1998 Mazda Rx7 Convertable / 76,051 Orig Miles on 2040-cars

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Mazda2 with extended-range hybrid rotary tech shown

Every story dealing with a new rotary engine from Mazda lands in a different place on the matrix of possibilities between "Coming soon!" and "Never gonna happen!" In 2011 it was speculated that the rotary engineering program would be shut down with the demise of the RX-8, in 2012 the program was still alive and taking lessons from the SkyActiv engines, in August 2013 a Mazda insider said a rotary engine called 16X would be here in two years, in November the CEO said the only way we'd ever get a new rotary is if Mazda could sell 100,000 of them per year. Meaning that, for the moment, you can forget about it.
And yet, last month Mazda was putting journalists in a Mazda2 RE Range Extender, an electric car using a 0.33-liter rotary to power its lithium-ion batteries when the charge runs down. With a 75-kilowatt, 100-horsepower electric motor turning the front wheels, the Wankel generator and its 2.6-gallon gas tank living under the trunk double the range of the electric-only Mazda2 to 250 miles.
There's been talk of using a rotary to assist an alt-fuel vehicle for at least seven years, with Mazda pairing an electric motor with a rotary that ran on gas and hydrogen in a Mazda5 in 2007. Since then, almost all of those stories debating its return or demise also spoke of the oddball motor's advantages, such as compact size and ability to run on various fuels, as an aid in an unconventional powertrain.

2020 Mazda MX-5 Miata Suspension Deep Dive

Full disclosure: I’m a longtime Miata fan. And by longtime I mean since mid-1989, the year I obtained, through a series of fortunate connections, one of the three original Chicago auto show display cars. But this was no blatant attempt to butter up a journalist – I barely knew how to spell the word. At the time I worked for the Department of Defense and was racing SCCA showroom stock on the side. It was destined to be a racecar. I was assured itÂ’d be quick, but doubts surfaced when I arrived at MazdaÂ’s dealer training center to pick it up. “Oh, itÂ’s that cute Elan-looking thing,” I probably said. But my mind was utterly changed when I eyeballed its double-wishbone suspension and other cleverly engineered features hiding beneath its skin. In subsequent years of racing – and eventually restoring – that car, I spent uncountable hours being impressed by it. I can safely say that the new ND Miata (2016 - present) is the best yet. ItÂ’s lighter than it has been in 20 years, and thatÂ’s some trick considering the relentless march of safety requirements and expected convenience features. This car is actually 1.3 inches shorter from nose to tail than my NA Miata, but itÂ’s also 2.4 inches wider and rolls on a wheelbase that is 1.7 inches longer. But it is the suspension that has always made the Miata great. This look under the skin of a 2020 Mazda MX-5 shows why the ND is the best Miata in that arena, too. The fact that this is an RF model doesnÂ’t much matter one way or the other.   As it was the first time I laid eyes on one, things got off to a promising start as soon as I pulled a wheel off. ItÂ’s clear that this is no mere strut suspension, as we can see a coil-over shock and glimpses of aluminum.   The apparent stars of the show are the A-shaped upper wishbone (green arrow) and the L-shaped lower wishbone (white). Miatas have used this layout from Day One, but aluminum didnÂ’t enter the picture until the NC generation.   For 2020, Bilstein monotube shocks (green) come on the Club and Grand Touring models with a manual transmission. This setup was part of the GT-S option package in 2019. The standard shocks are also monotubes, but theyÂ’re not Bilsteins and theyÂ’re tuned a bit softer. The upper control arm (yellow) is mounted low down such that its ball joint (white) resides within the barrel of the front wheel.

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata First Drive [w/video]

Hypothetically speaking, if you blindfolded me, put me in the car pictured above, and told me to hit the road, it would have taken me maybe two minutes to figure out that I was driving the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata. There are just certain facets about Miata driving that have been baked into every generation of Mazda's roadster, and it makes for a symbiotic relationship between car and driver that's truly unique. Sure, I could rattle off a list of cars that come close to offering the same sort of experience, but they just can't quite capture the same intrinsic Miata magic. Mazda knows its Miata is an incredibly special machine. Listening to the company's engineers and designers talk about the development of this fourth-generation ND model is fascinating. The attention to detail is astonishing, and every single person involved in the Miata program knows that the most important goal is to keep this car as true to its predecessors' ethos as possible. It cannot just be a great convertible, or even a great Mazda – it has to be a great MX-5 Miata. But the company did not just want to improve upon the third-generation NC Miata, which has been around since 2006. They wanted to tie the ND Miata's roots back to the original NA from 1989. Back in '89, the Miata was a less-powerful, 1.6-liter model with 115 horsepower and 100 pound-feet of torque. Mazda's team said they are proud of every version of the MX-5, but it's this specific, first-generation model that the company calls the "most right" – the most true to the idea of what a Miata ought to be. So that's why, before being allowed to attack the winding roads of the Spanish countryside in the 2016 MX-5, Mazda wanted me to spend some time with a cherry example of the original NA Miata: a Mariner Blue darling that, even with some 239,000 kilometers on its clock, still felt absolutely impeccable from behind the wheel. Light, responsive, and perfectly balanced, it was the original embodiment of the harmony between driver and car that Mazda wanted in every Miata. Mazda executives said they felt the first Miata was also the right size. So they chopped off three inches on the ND compared with the NC, and put it on a wheelbase that's been reduced by six-tenths of an inch. In fact, these dimensions mean the new Miata is more than two inches shorter in length than the original, and only two-tenths of an inch taller. In this day and age of ever-expanding waistlines and footprints, it's a remarkable achievement.