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2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata Drivers' Notes Review | A little power goes to our heads

The Mazda MX-5 Miata is nearly 30 years old. The current car — dubbed the ND — is in its fourth iteration and packs a number of updates for 2019, most notably a bump of 26 horsepower and 3 pound-feet over the 2018 model. The car now makes 181 horsepower at 7,000 rpm while redline has been raised to 7,500. That might not sound like a lot, but when you're moving fewer than 2,400 pounds of steel, aluminum and plastic, it feels plenty strong. Our test car was a Soul Red roadster with a brown top, an odd but striking combination. A power-retractable top is available as the Miata RF. This top-tier Grand Touring trim comes with features like automatic climate control, heated seats and leather seats. It might not be the most practical or versatile car on the road, but it might just be the most fun for the money. Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: I was excited when I woke up to the Miata covered in snow in my driveway. After all, this tester came equipped with Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires. By the time I could pry myself away from my work and take the car for a spin, though, the snow had mostly melted. I still had fun flinging this around on the cold, wet roads. The first thing I noticed was actually what I didn't notice ... I wasn't wishing for just a little more power, for once. Chalk it up to the conditions, or to the extra 26 horsepower Mazda added for 2019, but this felt appropriately potent. If anything, it's just enough to help get the rear end to wiggle a bit and the tires to more readily chirp in second gear. The Miata, fresh from the factory, has learned to do the cha-cha. Oddly enough, though, my wife, who has been salivating over this generation of MX-5 since the first time I brought one home, has cooled on it a little bit. We went out on a date night, and she was hyper aware of the noise and bumps, and I was, too, frankly. Something about bundling up under an icy soft top can kill the mood of this convertible. In the summer, the sound of the engine and telegraphic feel of the road beneath you blend with the warmth of the sun and the tug of the wind in automotive harmony. It's still fun to drive in the cold, but it doesn't quite turn on the charm like it normally does. Associate Editor Reese Counts: I've spent a lot of time behind the wheel of various NDs over the past few years. The weekend I got married, my wife and I drove a Soul Red roadster from Los Angeles to San Francisco for a brief honeymoon.

2021 Mazda3 2.5 Turbo is official, with automatic transmission only

The Mazda3 Turbo is here, and while it’s no Mazdaspeed, this is still a happy day for enthusiasts. Its full, official name is the 2021 Mazda3 2.5 Turbo, which begins to describe it perfectly. Just as was expected, Mazda has taken its 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder off its shelf and plopped it into the compact 3. When run on 93 octane fuel, Mazda claims 250 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque. You can still run it on 87 octane, but the numbers drop to 227 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. Mazda says this engine has a specific calibration for the Mazda3 “to deliver the unique driving dynamics expected by our most passionate drivers.” The engine delivers a stout low-end shove in its other applications, so perhaps Mazda has found a way to make it more excitable in the upper rev ranges. WeÂ’ll see about that when we drive it. The Turbo is also paired exclusively with all-wheel drive and the six-speed automatic transmission. It is sad to see the six-speed manual being left in the dust here, but Mazda has decided to not offer it as an option. The all-wheel drive system operates the same as the one in the naturally aspirated version, which should hopefully be good enough to mitigate torque steer and understeer. Mazda hasnÂ’t quoted any official acceleration times for the Turbo yet, but we expect it could chop about a second off the carÂ’s 0-60 mph time. Something in the low 6-second range seems plausible. There are no changes to the chassis, suspension or brakes for this model; Mazda says "the current Mazda3, as well as all our vehicles, are always designed and tuned to be focused on dynamic driving. We are confident that the turbo engine will help to refine the already exciting driving experience without the need to add more than is necessary." It does come in a base trim (similar to a base hatchback in content), but even that trim is relatively well-equipped. A Premium Plus Package is available that raises the bar. This package includes leather seats, navigation, HomeLink, Traffic Jam Assist (provides steering inputs below 40 mph to stay in lane), 360-degree camera, rear automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic braking and parking sensors in front and back.  Unfortunately, the new driver assistance features we listed above are exclusive to the Turbo and wonÂ’t be available on other Mazda3 models this year.

Mazda Slovakia brochure reveals Skyactiv-X Euro power numbers

After driving a prototype of Mazda's Skyactiv-X engine in a Mazda3 in January last year, we wrote, "If you want to talk numbers, they're understandably fuzzy. The Skyactiv-X tune isn't final yet, so horsepower and torque figures are a moving target." They're no longer fuzzy in Slovakia, where a brochure for the new Mazda3 sells final figures as 181 metric horsepower and 222 Newton-meters, or 178 horsepower and 164 pound-feet. We don't know the Slovakian engine's displacement. If that Skyactiv-X is a 2.0-liter, it compares to our 2.0-liter Skyactive-G in the Mazda3 that makes 155 hp and 150 lb-ft, or the tuned Skyactiv-G in the 2019 Miata that makes 181 hp and 151 lb-ft. According to the spec sheet on the Slovakian Mazda site, their 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G in the CX-3 makes 148 hp and 152 lb-ft, and in their Mazda6 makes 162 hp and 155 lb-ft. According to the brochure, those numbers will rise to 164 hp and 157 lb-ft in the coming Mazda3. The Skyactiv-X numbers are in sight of what reps at Mazda in California gave us for output during our drive, which was closer to 190 hp and 180 lb-ft. Mazda said at the L.A. Auto Show last year that the Skyactiv-X would launch in markets with stricter emissions regulations first, so a small European market with tighter controls doesn't define what we get. Given our less restrictive environment, tuning for more power shouldn't be a moon shot. Doing so would put the Skyactiv-X in with the optional 2.5-liter four-cylinder in the U.S. Mazda3, which makes 184 hp and 185 lb-ft. The real test will be gas mileage; the purpose of the Skyactiv-X is to provide those figures in company with 20 to 30 percent better fuel economy than the Skyactiv-G. Autoweek characterized Mazda CEO Akira Marumoto's comments on the engine as, "The Skyactiv-X variant will be positioned as the higher grade. It will have the driving dynamics of the 2.5-liter gasoline setup but the fuel economy of a 1.5-liter diesel." We have questions about this strategy, but we'll have to see how the pricing works out. Since the 2.5-liter serves as the base engine on the 2019 Mazda3, buyers can expect a meaningful premium to get into a Skyactiv-X. Right now, there's a $1,495 surcharge to go from the current 2.0-liter Mazda3 hatch to the 2.5-liter.