Test Drive: 2017 Mazda6 Touring

On the second leg of my recent business trip, I arrived late in the day and found myself waiting in line at the rental car counter as several passengers who seem to have never rented a car before inquired about every possible question for every possible scenario known to man. Nearly twenty minutes later, I finally sidle up to the counter and am handed the keys to a surprising selection, the Mazda6. Even though it took my 20 minutes before I was handed the keys, I was in the car and on the road in a matter of minutes. This is why I hate renting in places that do not have Emerald Aisle or its equivalent with other rental companies. Being able to pick my own car and drive away within minutes of exiting the plane is something you don't truly appreciate until you can't do it.

Drawing Board: Lightweight RWD sedan

Imagine this but with two more doors and a fixed roof...

We haven't done one of these in a while, so lets take this opportunity in this new year and pontificate about a car that currently does not exist on the market.

From 2007 until 2012, my wife and I were proud owners of a hand-me-down 1999 Mazda Miata. It was a special edition car made in limited quantities and packed with lots of performance goodies like the then new 6-speed manual transmission and a limited slip differential between the rear wheels. The car was an absolute hoot to drive thanks to a curb weight of just 2,350 pounds. Its raw and tossable nature always made me wonder why Mazda never attempted to translate the chassis into other vehicles to add to the line-up. Just imagine what a treat it would be to have a light weight compact four-door sedan that offered all of the fun of the Miata, but significantly more practicality.

So that got me thinking, what would such a car really look like?

Test Drive: 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata

When the Mazda Miata was first introduced back in 1989, it was a small, light weight roadster that was easy to toss around. What it lacked in horsepower, it easily made up in handling shenanigans. But just as with all cars these days, the Miata grew in size and weight with each successive generation. The first generation car weighed a svelte 2,070 lbs. By the time the third generation car rolled around in the mid 2000s, the car had ballooned to 2,542 lbs. With only 170 horsepower under the hood, the third generation Miata was probably the least "Miata" like to date.

Looking to put some of the light weight tossable fun back into the Miata's DNA, Mazda worked hard to slash weight from the new, fourth generation model. The result is an over 300 lbs. weight loss to the tune of 2,200 lbs. While not quite as light as the first generation Miata, this put its weight under even the second generation car. With a 500 lb. weight advantage over my own S2000, I went into this test drive expecting to have a ton of fun tossing the thing around. 

Events: 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show

Thanksgiving guarantees two things each year to us here at EWBG: eating way too much and a trip to the Los Angeles Auto Show. Over the last few years, the LA Auto Show has started to become one of the large auto shows that people actually pay attention to with manufacturers revealing new concept models and production ready cars in one of the largest automotive markets in the US. With each year, the number of new reveals increased along with the popularity of the test drives that manufacturers offer to attendees. With each successive year, more and more manufacturers set up tents and booths outside the LA Convention Center to allow show goers a chance to sample their latest wares. Let us take a look at some of the cars that we saw at the show this year, as well as some of the cars we test drove.

2014 Mazda Miata PRHT

In the automotive enthusiast world, there is a joke that "Miata is always the answer." It is one of those things that is usually spoken half jokingly and half seriously because the Miata is truly one of those gems of a car that is capable of so much and is one of the rawest driving experiences that we can get at an affordable price. As a former Miata owner, I have a serious love affair with how the little roadster drives. The NB generation 10th Anniversary Edition that was our only car for nearly a three year period was absolutely one of the funnest cars to own and I had many an adventure in that car because of how easy and fun it was to drive. Unfortunately, the confluence of a pricey repair and a pending relocation to a much snowier climate forced our hand and we ended up parting ways with the beloved roadster in the summer before we moved to Boston.

I continue to miss that car dearly so when someone rear-ended our Focus Electric and the car needed to be in the shop for a week, the other party's insurance company offered to pay for a rental car for the duration of the repair. While I was at the rental car office, examining their available stock, the presence of an NC generation Miata with the power retractable hard top (PRHT) was rather conspicuously catching my attention. A bit of prodding around at the other cars available and some shrewd negotiation later, I was seated in the Miata and dropping the top.

Editorial: These Auto Manufacturers Wants to Make It Illegal to Work On Your Car

Image courtesy of Eric Peters Autos

For most gear heads, one of the best parts about owning an automobile is the satisfaction you get from working on it with your own two hands. Whether it is doing something as simple as changing the oil, or something far more complicated like an engine swap, nothing beats the feeling you get once you have completed working on a project on your car. As cars get more and more advanced technologies though, working on them has proven increasingly difficult. More and more, cars are controlled by complex networks of computers, managing every aspect of the vehicle including how the engine performs. Even the level of sophistication continues to increase for even the most amateur of mechanics, it does not mean gear heads cannot learn to adapt and find ways to modify the car's computer.

