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Mazda heads to Daytona with fierce-looking Mazda3 TCR race car

Hatchback lovers rejoice, Mazda has turned its stunning five-door into a race car. The Mazda3 TCR will participate in the 2020 IMSA Michelin PilotChallenge and will first debut in January 2020 during the Rolex 24 weekend in Daytona, Florida. Mazda is set to return to touring-car racing (TCR) with an adaptation of its popular compact car. The Mazda3 TCR has a lot of exterior changes that make it visually different from its road car brethren, and a whole lot more performance alterations we can’t see. A massive wing stands tall at the rear, and itÂ’s matched with a bulbous widebody kit with cooling vents behind the front and rear wheels. The new dress also has a front splitter, side skirts, and rear bumper aero. Further enhancements include a new hood, a single centered exhaust pipe, and new wheels and tires. Under the hood, the Mazda3 TCR has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 350 horsepower. It pairs with a six-speed transmission with paddle shifters. Mazda collaborated with the same company that manufacturers the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Car, Long Road Racing, to develop the TCR. It is homologated for global racing in 36 TCR championships, and it will make its debut at the four-hour Endurance Challenge at the Daytona Rolex 24.  

2014 Mazda Skyactiv Prototype looks ready for Daytona

With less than two weeks before the Mazda Skyactiv Prototype makes its race debut at the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Japanese Zoom-Zoom brand brought its diesel-powered racer to the floor of the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.
The red prototype marks Mazda's return to prototype racing, and will campaign the inaugural Tudor United SportsCar Championship using a 2.2-liter, SkyActiv-D diesel engine. With 451 horsepower on tap and 580 pound-feet of torque, the racer should stand up well against a field of gas-powered competitors.
Should the Skyactiv win Daytona, it'll be a coup for Mazda. The racer is running an engine with over 50 percent of its parts drawn from the oft-delayed production Skyactiv-D. Head up top for our full gallery of images of the new Skyactiv Prototype. The 2014 Rolex 24 will be run from January 25 to 26.

Asian automakers still reluctant to use more aluminum

There's a logical progression of technology in the auto industry. We've seen it with things like carbon-ceramic brakes, which use to be the sole domain of six-figure sports cars, where they often cost as much as an entry level Toyota Corolla. Now, you can get them on a BMW M3 (they're still pricey, at $8,150). Who knows, maybe in the next four a five years, they'll be available on something like a muscle car or hot hatchback. Aluminum has had a similar progression, although it's further along, moving from the realm of Audi and Jaguar luxury sedans to Ford's most important product, the F-150. With the stuff set to arrive in such a big way on the market, we should logically expect an all-aluminum Toyota Camry or Honda Accord soon, right? Um, wrong. Reuters has a great report on what's keeping Asian manufacturers away from aluminum, and it demonstrates yet another stark philosophical difference between automakers in the east and those in the west. Of course, there's a pricing argument at play. But it's more than just the cost of aluminum sheet (shown above) versus steel. Manufacturing an aluminum car requires extensive retooling of existing factories, not to mention new relationships with suppliers and other logistical and financial nightmares. Factor that in with what Reuters calls Asian automaker's preference towards "evolutionary upgrades," and the case for an all-aluminum Accord is a difficult one. Instead, manufacturers in the east are focusing on developing even stronger steel as a means of trimming fat, although analysts question how long that practice can continue. Jeff Wang, the automotive sales director for aluminum supplier Novelis, predicts that we'll see a bump in aluminum usage from Japanese and Korean brands in the next two to three years, and that it will be driven by an influx of aluminum-based vehicles from western automakers into China. Only time will tell if he's proven right. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Sean Gallup / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Honda Hyundai Mazda Nissan Toyota Technology aluminum