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Reminder: Come hang out with Autoblog and the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata on Tuesday, May 19

Do you love chilidogs, French fries, meeting new friends, and the world's most popular convertible? Do you live in Southeast Michigan? Do you like lists of questions? If you answered "yes" to any but the last of those, we'd like to invite you to a little get-together we're hosting next week. Driving impressions are still under embargo for the US-spec 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata, but somehow we've conned convinced company PR reps to show the car to you, Joe Public Autoblog Reader. We're enthused about telling you more about the ND Miata, but before we do we'd love to share a Coke and talk about cars. Here's the skinny. A group of Autobloggers will be hanging out at the Athens Coney Island, in Royal Oak, MI, next Tuesday, May 19. We'll have the car on display from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, and we'd love to see you. If you're a Miata owner, we'd also love to for you to bring your car along for the party. The more convertibles the better (just be prepared to have your picture taken). Go ahead and set your navi for Athens – 32657 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48073 ­– and we'll look forward to seeing you Tuesday. Mazda Geeks unite. Related Video:

More head-up displays are coming to a dashboard near you

With the exception of Apple products — $1,000 for a freakin' smartphone? — one great thing about tech is you typically get more for your money with each passing year. This is particularly true with automotive tech: Features like driver assists and surround-view cameras that were once exclusively available in luxury vehicles now come standard even on some economy cars. The same thing is slowly happening with head-up displays (HUD). For example, the 10-inch HUD in the 2018 Toyota Camry is one of the largest and best HUDs I've seen in any car. And a big improvement on the much smaller HUD in the latest Toyota Prius. Mazda is another mainstream brand that offers HUDs in several of its vehicles. But instead of embedding expensive components in the dash and using a special windshield, the HUDs in the Mazda3 and Mazda6 use a thin plastic lens that folds down when not in use. MINI has a similar solution, but this low-cost approach has limits in terms of size and position of the images compared to traditional HUDs that use the windshield as a screen. We're also starting to see similar lens-based aftermarket options that can be added to any car. Last year I tested a portable HUD called Navdy that taps into a car's OBD-II port to provide info on speed and RPM and uses built-in GPS and Google Maps to show the surrounding area, display speed limits and route you to your destination. Navdy also connects to an Android or iOS smartphone via Bluetooth to display data from phone calls, texts and music playing on a connected device, and it's simple to use and easily visible in almost any lighting condition. While Navdy is still available online, late last year the company ran into financial difficulties, and product support has been halted. I recently tested a new portable HUD called Hudly that's not quite fully baked and falls short of Navdy because it doesn't tap into an OBD-II port. Since a companion smartphone app for Hudly isn't scheduled to launch until next month, for now it only mirrors what's on a smartphone. So it can be used for nav and other apps, and its features are very limited. Between automakers adding HUDs in more reasonably priced cars and the aftermarket filling in the gaps for existing vehicle owners with add-ons, the technology is becoming more prevalent and affordable. And it's also getting better.

Fourth-gen Mazda MX-5 Miata could get turbo power later in life

While there's a lot to love about the new Mazda MX-5 Miata, its debut was met by a vocal group of enthusiasts who derided the fourth-generation roadster's reduction in power output. The new model only puts out 155 horsepower, down from 167 in the NC. A report from Australia, though, claims Mazda may yet address the less potent output of the ND. Things started earlier this year, as Motoring.com.au tells it, when Mazda's global PR boss, Kudo Hidetoshi, hinted that a turbocharged or Mazdaspeed model "will definitely" be considered. Then last month at Goodwood, the ND's program manager, Nobuhiro Yamamoto, said complainers were welcome to get their thrills elsewhere. Recognizing this contradiction among Mazda's brass, Motoring asked Yamamoto-san again about his statements, which he seemed to walk back. "It's not a conflict [between statements made by Yamamoto and Hidetoshi]," Yamamoto said, indicating that his statements were made in relation to the new MX-5's launch. "Kudo-san talked about this in terms of a 10-year lifespan, but when I was asked the question right after the launching of the ND, I said 'we have no plan to have a turbo at that point in time.' That is what I meant." Seeking an opening, Motoring pushed the Japanese engineer on the chances of a more potent MX-5, perhaps without a turbocharger. "If you could achieve what we want, to which is great response, very light and powerful with great performance feel with natural aspiration, then we don't need a turbo," Yamamoto said. "But if we want more power because we don't get satisfied with natural aspiration then we may think about the turbo." Related Video: