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The Miata is always the answer, but which one is the answer for you?

If you follow along with our long-term vehicles, you know that we had a 2016 Miata Club in the fleet. It's a Miata that had every sporty bit available installed, but there are other ways to spec out an MX-5. Just recently, we had the chance to sample the other end of the MX-5 spectrum, the Miata RF Grand Touring. While they're cut from the same sheetmetal, they're surprisingly different cars. So we thought we'd put together a little guide to help you figure out what bodystyle and trim level of Miata is right for you. How do you like the wind in your hair? If you're someone who loves soaking up the sun and having the wind blow through your hair, or lack thereof, there's no replacement for the soft-top Miata. The manual folding mechanism will get you out into the fresh air faster than virtually any other convertible, and it will go back up just as easily when the rain comes. Raising and lowering it is quick and easy, and can be done with one hand from the driver's seat. And with the top down, you'll be greeted by breeze from virtually every direction, and an airy, unencumbered feeling that only comes with a full convertible. However, if you prefer to keep your hair in place and just get some sun, the RF is the better choice. The retractable targa top still descends and reemerges quickly, taking just 13 seconds either way. Keeping the windows up with the targa stowed will allow in plenty of sun, but will keep wind to a minimum. But when the windows drop, you'll still get a healthy dose of airflow. It still doesn't feel as open as the soft top, though, since you'll be able to catch the fastback pillar out of the corner of your eye. But if you value protection over airflow, that won't be an issue. View 11 Photos Does your Miata need to be a daily driver and occasional road tripper? While many Miatas will be weekend toys, one of the appealing things about them is that they're reliable enough and have just enough cargo space that they can serve as an everyday vehicle. For people who want to use a Miata as a daily commuter, and even take it on road trips, we would recommend an RF with the Grand Touring trim, as seen above. Although it still isn't a quiet car in the grand scheme of things, the RF's solid top makes it more livable for highway stints both short and long. The Grand Touring trim comes recommended for these purposes for a couple of reasons. Foremost is the more forgiving suspension shared between it and the base-level Sport.

How Mazda got Skyactiv-X to work is incredible

"Take everything you know about engines and turn it around," Mazda North America Vehicle Development Engineer Dave Coleman says, patiently and with a look of benevolent pity, as he's quizzed about the particulars of the company's new engine. The Skyactiv-X engine is enigmatic — and deceptively simple in operation. And the bottom line for American consumers is that they'll be able to buy a car (or crossover; we don't know yet what vehicle will first get it) by late 2019 that provides diesel-like fuel economy but runs on regular old gasoline. In between diesel and spark ignition, but it's neither To truly understand it, you have to dive into the contradictions. Take that regular old gasoline: Contrary to common sense, the lower the octane, the better it works. In the lab, the Skyactiv-X engine loves 80 octane. The lowest Americans get is 87, so the engine is tuned for that octane. Go higher and you lose some low-end torque. Coleman was right. It's hard to wrap your head around an engine that thrives just at the point when most gas engines would aggressively self-destruct. It uses a supercharger to pump additional air — but not additional fuel. It uses spark plugs to start a combustion cycle that normally doesn't need a spark. And, quixotically, it's not displacing Mazda's own American-market diesel engine, currently languishing in a seemingly endless hell of regulatory approval. More bizarre: Mazda is a tiny automaker facing real existential headwinds, and gasoline compression ignition is a massive challenge. GM and Hyundai announced compression ignition, or HCCI, projects (full name, homogeneous charge compression ignition) to great fanfare, but they never amounted to a production hill of beans, crippled by reliability issues or horrible vibrations. Worse, they only worked at an unusably narrow range — low RPMs and low loads. HCCI research improved direct-injection gas and diesel engine technologies for these companies, but HCCI itself remains untamed. The benefits of lean combustion Why even try to tame HCCI? The answer is much better fuel economy and lower emissions. Less burned carbon-based fuel, less carbon dioxide released. That's simple. But there are some thermodynamic reasons for the lean combustion you can achieve with compression ignition that are worth explaining. The ideal amount of fuel for a conventional engine to burn is about a 14:1 air-to-fuel ratio. That lets every molecule burn nicely, in theory.

Mazda teases its Tokyo-bound EV again — and it's a crossover coupe

Another 15-second teaser clip, the third so far, stars Mazda's coming electric vehicle in the role of coquette. This time we get a glimpse of the body shape, and coming as a shock to no one since Mazda practically admitted it, we'll be seeing a crossover coupe on the Tokyo Motor Show floor. Mazda says there'll be a few surprises therein, though. The overall line and detailing embody "an expansion of our renowned Kodo design philosophy" at the same time as the EV "explores new directions in design." And within the "uncompromisingly simple" form we're told to expect "a unique door concept, opening your mind." Another couplet in the press release poetry promises a "friendly expression" up front for a new segment entry embodying "futuristic values and changing lifestyles." Well then. This will be Mazda's fourth electric vehicle, but the first meant for mass production. The company built a small batch of the Mazda Demio (our Mazda2) battery electric vehicle in 2012 for the Japanese market, leasing them to government and corporate customers. The following year the automaker built a Mazda Demio EV prototype with a 330-cc rotary-powered range-extender engine. After that came the e-TPV prototype that the company's used to prove out the powertrain going into this month's show car.  The urban-focused electric runner should go on sale next year in markets like Japan, China and Europe, where dense city centers negate the need for sky-high range figures; the 35.5-kWh battery is likely to return a 150-mile range at most. As foretold in the most recent teaser, the interior will deliver an airy sense of space thanks to open spaces between the driver's and passenger's seats. Zoom-Zoom will come with EV internals, too — Autocar recently drove the eTPV prototype and lauded it for being "well-planted," "original to drive" and "more like a car in the traditional sense of the word."