2014 Mazda Mazda3 I Sport on 2040-cars

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IIHS Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards get tougher: Here are the latest winners

Automakers love to trumpet the accolades from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but the agency keeps making its best grades harder to achieve. For 2020, it is raising the bar again, requiring a better score in the passenger-side small-overlap crash test, wider availability of top-performing headlights, and automatic emergency braking systems that effectively avoid collisions with pedestrians, in addition to its previous benchmarks. Why the 2020 criteria is harder: To be named either a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+, the required performance in the passenger-side small-overlap crash test has been raised from Acceptable to Good, meaning that the model must achieve Good ratings in all crash tests. The Nissan Rogue, for example, scored an Acceptable in the passenger-side small overlap crash, and so it loses its Top Safety Pick rating for 2020. To achieve either of the top ratings, a vehicle's automatic emergency braking system must effectively avoid hitting pedestrians as well as other vehicles. (The automatic emergency braking system can be optional, but then the award applies to the model only when so equipped.) Any vehicle whose automatic emergency braking system does not include pedestrian detection would lose its TSP or TSP+ rating for 2020, the Ram 1500 being one example. To be named a Top Safety Pick+, the model can have no variant with headlights that achieve less than an Acceptable rating (most new cars have different headlights — often LEDs — that are exclusive to upper trim levels).

2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata's more horsepower will cost less money

Mazda has already announced a power upgrade for the 2019 MX-5 Miata roadster after engineers tweaked the Skyactiv-G 2.0-liter inline-four for 17 percent more power and higher fuel efficiency than the outgoing 2018 model. Now we know the starting price for the soft-top version: $26,625, including destination charge, which is a $915 drop from the lowest-priced 2018 model. As is standard across the Miata lineup, output increases by 26 horsepower to 181 hp, with torque nudging up 3 pound-feet to 151 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm. Other new features also track with the changes previously announced for the 2019 Miata RF, including the telescoping steering wheel and standard rearview camera. But the soft-top version gets an available brown soft top for an extra $200 for the Grand Touring trim (a black soft top is standard), new package options at each trim level and optional traffic-sign recognition and smart city brake support, which offers automatic emergency braking at low speeds. Also new is that steering column, which is made of aluminum to save weight. Mazda will keep the six-speed manual as an option for all three trim levels, with an available six-speed automatic with paddle shifters and Sport driving mode. Standard features include LED head- and taillights, 16-inch wheels, Mazda Connect infotainment with a 7-inch touchscreen monitor, Bluetooth phone pairing and audio streaming, and keyless entry. Jump up to the Grand Touring trim starting at $31,675 and get 17-inch dark silver wheels, body-color interior trim, auto on/off headlights, auto-dimming driver's side mirror, rain-sensing windshield wipers, heated, leather-trimmed seats and a nine-speaker Bose Premium audio system, among other things. Mazda is also offering a $550 GT-S Package on the Grand Touring model with the six-speed manual, a front shock tower brace, limited-slip rear differential and Bilstein dampers. MX-5 Club models start at $30,485 and come standard with the GT-S Package goodies when equipped with the manual transmission. Automatic versions get standard heated cloth seats with contrasting red stitching, body-color interior trim, black 17-inch wheels, front air dam and rear lip spoilers.

2014 Mazda6 earns Popular Mechanics' 'Car of the Year'

Ring one up for Mazda. The Japanese brand's midsize offering, the Mazda6, has been named Popular Mechanics' Car of the Year. The 6 received a comprehensive reworking for the 2014 model year that saw it adopt sleek, sexy sheet metal; a clean, logical interior; and powertrain technologies that allow it to net some of the best fuel economy available in a gas-powered, non-hybrid sedan.
Popular Mechanics praised the 6's Skyactiv 2.5-liter, 184-horsepower engine, as well as its agility and responsiveness during testing. It also remarked on the functional, but well designed cabin, and the degree of available technology.
"The Mazda6 really impressed us with how well it delivers so many things modern car owners want: great mileage, fun road-handling, upscale features and looks - and remarkable value," said Jim Meigs, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Mechanics.