2004 Mazda Rx-8 Base Coupe 4-door 1.3l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recharge Wrap-up: First EV to attempt Dakar Rally, Mazda makes bioplastic parts

Zap and Jonway Auto brought their Urbee EV and their new Falcon A-380 SUV to the Peru Motor Show in Lima. Jonway sells its SUV and minivan in Lima through Dai-Ichi Motors, which displayed the cars at the show. According to the companies, their cars "received tremendous interest from the public," including private citizens as well as groups who would use the EVs for security guard service or campus use. Read more in the press release below. California is the US leader when it comes to EVs. In 2013, California had 70,000 battery electric and 104,000 plug-in hybrids. The state boasts almost half of the country's electric vehicles, thanks largely to state and local EV incentives that go beyond the federal tax rebate. California also leads the way in legislation, and nine other states have adopted California's ZEV mandate. Washington, Maryland, Georgia and DC also have their own EV incentives, while some utility companies also offer benefits for EV owners in other states. Still, EV sales have only made up about 0.7 percent of new vehicle sales in 2014. Read more at the US Energy Information Administration website. Toyota will be using landfill gas to help power its Kentucky manufacturing facility. Beginning in 2015, Toyota's Georgetown assembly plant will use electricity converted from landfill-sourced methane gas from Waste Services of the Bluegrass. It will provide enough energy to produce 10,000 vehicles each year. Plus it diverts methane - a greenhouse gas - from entering the atmosphere and helps improve the local air quality. Learn more in the video or Toyota's press release below. Mazda has developed a plant-derived bioplastic for making exterior and interior parts. The dyed plastic doesn't require painting, and it reduces petroleum consumption and carbon emissions in the manufacturing process. The bioplastic will be used for interior parts in the all-new MX-5 before being put into use on the exterior of future vehicles. Mazda will display prototype parts at the Eco-Products 2014 exhibit in Tokyo. Read more in the press release below. Acciona will enter the first-ever zero-emissions vehicle (pictured) to compete in the Dakar Rally. The vehicle uses an electric motor and lithium ion batteries, as well as solar panels to power telemetry and security systems. The Dakar Rally will take place from January 4 through 17 through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. See Acciona's Dakar EV in the video and read more in the press release below.

2018 Mazda MX-5 Miata and MX-5 Miata RF pricing announced

At Chicago, Mazda has announced official 2018 pricing for the MX-5 Miata, both soft-top and RF. The trick-roofed RF version, or Retractable Fastback, has a coupe-like power hardtop that opens up into a targa. It's only natural that there are MX-5 models on display at the Chicago Auto Show, as 29 years earlier the original Miata was unveiled there. All ND generation cars sold in the U.S. have the 155-horsepower Skyactiv-G engine with a choice of six-speed manual or six-speed automatic. While the canvas-topped 2018 MX-5 starts from $25,295 as a manual Sport, the RF bypasses the Sport spec and starts directly from the Club, which for the RF means a $31,910 starting price, or $355 more than for 2017; the soft-top 2018 Club costs $29,555 in comparison, or a measly $120 hike. The manual Club has a limited slip differential, a front strut brace and Bilstein suspension. Similarly to the soft-top car, the RF also gets a Brembo/BBS brake/wheel/appearance package that hikes the price to $35,680 — and that is only available with manual transmission. That package costs $32,925 for the soft-top, which has also a $700 Recaro sport seating option for the aforementioned Brembo/BBS package, but that is unavailable for the RF. Grand Touring comes with automatic climate control, heated leather seats and adaptive lighting, at a price of $30,195 for the soft top and $32,750 for the RF. Add new-for-2018 Nappa leather for the Grand Touring for $300. At launch in the 2017 model year, the RF Grand Touring was priced $3,000 dearer than a comparable soft-top version, but that difference has now shrunk by $500. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Mazda MX-5 RF: Chicago 2018 View 11 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2018 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Auto News Chicago Auto Show Mazda Convertible Coupe Performance 2018 Chicago Auto Show

Junkyard Gem: 1991 Mercury Capri XR2

Just a year after the Mazda MX-5 Miata first went on sale in the United States, Ford's Mercury Division began selling a similarly-priced two-seat convertible here. This was the 1991-1994 Mercury Capri, and I've found an example of the hot-rod turbocharged version in a northeastern Colorado car graveyard. The Capri name has an illustrious history within the Ford Empire. First used on a Lincoln in 1952, it went on to serve as the name for a hardtop version of the early-1960s Ford Consul in the UK, then as the designation for a low-end trim level on the 1966-1967 Mercury Comet. Starting in the 1969 model year in Europe (1970 in North America), Ford began selling the best-known Capri of all: a sporty coupe based on the Cortina, sold through Mercury dealers in the United States but never badged as a Mercury here. Sales of that Capri halted here after 1978 (they continued through 1986 in Europe), but the Mercury Division then moved the name over to its version of the 1979-1986 Ford Mustang. After that, Ford Australia took the Capri name for a new Mazda 323-based sports car beginning in 1989. Then Dearborn decided that an Americanized version of the Australian Capri would be a success on this side of the Pacific, and left-hand-drive Capris began showing up in American Mercury showrooms in late 1990. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those first-model-year cars, and it's the very rare turbocharged XR2 version. While this car was intended to be a competitor for the Miata, it's really that car's Mazda cousin. Both cars got their power from 1.6-liter versions of Mazda's versatile B engine, though the Capri had the same front-wheel-drive setup as its 323/Protege (and Escort/Tracer) platform siblings. At the same time, Ford was selling Kia-built Mazdas with Festiva (and, a bit later, Aspire) badging, alongside Mazda MX-6s with Probe badges. Just to make things interesting, American Mazda dealers were selling Ford Explorers as Mazda Navajos, while Rangers with Mazda badges followed starting in 1994. The 1990s were Mazda-riffic times at Ford! This car wasn't the first Australian-designed, Mazda-based Ford product sold in the United States. That honor belongs to the 1988-1989 Mercury Tracer, which was based on the same Mazda 323 platform as the Capri and built in Mexico. Later on, the Tracer remained a member of the 323 chassis family but was a nearly identical twin to its Ford Escort sibling.