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2019 Mazda3 Hatchback AWD Premium Second Drive | Gushing about an exceptional car

The 2019 Mazda3 Hatchback is quite simply one of the best cars I've ever driven. During my week with one, specifically a range-topping Premium package version for $31,335, I struggled to come up with bad things to say apart from elements like rear visibility and back seat headroom that are directly related to its distinctive, avant garde design. That's an acceptable tradeoff in my book. So many of the new 3's elements can serve as a measuring stick for other cars. Not just its specific compact hatchback/sedan class, but all other cars, period. I had the Mercedes CLS 450 at the exact time, a car I deeply appreciate and that cost $69,000 more, and yet it was a struggle to decide which I wanted to drive. Perhaps not surprising given the 3's history, but the measuring stick is set first by the handling. It dances between corners with composure and feedback that you just don't get in cars any more Í– let alone at this price point. This is a car you feel through your butt, your heels on the floor and your hands on the wheel. Everything is just so right. And it should be noted that I came to this conclusion before remembering that Mazda switched to a cheaper, less sophisticated torsion beam rear suspension for this latest model. Perhaps you can tell the difference driving 10/10ths at a test track, but in the real world, I certainly didn't notice or log a complaint. Grip is superb. Even when the tires gave way a bit on my mountain road evaluation route, there was only a bit of squealing and it resolutely whipped itself through hairpins with shockingly little understeer for a front-drive-based car, helped no doubt by its all-wheel drive system. It would be interesting to see how much understeer the front-drive versions allow, and whether AWD is mitigating torque steer given the 3's not-insignificant power. As it is, the 3's standard 2.5-liter four-cylinder produces 186 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque, which is substantially better than virtually every other base engine in the segment. Its throttle response should be copied by everyone, as should the steering. OK, maybe not Porsche, which I keep finding myself drawing comparisons to whenever experiencing a new Mazda. Take that as the compliment it seems to be. I'd also like to note that the 3 has a six-speed automatic transmission rather than an easily confused eight-, nine- or eleventy-speed unit. Or a damn CVT.

Recharge Wrap-up: 61 miles on Autopilot; Mazda CX-9's 32% mpg improvement

A technology analyst at The Motley Fool used Tesla's Autopilot uninterrupted for 61 miles. In order to see how far the Tesla Model S could drive itself without driver intervention, Daniel Sparks set off on the highway from Monument, Colorado, through Colorado Springs and onward toward Pueblo. Only when a truck encroached on his lane did the driver take command of the wheel, rather than waiting to see what the car would do. "With [the] Model S nearly out of Pueblo and onto a long, boring stretch of highway by the time I had to grab the wheel, chances are I could have made it all the way to Colorado City if it wasn't for this interruption," says Sparks. Read the full account at The Motley Fool. The 2016 Mazda CX-9 offers 32 percent better fuel economy than the outgoing model. The front-wheel-drive CX-9, equipped with Mazda's Skyactiv-G 2.5T engine, gets an EPA-estimated 22 mpg city/28 mpg highway/25 mpg combined. The 2016 CX-9 has shed significant weight compared to its predecessor. Its turbocharged engine uses a Dynamic Pressure Turbo system, which improves performance at lower rpm by controlling the degree of exhaust pulsation according to engine speed. The new CX-9 goes on sale this spring. Read more at Green Car Congress. A group of eight US cities have formed the Energy Secure Cities Coalition (ESCC), pledging to switch their fleets over to alternative fuels. Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Orlando, Rochester, Sacramento, San Diego and West Palm Beach will retire their petroleum-powered vehicles in favor of EVs and cars using cleaner fuels like natural gas. The cities expect the change to help improve air quality and save taxpayer money on fuel and maintenance costs. The ESCC hopes to grow to include 25 major cities, removing some 50,000 petroleum-fueled vehicles from service and saving 500,000 barrels of oil per year. Read more in the press release below. Eight Major Cities Unite to form Energy Secure Cities Coalition—Fleets Embracing Alternative Fuels to Improve America's National and Economic Security Coalition's goal is to retire 50,000 petroleum-powered vehicles, saving tens of millions in taxpayer dollars and improving U.S. national and economic security. Washington, D.C.

White House clears way for NHTSA to mandate vehicle black boxes

At present, over 90 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States today are equipped with event data recorders, more commonly known as black boxes. If the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gets its way, that already high figure will swell to a full 100 percent in short order.
Such automotive black boxes have been in existence since the 1990s, and all current Ford, General Motors, Mazda and Toyota vehicles are so equipped. NHTSA has been attempting to make these data recorders mandatory for automakers, and according to The Detroit News, the White House Office of Management Budget has just finished reviewing the proposal, clearing the way. Now NHTSA is expected to draft new legislation to make the boxes a requirement.
One problem with current black boxes is that there's no set of standards for automakers to follow when creating what bits of data are recorded, and for how long or in what format it is stored. In other words, one automaker's box is probably not compatible with its competitors.