Image courtesy of  Tricks Guide

Unfortunately, there is a group of auto manufacturers that do not want gear heads to be able to work on their own vehicles anymore, and to make tampering or modifying your vehicle a punishable offense. How do they plan to do this? Because cars are so computer dependent now, this group of manufacturers want to declare modern cars as "mobile computing devices." So these manufacturers want to basically call cars rolling computers, but how does that prevent us gear heads from working on our own cars? By using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA for short. Sounds insane, right? This group of manufacturers wants to declare modifying a car's computer software or anything that could have an effect on the car's computer a violation of the DMCA. I understand that there are safety issues involved in working on a car, but as the owner of the vehicle, should not that be owner's problem to worry about?

It gets worse though.

Test Drive: 2014 Mazda3 S 5-door Grand Touring

Mazda has been on a roll, lately (aside from the recall involving the spiders). The Mazda6 is a stunning piece of rolling art and is easily among the most attractive sedans available to the general public in the market today. The latest generation of SkyActiv engines and transmissions have been a huge hit among consumers and the automotive press, who have praised the mix of power, smoothness, and fuel economy. With the 25th anniversary of the Miata coming up, it seems that Mazda is on the verge of being a serious competitor, if not for consumer's wallets, at least for their hearts and minds.

As a former Miata owner, I have a particular place in my heart for the little automaker that could. The Mazdaspeed3 has made my shortlist a couple of times for its combination of oh-shit-that's-a-lot-of-torque-steer power, hoon friendly handling, and surprising practicality. Each time, it was vetoed for the atrocious fuel economy, but it made it to the final round every time. The regular Mazda3, however, has gotten to benefit from the halo of its wild sibling and my general impressions of it have always been that it is a solid driver's car, if not exactly top of class in terms of its interior accouterments. Still, it is a bread and butter car for Mazda, so this latest redesign really needed to do something to capture more wallet share from the competition. Will its sleek new looks and loads of widgets do the trick?

Editorial: What makes a car beautiful?

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So when it comes to cars, it is no surprise that different people find different design elements attractive while others may find those same design elements repulsive. And yet, there are some design elements universally considered to be attractive on their own, but once all of these elements are combined into a single vehicle, the end result may not be found attractive by any. Some of this is simply a matter of finding that balance point where too many design elements cause a vehicle to start to appear too busy while too few elements can make the vehicle feel too plain. But is there a formula out there that automakers can follow in order to find the right balance and create a vehicle that nearly all will find attractive? Is it even possible to create a vehicle that is universally seen through the same lens?

Let's dissect some of the recent trends in automotive design and see if we can determine what are desirable elements and how they factor into the overall sense of a vehicle's beauty.

Test Drive: 2013 Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring - Power Retractable Hard Top

MSRP: $29,450
Price as Tested: $30,245

Since its introduction in 1989, the Mazda MX-5, better known as the Miata in the United States, has taken on the stereotype of being the quintessential "hair dresser's" car. With it small body and cute looks, many people ignored the great driving qualities possessed by the Miata. This stereotype seemed to persist throughout both the first and second generations of the car. Mazda was able to partially shed this stereotype during the Miata's second generation with the introduction of the Mazdaspeed Miata, which came with a turbocharged engine, revised suspension, and aggressive aero parts. However, as the third generation Miata was introduced, the cuteness factor returned with the Miata's "smiling" front fascia. In 2008, Mazda gave the Miata a much needed refresh, which introduced a far more aggressive version of the "smiley face" front end.

Fast forward to 2013. The third generation Miata has been on sale for eight years now, with minor face lifts and equipment changes along the way. For 2013, changes include another front end revision (this one more aggressive than the last few revisions), Bilstein dampers, new 17 inch alloy wheels, a bit of weight loss, and a whole host of other changes. The Grand Touring model I drove also includes a revised and more powerful version of the 2.0 liter MZR inline-4 engine. All these changes are supposed to make this one of the best and most aggressive MX-5 Miatas to date, short of the second generation Mazdaspeed Miata.

Test Drives: Subcompact Showdown

Over the past few weeks, my fiancee and I have looked at a few subcompact hatchbacks. You can read the individual reviews for those by clicking on the following links:

2013 Honda Fit Sport
2013 Mazda2 Sport
2012 Ford Fiesta SES
2013 Chevrolet Sonic LT
2014 Nissan Versa Note SV

The subcompact car has made quite a boom in the last few years. With ever rising gas prices making it impractical to plod around town in a giant SUV, many car buyers looking for their first car want something that offers the space of an SUV, but the efficiency of a small car. Subcompact hatchbacks are designed to offer the best of both worlds, with cargo space that rivals some small SUVs, and small, fuel efficient engines. Of the five we tested though, which one offers the best bang for the buck? Read on to find out!

