2015 Mazda Mazda6 I Touring on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mazda and Fiat finalize deal for Alfa roadster, next-gen MX-5 Miata

Although a little bit later than expected, Mazda and Fiat have signed a final agreement that will bring a next-generation MX-5 Miata to the Japanese automaker and a new roadster to Alfa Romeo. When the proposed arrangement was announced back in May, the two automakers had hoped to seal the deal last year, but it doesn't appear that the production timeline for these cars has slipped any, with both expected to start rolling off assembly lines in 2015.
Other than a shared chassis with a rear-wheel-drive layout, it sounds like the two cars are still planned to be distinct in their own ways from their styling right down to their engines. Mazda will produce both cars at a plant in Hiroshima, Japan, but it isn't clear what role each automaker will play in the cars' developmental process. The big question, of course, is what clever portmanteau name we can come up with, like Toyobaru. Mazda Romeo is the easy choice, but Alfazda might roll off the tongue a little better.
Scroll down for a brief press release from both automakers.

2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata 30th Anniversary Edition goes bold

For a car with a mischievous grin and penchant for fun, the MX-5 Miata's color palette is on the drab side, but thankfully the 30th Anniversary Edition gets a vivid hue called Racing Orange. Mazda says it "evokes the breaking dawn of an exciting new day," and that it's partly inspired by the bright yellow of the Miata Club Racer concept from 1989. That's all well and good, but it looks to us more like the orange from the 1991 Le Mans-winning Mazda 787B race car. Whatever the reason, we dig the color. It will be important that the new owners like it, too, because the color is everywhere. It's on the brake calipers, door sills, air vents, stitching and piping. Everything else is a black or charcoal color, including the gorgeous Rays forged aluminum wheels, exclusive to this model, and the Alcantara trim on the dash, doors and seats. All versions of the special Miata come with Recaro seats, Brembo brakes, Bose sound system and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The manual models add a limited-slip differential, Bilstein shocks and a front shock tower brace. Mazda isn't making many of these special Miatas, with just 3,000 of the soft top and RF combined for the world. The U.S. will get only 500. Customers can order one now at a special configuration website, and they had better bring plenty of cash. The manual soft top starts at $35,915, and the manual RF starts at $38,515. Adding an automatic ups the price by $499 on the soft top and $400 on the RF. Related Video:

Mazda pits 2016 MX-5 Miata against the original

Mazda has toiled admirably to keep the latest MX-5 Miata true to the spirit of the original. But just how close did the team come? To find out, the Japanese automaker brought two bookending examples of its iconic roadster down to a racetrack in Spain and put them in the hands of a couple of endurance racing drivers – Jade Paveley in the original, Owen Mildenhall in the new model. Whichever crossed the finish line first at the end of one lap would win. And because 25 years of progress wouldn't exactly make it a fair match, they gave the original a four-second head start. Watch the video above to see how it went down. Related Video: