1990 Miata Project Car Needs Brake Line // Runs Good // ~140k Miles (for Parts ) on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota, Mazda drop Takata as Mitsubishi, Subaru weigh options

It's not a very good time to be Takata right now. Fresh on the heels of longtime partner Honda ditching them, Toyota and Mazda have both come out and said they will not use the company's airbag inflators if they continue to rely on ammonium nitrate. Bloomberg reports that Subaru and Mitsubishi are also contemplating a divorce. "The inflator using ammonium nitrate produced by Takata will not be adopted by Toyota," President Akio Toyoda said during a briefing today. "What's most important above anything else is the safety and peace of mind of customers." Mazda echoed that position, simply saying it "will not use Takata airbag inflators which contain ammonium nitrate in our new cars." When you lose three huge OEM accounts in as many days, it's certainly going to have a deleterious effect on your fortunes. In Takata's case, that's meant a staggering 39-percent drop in their share price over the last three days. Yesterday alone, the company saw a 6.2-percent fall, Bloomberg reports. As the business publication reports, though, Takata isn't going down without a fight. The company is "considering some plans to survive," including a fundraising plan that will see it potentially offer up additional shares for sale. Still, at least one analyst doesn't see whatever company survives staying involved in the airbag inflator business. "I really don't see how they're going to be able to survive as an inflator manufacturer," Valient Market Research founder Scott Upham told Bloomberg. "When your major clients publicly come out and say that they're not going to use your products anymore, it makes this very difficult to sustain your business." News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Carlos Osorio / AP Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Subaru Toyota Safety supplier

2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature Diesel First Drive Review | A tardy inessential

We were suspicious of the much-delayed Mazda CX-5 Diesel when it finally arrived at our office late this summer. Had it surfaced four or even two years ago, we might’ve been more bullish, but at least we werenÂ’t cynical — yet. Even the Volkswagen Dieselgate crisis couldnÂ’t turn our hearts against the CX-5 Diesel. We already like the CX-5, after all, we also like the eager torque, quiet ride and excellent fuel economy the Skyactiv-D engine would surely provide. But then we got the EPA ratings for the the CX-5Â’s diesel engine: 27 mpg city and 30 highway. Granted, thatÂ’s in an all-wheel-drive vehicle, but itÂ’s a serious disappointment. The turbocharged, gasoline-powered 2.5-liter I4 in the CX-5 Signature gets 24 combined mpg, while offering up to 250 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. The diesel version is down 82 hp (at 168) and 20 lb-ft (at 290), while elevating fuel economy to 27 city, 30 highway and 28 combined. The non-turbo gas motor in lesser AWD trims narrows the gap to just 2 combined mpg in favor of the diesel. So whatÂ’s the selling point for the Skyactiv-D? Mazda says itÂ’s a premium experience, and thatÂ’s why itÂ’s only available in the top trim level. ItÂ’s easy to flinch at that, but it makes some sense, when you look at other diesels in the U.S. market The Signature trim of the CX-5, as with the Mazda6 weÂ’ve come to adore, is good enough to target the lower end of, say, Audi customers who are looking to get a bit more content for the buck. These might also be the same people whoÂ’ve come out of a TDI vehicle and are already sold on the diesel experience. From the first squeeze of our right foot, the diesel CX-5 makes a good impression. In town, we diced our way through Woodward Avenue traffic, made easy mostly by the CX-5Â’s relative small size and agility. There is one point in the throttle tip-in when the engine sounds particularly growly, and somehow more massive than its 2.2 liters of displacement. The illusion began to crumble when we reached our first highway entrance ramp. Putting our foot to the floor, we got the quick first hit of growly torque, followed by Â… well not much. This engine begins to run out of steam as it climbs the rev ladder. ThatÂ’s not totally unexpected, but it was definitely disappointing. Furthermore, as Assistant Editor Zac Palmer points out, “By opting for the diesel, you add 115 pounds to the curb weight (now 3,940 pounds) of a comparable 2.5-liter turbo (3,825 pounds).

1993 Mazda RX-7 Retro Review | A '90s hero turns 25

Boom times build interesting cars. In the late 1980s, Japan was flush with capital, and automakers spent like the party was never going to end. Suddenly building the third-generation RX-7 — the world's most advanced twin-turbo rotary sports car — seemed like the most natural thing a small car company hailing from Hiroshima could do. On this side of the Pacific, however, there was no context for the sudden influx of unusually tricked-out Japanese hardware flooding American dealerships. And none of the Japanese sports cars of the era was more unusual than the FD-generation Mazda RX-7, imported from 1993 to 1995 (and continuing on in Japan until 2002). Although the island nation's economy was headed on a downward spiral by the end of 1990, Mazda was in no position to pull back and walk away from the development dollars that had already been spent on its latest RX-7. As a result, Americans were able to briefly bask in the glow of one of the most unique engineering experiments ever unleashed on unsuspecting buyers. For its time, the Mazda RX-7 was a spaceship. With fluid lines that screamed "exotic," it joined the NSX in showing that supercars didn't have to have European blue blood running in their cooling systems to elegantly snag eyeballs. The twin-rotor, 1.3-liter 13B-REW situated behind the RX-7's front axle revved all the way to 8,000 rpm on its quest to produce 255 horsepower and 217 pound-feet of torque, with a pair of sequential turbos handing boost duties back and forth around the 4,500 rpm mark. A five-speed manual gearbox was standard with the FD (a four-speed automatic was optional), as was a curb weight in the neighborhood of 2,800 pounds — nearly 500 lbs less than the contemporary Toyota Supra. Significant figures for the era, to be sure. While they might pale in comparison to the average sports car today, slide into the RX-7's cockpit and drive the car, rather than just crunch the numbers. You'll quickly discover what can be accomplished when the company that engineered the Miata pulls a full John Hammond and "spares no expense" developing a world-beating sports car platform. The 1993 Mazda RX-7 I've been loaned from Mazda's classic collection is an R1 car, which means tighter suspension tuning, a few cosmetic upgrades, and a Competition Yellow paint job.