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Laguna Seca getting another awkward name with WeatherTech sponsorship

According to the Monterey Herald, and also reported by Autoweek, Laguna Seca is getting a new title sponsor and as a result, a new name. The track is currently known by the official name of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a less-than-elegant name that goes away soon because Mazda is ending its sponsorship on March 31. The newspaper reports that the new sponsor is WeatherTech, and the new name, arriving on April 1, adds a word: WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca. We're not sure why it can't simply be known as Laguna Seca, since that's the name that sticks after the sponsors disappear. And we don't know why adding a word is better. Why would you add syllables to say and letters to type (insert lazy writer joke here)? It seems that those in charge of the track are happy with the deal, though. The Monterey Herald reports the deal is for five years of sponsorship at a cost of $5 million and that it's about two-thirds of what Mazda was paying. But the newspaper also reports that the track won't be providing the same track access that Mazda needed, and it may attract other automakers to the track when the track's name isn't partly that of a competitor. Related Video: News Source: Monterey HeraldImage Credit: Getty Marketing/Advertising Mazda Parts and Accessories Laguna Seca

Mazda3 sedan revealed by Top Gear Russia [w/poll]

Thanks to our comrades at Top Gear Russia, the trickling reveal of the Mazda3 sedan has begun. We saw the hatch in person in New York (and loved it), and we wanted to see if the trunked version could hold onto the same mojo. If you like the Mazda6, then you should like the Mazda3 because it takes just about everything from its toothsome big brother and shrinks it into a compact package.
Top Gear Russia was allowed to share photographs of the Mazda sedan they call "Treshka" (or they leaked them, depending on whom you talk to), but not their drive impressions. The site page says it will come in four trims for the Russian market - Drive, Active, Active+ and Supreme - and offer three engines. Our specifications will certainly differ. Other than that, all we have to go on are the looks, which some may argue are even better than the hatch thanks to a trunk line that provides more balance to that long hood up front.
The Mazda3 will go on sale later this year and US prices should be announced in September. For the time being, content yourself with the gallery of high-res images above.

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.