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2020 Mazda CX-3 adds active safety features plus Apple CarPlay, Android Auto

The CX-3, Mazda's smallest crossover offering, shrinks its showroom footprint for 2020, as the brand makes room for the newly introduced CX-30 just above it in the lineup. The 2020 CX-3 is cut back from three trim levels to just one, although that single offering is bolstered with additional standard equipment including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which come to the CX-3 for the first time. Even more significantly, Mazda is adding as standard a batch of active-safety features that includes forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, and automatic high beams—formerly an option package costing $1,100. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert were already standard and continue. The 2020 CX-3 also gains automatic climate control, a head-up display, rain-sensing wipers and LED exterior lighting. For all that, the 2020 CX-3's prices rise just $250 over the 2019 CX-3 figures. The starting figure for the 2020 Mazda CX-3 Sport is $21,685 with front-wheel drive or $23,085 with all-wheel drive (including $1,045 destination). The other news for the 2020 CX-3 is that the Touring and Grand Touring trims have been dropped. Which means that the features exclusive to those trims, such as leather seating surfaces, a power sunroof, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, and a power driver's seat, are no longer offered. Buyers seeking those niceties perhaps are now expected to step up to the CX-30 — although it's not a big leap, with the CX-30 starting at $22,945.

Mazda Miata 25th anniversary display is roadster heaven on Earth

As part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the MX-5 Miata, Mazda has put together a rather large display at its New York Auto Show booth, showing off significant models from the diminutive roadsters history.
The display represents a healthy split of volume models, with cars 14, 15 and 17 sitting alongside cars 500,000 and 700,000. There are also more than a few concept cars in the offering, such as the Super20 Concept we drove a few years back, as well as older offerings, like the Club Racer concept from the 1989 Chicago Auto Show, the M-Speedster from the 1995 Chicago show and the M Coupe from the 1996 New York Auto Show.
We've put together a gallery of images of the historical Miata display, which you can view above. Take a look and then let us know which of Mazda's awesome roadsters is your favorite.

Flyin' Miata is building a V8-powered MX-5 ND

It's cold in many parts of the country, but this V8-swapped 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata that Flyin' Miata is developing has us dreaming about throwing on a parka and taking a very brisk drive. This beast is the product of the talented folks at Flyin' Miata, but we can't get too excited just yet. According to the company's brief Facebook post, this is just a dummy V8, placed under the Miata's hood to confirm fit. Judging by the photo, the engine fits like a glove. "There's still a long way to go before this is a real thing," Flyin' Miata writes, but the company admits everything looks "very promising" so far. The post doesn't mention any details about the estimated specs, but Autoblog reached out to Flyin' Miata for more information about this intriguing build. Keith Tanner, one of the mad scientists who shoehorns V8s into Miatas at the Colorado outfit, told us that Flyin' Miata is looking at both the LS3, which will provide between 430 and 525 hp, and the LT1 which is 460 hp out of the box. A supercharged LT4 is also being considered, but as Tanner put it, "that might be a little nuts" in a car as light as the ND. In any of these engine configurations, Tanner estimates the V8-swapped ND should comfortably be a sub-4 second to 60 mph car. The transmission will be a Tremec T56 Magnum six-speed manual. The suspension, brakes, fuel system, cooling system, and the chassis itself will all be beefed up to handle the power, as per normal FM practice. The one question mark is the rear end, as the ND's existing one simply won't be up to the task of putting that much horsepower to the ground. The 2016 Miata was one of the best cars we drove in 2015, but Flyin' Miata knows how to turn a standard MX-5 into an absolute hotrod with the company's LS3 V8 conversions for earlier models. Imagining the more modern chassis from the latest generation with a massive dollop of more power is an exciting thought. We can't wait to see how this project turns out. Related Video: