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MotorWeek finds nice things to say about the 1993 Ford Probe

This latest in MotorWeek's series of Retro Reviews continues its recent trend of remembering the massive glut of sports coupes that hit the market in the '90s. While vehicles like the Mitsubishi 3000GT, Mazda RX-7, and Ford Mustang all enjoy solid reputations down to this day, the 1993 Ford Probe, well... doesn't. As you'll soon see, though, the show's opinion suggests the coupe's second generation isn't really all that bad. Turns out they just weren't particularly sporty. Ford and Mazda developed the Probe together, and the Japanese company supplied both the base 115-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder and the 164-hp 2.5-liter V6 in the GT trim. The original's pseudo-angular look gave way to a much smoother shape for the second generation. Of course, pop-up headlights remained, which were a design hallmark for many of this era's sports coupes. After driving it, MotorWeek proclaims the Probe is "a winner" and considers the handling a "delight." That's not a big surprise, considering that in those days, a car had to be really bad not to get a decent review from Television's Original Automotive Magazine. However, the show hints at some of the reasons the coupe isn't so well remembered today. Even the GT reportedly suffers from soft springs and lots of understeer, which sounds like exactly the opposite anyone hoping to drive the coupe enthusiastically would want. To sum it all up, we're sure you're just as happy as we are that Ford went back on its initial plan to shelve the Mustang in favor of the front-drive Probe. Related Video:

2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature AWD diesel unveiled in New York

NEW YORK —It seems like we've been waiting forever, but the wait is finally over. Mazda has finally launched a diesel version of the CX-5 for the U.S. market, unveiled at the 2019 New York International Auto Show. Specifically, the 2.2-liter Skyactiv-D turbo-diesel engine will be offered in the higher-end CX-5 Signature AWD, part of what Mazda calls its "path to premium," as the company continues to set its sights on some of the more expensive competition. The Skyactiv-D 2.2 makes use of a sequential twin turbocharger that employs a smaller turbocharger first at low rpm for quick throttle response, after which a valve opens to spool up a larger turbocharger at higher rpm. Mazda says this provides "smooth and linear response from low to high engine speeds, and greatly increases low- and high-end torque." Mazda estimates the output of the engine to be 168 horsepower at 4,000 rpm and 290 pound-feet of torque from a low 2,000 rpm. The engine has a rev limit of 5,500 rpm. As of right now, it's only in the all-wheel-drive version and only in the Signature trim level. As such, it gets a ho-hum EPA fuel economy rating of 27 mpg city, 30 highway and 28 combined. We previously saw fuel economy figures for a potential front-drive diesel CX-5 getting just slightly better fuel economy, at 28 city, 31 highway and 29 combined, but no word yet on if and when that'll be made available. The mediocre diesel fuel economy, while expected given the midstream shift from one emissions strategy to another, is particularly disappointing in context. The non-turbo CX-5 AWD, which makes 187 hp and 186 lb-ft, gets 24 city and 30 highway for 26 combined mpg – just 3 mpg less in the city and 2 mpg less overall than the diesel. The much more powerful CX-5 Turbo, which makes 250 hp and 310 lb-ft, gets 22 city, 27 highway, and 24 combined. Mazda is taking pre-orders for the 2019 CX-5 Signature AWD with Skyactiv-D 2.2 starting now, at an MSRP of $42,045, including $1,045 in destination fees. We have to point out that this is a sizable jump in MSRP from a CX-5 Signature AWD with the more powerful turbo engine, which lists for $38,235 – a $3,810 difference in fact. Given the lackluster fuel economy and considerable decrease in power and torque, we're concerned that the diesel may be a tough sell at this sort of premium.

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.