*Starting with this comparison, standings will be determined with a point system. Each category will have a maximum of five points, with 1st place receiving five points, 2nd receiving four points, 3rd receiving three, 4th receiving two, and 5th receiving one.  

Test Drive: 2013 Mazda2 Sport

Update: See how the Mazda2 performed against the competition in our Subcompact Showdown.

MSRP: $15,560
As Tested Price: $16,630

In the last few years, Mazda has witnessed a resurgence. The all new Mazda6 has won the admiration of the automotive press, praising its superior driving dynamics compared to its competition. Mazda's new "Skyactiv" engine technology is also helping Mazda crawl ahead in the now ever important "fuel economy" wars.

Mazda has always been viewed as sort of the quirky underdog of the Japanese automotive companies, along with fellow competitor Subaru. To date, Mazda has been the only car company to widely adopt the Wankel Rotary engine. It is this sort of quirky and pioneering spirit that has made Mazda the company it is today, with a heavier focus on driver enjoyment instead of building a mass market appliance.

Though the Mazda 2 is not exactly new, it is still in its first generation here in the United States while subcompacts from the big three Japanese manufacturers have already entered their second generations. Despite its age, I had hoped to catch a glimpse of Mazda's ideology of putting driver enjoyment first with the Mazda2. My fiancee, on the other hand, was looking for a car that was enjoyable but still practical. Does the Mazda2 offer what we were both looking for?

Test Drive: 2013 Chrysler 200 Touring

It had been a rough morning already. The first rental car of the day experienced engine trouble and the second one had the misfortune of being rear-ended shortly after leaving the rental lot. I had just spent the better part of the morning sorting out the details from the accident and finding my way back to the rental car agency to pick up my third car of the morning. By this time, I was looking for something that would be reliable transportation and, knock on wood, would not attract any more bad luck. Imagine my disappointment when the options I got presented with included another Nissan (my history so far that day with Nissan had been far from confidence inspiring) and a Chrysler 200. Seeing as how my options were basically non-existent, I accepted the Chrysler 200, hoping that some of the magic Chrysler had managed with the 300 had rubbed off.

Test Drive: 2013 Mid-size Family Sedan Comparo

Over the course of the last few weeks, we have individually examined a number of mid-size family sedans. You can read the detailed individual reviews by clicking on the followings links:

2013 Ford Fusion SE
2013 Honda Accord Sport
2013 Kia Optima LX
2014 Mazda 6 Touring
2013 Nissan Altima S
2013 VW Passat SE

Each car had its strengths and weaknesses, so declaring a winner was fairly challenging, though a clear loser was evident from the start. Continue reading to see how the cars performed in the various categories.

Long Term Test: 2012 Acura TSX Special Edition post #1

Update: Click here to read post #2.

The day our beloved 1999 Mazda Miata MX-5 10th Anniversary Edition was stricken ill was a dark day for my wife and me. From the day they b
rought it home, that car had been the pride and joy of my wife's parents and she had set her sights on it becoming the first car that she would own, which did eventually happen in 2006. When we relocated from the suburbs into the city, we consolidated down into a single car, and the Miata was the car we kept. As you can imagine, there were many years of sentimental value attached to the little blue convertible.

So when it came time to find a replacement, we had a long list of requirements and a lot of compromises to make. We knew we needed something more practical than the Miata (a criteria which just about any car would satisfy) and be able to carry our friends and luggage and potentially a pet. That meant that something with 4 seats would be required, at a minimum. My wife, who is very environmentally minded, wanted a car that put up decent fuel economy numbers. I wanted a manual transmission, which narrowed the available options to a tiny handful of cars. Fun to drive, comfortable, relatively maintenance free, and moderately well equipped with modern necessities such as Bluetooth hands-free calling were all a given. Pricing needed to be reasonable as we were losing an income for a couple of years and knew we wanted to keep our expenses under control.

Test Drive: 2014 Mazda 6 Touring

Update: See how the Mazda 6 did in our 2013 Mid-Size Family Sedan Comparison.

Zoom-zoom.

Mazda has made it their credo, promising to offer a dose of the "zoom-zoom" spirit in every product they put out - from their sedans to their sports cars, to their SUVs. The MX-5 Miata and, now deprecated, RX-8 were the purest examples in their embodiment, but even the recently introduced CX-5 shows driving dynamics that would be at home in a small hot hatchback. With the introduction of a new 6 sedan, Mazda is hoping to further demonstrate that their "zoom-zoom" spirit is alive and well and adaptable to truly any platform that they choose. Combine that with the Skyactiv suite of technologies, which include fuel efficient drive trains, ultra-light yet super-strong body structures, and advanced energy recapture devices, Mazda is looking to further cement its position in the marketplace, taking an ever increasing share of the sales pie from the likes of its Japanese brethren at Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.