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Sweating the small stuff | 2017 Mazda CX-5 First Drive

The 2017 Mazda CX-5's door handles got their own design study. They got their own graphs, maths, and a team of people scientifically analyzing how humans interact with them. There was a whole to-do. And yet, you look at them back-to-back with their predecessors, a Spockian eyebrow reaching to the stars, and wonder what all the fuss was about. But apparently they're better. They're also perfectly illustrative of the entire effort to re-engineer and improve Mazda's best-selling model. At first, the 2017 Mazda CX-5 seems like a sensible evolution of its well-loved predecessor – there's sexier styling, a more premium cabin, and additional features, but the dimensions and engine specs look awfully similar. It certainly looks like one of those "the old car's great, let's not overthink the new one" redesigns. Except it isn't. Dig deeper and you'll see just how much meticulous work – from the door handles to the throttle response – went into making the new CX-5 a crossover that thoroughly trounces the majority of its competition. Take the efforts to make it quieter. According to Mazda's internal measurements, the sound-quelling improvements made for the CX-5's 2016 refresh already made it one of the quietest compact SUVs on the market. That apparently wasn't good enough. To what seems like an absurd degree, Mazda's engineers obsessively examined every nook, cranny, corner, and crevice to sniff out noise and eliminate it. Gaps were filled, insulation was injected, seals were added, air was redirected, glass was double glazed, and carpet replaced plastic coverings. It would seem that the Society of Persnickety Engineers is well represented at Mazda HQ. "I'm not sure how they found some of these," said Mazda vehicle development engineer Dave Coleman with a shake of his head, almost amused by the obsession and dedication of his colleagues across the proverbial hall in the sound-deadening department. (He goes over many of their enhancements in the video below.) And it worked. The new CX-5 is indeed incredibly quiet, even on San Diego's notoriously loud corrugated concrete freeways. It is quiet for a Mazda – a brand previously known for the exact opposite – and the entire segment. Even the fairly quiet 2017 Honda CR-V we drove on the same freeways on the way to San Diego couldn't match it. Actually, much of the driving experience can't be matched by a competitor.

Mazda bringing electric car to the Tokyo Motor Show

In June this year, Mazda CEO Akira Marumoto told Automotive News Europe that "the first Mazda battery-electric vehicle will hit the market next year." Earlier this month, Mazda invited journalists to Oslo, Norway, to learn more about the automaker's EV plans and drive a prototype of the e-TPV powertrain, the letter designation standing for electric-Technology Prove-out Vehicle. Mazda had dressed the e-TPV production-intent powertrain under bodywork from the carmaker's new CX-30 compact crossover. Automotive News reports that Mazda will unveil its actual EV at the Tokyo Motor Show next month, which a Mazda spokesperson confirmed.     Mazda developed the powertrain in-house, engineered for buyers in dense urban environments. A 35.5-kWh lithium-ion battery powers a single electric motor wiith 141 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. Range is said to be 200 kilometers (124 miles) on the city cycle, but that's likely on the Japanese or WLTP cycle that returns larger numbers than the U.S. EPA. The mechanical figures lie between the 28-kWh battery of the Hyundai Ioniq Electric and the 40-kWh battery of the standard Nissan Leaf. The EPA rates the less-powerful Ioniq for 124 miles of range, while the more powerful Leaf can go 150 miles. AN writes that Mazda's initial planned markets include Japan, China, and Europe where 124 miles is plenty for day trips. A version serving markets known for urban sprawl would employ a rotary engine range extender, a tech tidbit Mazda's spoken about regularly over the past year.   Iain Curry of Australian outlet Chasing Cars had good things to say about the e-TPV prototype he drove. Curry said the experimental car didn't offer strong regen braking and piped a mild four-cylinder soundtrack into the cabin to give drivers a connection to the ICE experience they're familiar with, but there's no word on whether the production vehicle will be set up the same way. Curry praised the handling, saying the e-TPV felt similar to a Mazda3 on the go and around corners. We'll get more concrete info next month in Japan. The show car in Tokyo will be a "brand-new model" on a new EV-specific platform, and don't be surprised by a compact crossover shape since the carmaker CEO said, "Our global crossover mix is currently about 60 percent."

12 new cars that will never go out of style

Some cars never go out of style. It’s rare, but it happens. They get old. They get depreciated. But they never stop looking cool.  Some might call them modern or instant classics. Within a few years theyÂ’re no longer the latest and greatest, no longer the flavor of the month, but they remain special. Eternally special. Timeless.  These cars arenÂ’t necessarily going to be worth a fortune someday. However, some may not depreciate as rapidly or as far as other models. But thatÂ’s not what weÂ’re talking about here. These are the cars that enthusiasts will always find desirable from the curbside. TheyÂ’re the cars you end up shopping on eBay late at night 10 years later because you canÂ’t get them out of your head. TheyÂ’re the cars that will forever excite you when you spot a clean one in traffic or in a parking lot.  There are plenty of recent examples over the past couple of decades that could count as instant design classics. But then we got to thinking, what 2021 models will be forever cool to stare at? Which new cars and trucks on sale today will we be shopping on eBay late at night in the 2030s? We kept supercars and other ultra-expensive cars off the list to keep things within the realm of attainability, and ended up with 12 total cars. Lexus LC WeÂ’re not applying a numerical ranking to any of the cars on this list, but if we were, the Lexus LC would be No. 1. There isnÂ’t another car design out there that can stir our emotions the way an LC can when itÂ’s just standing still. This car is a concept design come true in the most beautiful of ways, and itÂ’s a shoo-in winner for Concours events decades into the future. All of this heaping praise, and we havenÂ’t even gotten to the LC 500Â’s intoxicating 5.0-liter V8. It doesnÂ’t win drag races. It wonÂ’t be the fastest around the track against any similarly-priced competition. But none of that matters. ItÂ’s quite possibly the best car you can buy new, and that says it all when it comes to the LC. Chevrolet Corvette It might not be the stunner that the Lexus LC is, but the new C8 Corvette is and will always be a special vehicle. ItÂ’s the first mid-engine Corvette, which instantly cements it into an automotive hall of fame section of sorts. All of the performance stats and specs are there to back up its supercar-like looks, and it remains the best performance bargain on sale today.