2000 Mazda Mpv on 2040-cars

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How long will the 'golden age' of performance last?

High-powered sports and luxury cars were everywhere at the New York Auto Show, prompting the obvious question for enthusiasts: How long will this golden age of performance last? Industry leaders have some time before regulations elevate the Corporate Average Fuel Economy level in 2025. Even then, they expect cars rippling with power to survive in some form. "Is it the end of an era," I don't think so," said Ola Kallenius, Daimler AG board member for Mercedes-Benz cars marketing and sales. "That performance element of individual mobility I don't think will ever go away." Kallenius, who oversaw the company's AMG division from 2010-2013, expects it to continue to grow. Last year, AMG sold a record 68,875 units around the world, an increase of 44.6 percent over 2014, with strong growth in the US, China, and Germany. Still, there's always the potential for gas to spike, and pending fuel economy regulations are looming. That could lead AMG to add electrification to its products, Kallenius said, pointing to the electric SLS as a test case. Chevy is also thinking ahead, said Al Oppenheiser, chief engineer of the Camaro. He wouldn't bite when asked about electrification for the Camaro (he did say "never say never"), but admitted in 2025 "it's going to be pretty tough to sell V8s." For now, things are rosy for muscle cars, and Chevy confidently showcased the 640-hp Camaro ZL1 in coupe and convertible form in New York. "I think that this is truly the golden age of performance," Oppenheiser said. It's hard to disagree. News & Analysis News: The 2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF was a show-stopper in New York. Analysis: There was a palpable energy when this RF — for Retractable Fastback — was revealed the night before the show at a trendy off-site venue near the Hudson River. Even as a parade of SUVs and flashy luxury cars rolled out the rest of the week, the Miata remained a hot topic. The Retractable Fastback is really a clever targa top, with part of the roof stowing behind the seats, adding about 100 pounds compared to the standard convertible. It makes the car more practical and arguably more attractive. The RF continues Mazda's tradition of selling the Miata with a hardtop variant. The first and second generations offered a detachable one, and a power retractable hardtop (a $1,700 option) was available on third-gen models. Judging by its reception in New York, the RF could prove to be even more popular than its predecessors.

Autoblog fan favorite car ads from Super Bowl XLIX

Super Bowl XLIX is in the books, and the New England Patriots emerged victorious. Of course, if you're like us, the big game wasn't so much about the battle between the east coast and west, so much as a fight between the world's automotive advertisers. We collected and collated all of last night's new ads and put them together for you to vote on. And yes, we're limiting this year's contest to last night's new features. That's why you aren't seeing Dodge's epic Wisdom among our collection of commercials, and it's a similar story with Chevrolet's Truck Guy Focus Group series, which highlights the new Colorado. You can still vote for your favorites. We won't be closing the voting on our Super Bowl page, so while the winners and losers are correct as of this writing, it's entirely possible that there could be some changes in the rankings as time goes on. So, without any further ado, here are the winning ads based on your voting. Nissan: With Dad Fiat: Ready For Action Jeep: Beautiful Lands BMW: Newfangled Idea Mercedes-Benz: Fable NASCAR: America Start Your Engines As for those ads that failed to impact you, loyal readers, Toyota was the absolute, undisputed loser. The Japanese brand ran four ads in total – two for Toyota and two for Lexus – and all of them have negative tallies as of this writing. Lexus' Make Some Noise and Lets Play and Toyota's One Bold Choice and My Bold Dad both had very weak showings among the commercials that aired, although they weren't alone. Neither Mazda nor Kia scored particularly well, despite featuring celebrity magic act Penn and Teller and former James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, respectively. Chevrolet was the winner of the losers, as of our writing, recording the fewest downvotes for its audience-punking The Big Game ad. If you want to take a second look at the losing ads, you can head back to our Super Bowl page for the complete collection. But for now, head into Comments and let us know what you think of the results.

Mazda patent shows rotary placement in complex AWD hybrid layout

If we were playing alt-powertrain Bingo, a recent Mazda patent application filed in Japan would be one or two letters from victory. What's exciting about the patent, discovered by Japanese outlet T's Media via Motor Trend, is that while it makes a case for an internal combustion engine of any configuration, one of the drawings showing a rotary engine. The wild bit is that the whole powertrain comprises the ICE, a transaxle, two tiny in-wheel electric motors turning the front wheels, a third electric motor in the driveline, a capacitor, a lithium-ion battery, and three inverters. Motor Trend parsed the mechanics, and the way it reads, Doc Brown couldn't have done a better job. The rotary engine at the front turns the rear wheels, but not directly. Instead of a flywheel on back of the engine, the drawing shows a 25-kW electric motor and an inverter, then a driveshaft running to the transaxle. Along the axis of the transmission tunnel in a normal car, between the inverter and the transaxle, lies a 3.5-kWh battery running at 48 volts. MT writes that the electric motor can add its output to the ICE output to drive the rear wheels, or the e-motor can turn the rear axle on its own. Up front, two inverters and a double-layer capacitor join the ICE in the engine bay. The capacitor and tiny hub motors in the front wheels run at 120 volts, a higher voltage than the rest of the electrical system, so that the small in-wheel motors can generate the same torque as a larger motor running at a lower voltage. The AWD system acts on-demand. Given the signal, the capacitors discharge their energy to the wheel motors, and recover energy from braking. When the capacitors are at full charge, they send excess regen energy to the lithium-ion battery; conversely, the battery can recharge the capacitors when they're low and the front hub motors need power. The patent explains that the ICE works with the rear e-motor to drive the rear wheels at low speeds, the front motors called on to "generate an output only when a large output is required in the high vehicle speed range." The rather complicated system is focused on providing the benefits of a hybrid system and all-wheel drive, but at lower weight than one would expect. A rotary serves due to its compactness, but one of the drawings shows an engine with a V layout. Hub motors get dinged for adding unsprung weight, hence the small motors here.