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Five automakers now being investigated by NHTSA for airbag woes

It appears that Toyota's renotification to owners of recalled vehicles from last year is just the tip of the iceberg for what could potentially be a much larger industry-wide recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation investigation into roughly 1.1 million vehicles from Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and parts supplier Takata regarding faulty airbag inflators in several models.
NHTSA has received six reports - three directly, two from Takata and one from Toyota - of vehicles with ruptured airbag inflators from 2002-2006, which resulted in three injuries. So far, all six incidents have occurred in high humidity areas like Florida and Puerto Rico. According to Toyota's latest recall announcement, the inflators may have an improper propellant that could cause it to rupture in a crash and the bag to deploy abnormally.
This new investigation follows a previous recall from April 2013 of about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the airbag inflators from Takata. As Autoblog reported, Toyota jumpstarted the new situation when it found that the original list of serial numbers for the faulty part was incomplete and discovered more cars in need of replacement. Honda and Nissan told us that they were investigating whether further models would need called in again as well. Mazda told Autoblog: "Regarding the current Takata situation, we're working closely with NHTSA and investigating the situation, but nothing else to report at this time." Chrysler Group responded to us with the statement: "Chrysler Group engineers are conducting the appropriate analysis. The Company will cooperate fully with the National Highway Traffic Administration."

Mazda Hot Lap Challenge will put simulator drivers in real Miatas

Using a video game as a feeder racing series is nothing new. Sony and Nissan have run the GT Academy for years now, rewarding the best Gran Turismo players with the chance to drive a real car. It seems Mazda wants a piece of the action. This year, it will host an iRacing Hot Lap Challenge, giving the best players a trip to the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The two fastest drivers will race head-to-head, with the winner earning a test drive in a Mazda MX-5 Miata Cup car. During 2018, Mazda will host events events at select races where participants can lap Daytona in an iRacing simulator. Those who can't attend one of those events will have the chance to compete on iRacing at home. At the end of the year, 35 drivers will compete for a trip to the 2019 race. That winner will be a guest of Mazda Team Joest. The event is open to U.S. residents age 18 and above. Full details can be found on the iRacing website. The event calendar is listed below. Online time attack schedule Week 1: 4/13 – 4/15 – Daytona Road Course Week 2: 5/25 – 5/26 – Lime Rock Park Week 3: 6/29 – 7/1 – Watkins Glen Week 4: 8/3 – 8/5 – Road America Week 5: 8/24 – 8/25 – Gateway Motorsports Park Week 6 9/7 – 9/9 – Laguna Seca Week 7: 10/11 – 10/13 – Road Atlanta TA sessions will be available the entire day(s) based on GMT At-track schedule Week 1: 4/13 – 4/15 – Long Beach Week 2: 5/25 – 5/26 – Lime Rock Park Week 3: 6/29 – 7/1 – Watkins Glen Week 4: 8/3 – 8/5 – Road America Week 5: 8/24 – 8/25 – Gateway Motorsports Park Week 6 9/7 – 9/9 – Laguna Seca Week 7: 10/11 – 10/13 – Road Atlanta Related Video: News Source: Mazda, iRacing Marketing/Advertising Toys/Games Mazda Convertible Racing Vehicles mazda mx-5 mazda mx-5 cup

Mazda Miata 'fathers' Hall and Case offer a tour through the roadster's history

The original Mazda Miata broke onto the automotive scene in 1989 and was a huge success. However, the convertible's genesis goes all the way back to the early '80s. Bob Hall and Dean Case were among the inside men of the program on the US side, and they were on hand at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the recent MX-5 event there to tell some of their stories about the project's beginning.
Hall was on the Miata project from very early on, and one of his most fascinating stories is how the convertible got its shape. The droptop wasn't necessarily going to be a rear-wheel drive roadster. There were both front-wheel-drive coupe and mid-engine concepts being considered. In fact, the classic look of the NA generation was the least favorite of the three at the sketch stage.
Hall comes off as a jokester hiding a genius mind. He has a fountain of information in his head about what a Miata should be, but it all comes down to "less is more." However, he admits that it's easy to conceive that idea, but it's much harder to actually execute it well.