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Cedar Rocket is the fastest all-electric log car in the world

An electric turbine manufacturer, a mechanic, and a log house builder walk into a bar. No, wait. The three are standing around at Barrett-Jackson a few years ago, talking about the world. What's the eventual punchline? An all-electric vehicle mash-up of a Mazda RX-8 and a giant piece of wood. One that was just awarded a Guinness World Record for "fastest motorized log." "Truly, what else would you think of?" - Bryan Reid, Sr. Bryan Reid, Sr., star of the reality show Timber Kings, is the log house builder in the set-up above, and he's now the proud owner of Cedar Rocket. He told AutoblogGreen that a log-based EV is the natural result of the three guys chatting. "Truly, what else would you think of?" he said. "I mean, really? There has to be something to come out of it other than girls. It was crazy, but it's a good story and nobody gets hurt. It's hard to make the news when everything's positive." Idea in hand, Reid and his friend set off to actually build the car. Gerald Overton, the mechanic, turned the Mazda into a welcoming recipient, working on the disc brakes, axles, frame, differential, and suspension. While the presence of a television producer kept things moving, Reid said that it still took almost two years. "It started out, not as a joke, but as something very light," he said. "You put a log on a couple of axles and 'ha ha.' It ended up taking many thousands of hours. We don't do anything halfway." In the end, Reid and the team took the Cedar Rocket to the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona and managed two runs of 55 miles per hour within an hour (that's what Guinness required to hand out the official record). The Rocket is incredibly stable – heavy batteries help there – and Reid pointed out that because the EV uses electric turbines, it's not a quarter-mile car. "It's more like a salt-flat car," he said, because the "turbines that take a while to spin up." Given the right conditions, Reid said the team thinks the Cedar Rocket could go 120-130 mph. "It's crazy because it's different." But the point of this car isn't to just go fast. The builders will bring the car to Barrett-Jackson and auction it off next year, but before that it will make the rounds at places like SEMA and a number of unexpected events, like golf shows. The point is to get attention and raise money and awareness for veterans groups. "I believe it's for the best cause in North America," he said.

2017 Mazda CX-9 packs turbo power, fresh style

After nearly a decade of sales, Mazda finally introduces the second-generation CX-9 crossover. It delivers a comprehensive interior and exterior overhaul, blessing the CX-9 with a powerful, efficient Skyactiv powertrain, and instilling even more of the sporting character that makes Mazdas so darn charming. Like every other vehicle in Mazda's catalog, the CX-9 now wears the handsome, suave stylings of the company's Kodo design language. We think it looks great, but feel free to disagree in Comments. The second-generation CX-9 is the perfect example of Mazda's growing interior design prowess. As is so often the case, it's not so much the style but the choice of materials that stands out. Nappa leather can be paired with real Japanese rosewood and aluminum accents to craft a cabin that feels far more expensive than what you might expect from Mazda. The quality is impressive, even on the pre-pre-production prototypes we tested (drive impressions coming soon). The other headline, aside from the gorgeous interior, is the powertrain. The heart and soul of the operation is a new 2.5-liter, turbocharged Skyactiv engine. Although it only produces a modest 250 horsepower, that figure is complemented by a whopping 310 pound-feet of torque. Importantly, torque is easy to access in the lower part of the rev range, with peak twist coming in at just 2,000 rpm. It drops off rather suddenly north of 4,000 rpm, but as Mazda tells it, most consumers rarely venture above that figure. Mazda expects the CX-9's core market to be perfectly happy with the robust low-end output. A six-speed automatic is responsible for doling out that grunt, and is meant to play nicely with the same i-Activ predictive all-wheel-drive system found in the CX-5 (although the two cars don't share any AWD components). Using 22 different sensors, the system measures road conditions 200 times every second and will even send up to half the engine's power to the rear axle. The entire car, meanwhile, rides on the same Skyactiv architecture as the CX-5 and Mazda6, meaning a multi-link rear suspension has been paired with MacPherson struts up front. Eighteen-inch wheels will be standard, although 20s will also be on offer. You can expect to hear much more on just what the new CX-9 is like to drive next week. Until then, enjoy the official images from Mazda, and keep an eye open for live shots from the LA debut, headed your way soon.

RingBanana Miata breaks 9-min Nurburgring barrier

The RingBanana is a cheap Mazda MX-5 Miata on a screaming mission: to lap the Nurburgring in under nine minutes. And let us emphasize the word "cheap." The team wanted the least expensive Miata they could find that still ran, and then wanted to spend the least amount of money possible in order to hit their target mark. We don't know how much they spent on the Ringbanana, but they were so indiscriminate about the purchase that they don't know what year the car is. They only know that it's got 90 horsepower, green springs, Fulda tires, and "it's completely crap." After setting a base lap of 9:21.8 the guys behind the project figured they'd have a fair bit of work. Turns out a new set of Kumho V70A semi-slick, road-legal race tires paired with Gabriel Pirana's driving is all they needed. With just that mod Pirana set a lap time of 8:59.9, and that was while having to deal with one spot of slow traffic that was getting around a stricken car. According to Wikipedia, this puts them between a 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged and a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt SS. Even though the team achieved its goal on its first attempt, the Ringbanana game isn't over – there's probably a suspension mod in the near future while the guys figure out just how quickly they can go. The video above does a good job of showing just how fun it can be driving a slow car fast.