to drink now. The progress of interior design and safety equipment in the intervening years is pretty shocking, though. In most of these models, having two airbags is touted as a big deal. Scroll down to watch a Throwback Thursday blast from the past about some of the '90s best sports cars.