Blue Mazda 6 With Leather Seats Very Nice Condition Inside And Out on 2040-cars

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2018 Mazda CX-5 gets cylinder deactivation, more standard features

Mazda recently announced its new Mazda6 would feature two engines, one of which would be a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine with cylinder deactivation. Now the company has revealed the 2018 Mazda CX-5 will also get cylinder deactivation on its sole 2.5-liter four-cylinder. For those curious, the system shuts off the cylinders on the ends of the engine to save fuel. Mazda also says that the engine has been updated in a number of other small areas to reduce friction and further improve efficiency. The company hasn't provided fuel economy numbers for the new engine, though. The updates for the CX-5 go beyond the powertrain, as all trim levels get more standard features. The base-level CX-5 Sport now comes with a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic warning. The mid-level CX-5 Touring now has the i-Activsense safety feature suite standard, which includes automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and lane keeping assist. This suite of features is also available as an option for the first time on the Sport model. The top-level CX-5 Grand Touring gets seat memory for two settings, as well as a power-adjustable passenger seat. These updates bring very minor increases in price. The Sport trim adds another $140 over the 2017 version. The Touring jumps the most, up $335. The Grand Touring model increases $285. You'll be able to find 2018 CX-5s soon, as Mazda says they'll be arriving at dealers December 2017. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Mazda CX-5: First Drive View 25 Photos Image Credit: Mazda Green Mazda Crossover SUV mazda cx-5

Sell your own: 2004 Mazda RX-8

Looking to sell your car? We make it both easy and free. Quickly create listings with up to six photos and reach millions of buyers. Log in and create your free listings. Combine "sports car" with "user-friendly" and, in most forums, you have yourself an oxymoron. Sports cars are – by definition – sporty, but rarely do they qualify as easy to use. One that did and, regrettably, has faded from the scene is Mazda's RX-8. Initially launched in 2003, and out of production within roughly a decade, the RX-8 was perhaps the rotary-powered answer to a question few – at the time – were asking. Happily, Mazda produced it anyway. With its front mid-engined platform, freestyle doors and +2 seating, the RX-8 came as close to offering day-in, day-out utility as anything this side of an extended-cab pickup. And its nod to practicality did little, if anything, to diminish the essential goodness of the menu. Mazda's design team provided a high-revving rotary, nimble handling and almost telepathic steering, combining them into a frenzy-filled dollop of locomotion. The result was no more than mildly fast and furious, but in properly motivated hands the RX-8 delivered a high level of entertainment for a relatively modest outlay. This for-sale example, a 2004 RX-8 with automatic transmission, requires just $6,000 and – not incidentally – the ability to buy into its premise. The automatic will be perceived by many to be a negative, but might also suggest a more gentle ownership history. And without benefit of a clutch and shifter, the new owner can concentrate on the driving, with the Mazda's absurdly direct steering and slot-car cornering. The asking price is on the high side (book average is about $5K), but know that similar cars might bring upwards of $8,000. And at 91,000 miles it's been used, but perhaps not used up. Related Video: Mazda Used Car Buying Buying Guide Ownership Coupe Performance

2014 Mazda6: Winter's End Update

The Winter Without End is seemingly dead. Outside my office windows, my brown and yellow lawn is fully exposed to the increasingly powerful sunshine, the morning birdsong is louder than anything until the garbage trucks start rolling, and I'm seriously considering having the summer tires put back on my personal fleet. That last one is a little scary, as I'm a firm believer in the April Snow Jinx, but you get the idea.
The long-term Mazda6 has also long since left my driveway. Looking back on my notes from the time it was in my charge, however, I see all remarks are dominated by one highlighted section at the top: "worst winter drive of all time." I hardly need the reminder, to be honest. Here's what happened.
When the Mazda showed up at my door, we'd already fitted the thing with its new winter rubber: Bridgestone Blizzaks. Plunking down for dedicated snow tires was a near necessity this year - as it almost always is in Michigan. We didn't see much reprieve from snow-choked, iced over roads here in Ann Arbor, and the knobbier rubber proved invaluable in getting me out of my house time and again.