1993 - Mazda Rx-7 on 2040-cars

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2014 Mazda6: July/August 2013

Our newest long-termer - the Soul Red 2014 Mazda6 seen here - arrived in my driveway at the end of June. Without hesitation, I immediately put it to work as a daily driver, carpool bus and family vacation sled, and it accomplished all of those tasks with aplomb. Now, more than 4,000 miles down the road, I am left convinced that Mazda's latest midsize sedan is one of the best in its segment.
During the past 60 days, I have subjected the Mazda6 to scorching travel across Southwestern deserts, wheezing climbs over 8,000-foot-high Sierra Nevada mountain passes and basking in the cool ocean breezes of Malibu. It traveled with four passengers and a full load of luggage from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe, and it braved the bumper-to-bumper freeway congestion on a weekday trip down to San Diego. It accomplished everything that was asked of while hardly skipping a beat - it has only required a regular sip of unleaded fuel to keep it moving forward.

Next-gen Mazda MX-5 Miata mule spied 'Ring testing

Fans of simple, lightweight motoring, rejoice - we now have images of the next-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata undergoing testing at der Nürburgring Nordschleife. Now, to be fair, this isn't some lightly camouflaged example that will give us a great peak of what the next Miata, which will also become the next Alfa Romeo Spider, will look like. This is a mule, with the new bits hidden under a current Miata's body. That doesn't mean there aren't a few scraps of valuable information here, though.
According to our flock of camera-toting spies at the Nürburgring, the next Miata is likely to grow a bit, as new models are wont to do. In particular, it will be longer and wider, and the wheelbase is likely going to be stretched, based on the shape of the wheel wells and doors. Both of those factors will add more space in the cabin.
Those are the big indications provided by these photos, but while the MX-5 might be growing, it's a safe bet based on these images that it, and the (likely pricier) Alfa, will retain the classic, long-hood, short-deck styling that so typifies rear-drive roadsters.

2020 Hyundai Palisade vs. Ascent, Pilot, Highlander and CX-9: How they compare on paper

We've finally had our first drive of the 2020 Hyundai Palisade and found it to be well-equipped for sales success. It nails the formula that some of the most successful three-row crossovers have, the aforementioned seating capacity, high driving position, all-wheel-drive availability and a V6 engine. Of course, it also offers a unique and menacing-looking exterior that ought to stand out in the parking lot. To dig deeper into how it compares to other three-row family crossovers, we've fired up the old Autoblog Comparo Generator 3000 (™) and lined the all-new 2020 Palisade up against the 2019 Subaru Ascent, 2019 Honda Pilot, 2019 Toyota Highlander and 2019 Mazda CX-9. Besides being two of last year's best-selling three-row SUVs, the Pilot and Highlander are also the closest in general concept to the new Palisade, while the Ascent and CX-9 also offer a comparable turbocharged four-cylinder powertrain. The CX-9 is also one of our favorites in the segment, and the Ascent is one of the newest entrants on the scene. There are of course numerous other worthy contenders, including the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, Volkswagen Atlas, Nissan Pathfinder, Hyundai Santa Fe and the best-selling Ford Explorer, so if you want to see their specs, check out the Autoblog compare tool. Performance and fuel economy The Subaru, as is so often the case, is the oddball. It has a 2.4-liter turbocharged horizontally opposed four-cylinder (aka a flat-four or a boxer-four) that produces a comparatively modest horsepower rating, but a greater amount of torque. That's typical for turbocharged engines such as Mazda CX-9's turbo inline-four that produces 250 horsepower on premium fuel (227 hp on 87 octane) and 310 lb-ft of torque (the VW Atlas also offers a base turbo-four). The Hyundai, Honda and Toyota, meanwhile, go about it the old-fashioned way, with naturally aspirated V6 engines displacing 3.8 liters in the Hyundai, and 3.5 liters with the two Japanese crossovers. The Toyota and Hyundai lead the pack in horsepower, with the Toyota taking top honors by just 4 horses. The Honda weighs less, though, so their acceleration should be comparable. The Subaru actually accelerates on par with its V6-powered competitors, probably due in part to its continuously variable transmission. The fuel economy trophy goes to the Ascent.