Original 1990 Red Mazda Mx5 Miata on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Next-gen Mazda3 teased in new video, should debut next month

Despite being one of the oldest vehicles in its class, the third-gen Mazda3 is still a favorite here at Autoblog. It's handsome, comfortable and one of the best-driving compacts around. While we had hoped to see a new Mazdaspeed3 hot hatch before this model expired, it seems that's not the case. Today, Mazda released a short teaser video showing a very brief glimpse of what appears to be a new hatchback. A caption says there's more to come next month. That leads us to believe we'll see the next Mazda3 in late November at or around the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. We don't know much about the new model, though it does look like the hatchback will carry over. That's no surprise given the Chevy Cruze, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Hyundai Elantra all offer five-door variants. You can include the hatch-only Volkswagen Golf on that list, too. The sedan is a given considering how popular the body style is in America. Expect the design to draw a lot from the Mazda Kai concept we saw last fall. It's harder to say what Mazda might stuff under the new 3's hood. Skyactiv-X would be great, but the compression-ignition gasoline engine likely won't be ready in time for the Mazda3's debut. That's a shame, as the engine shows a lot of promise and would be a good and unique feature for Mazda. Until the EV infrastructure improves and the associated costs go down, more efficient internal-combustion engines will still have a place in the market. Check out further info on the Skyactiv-X technology here, and stay tuned later next month for more news from Mazda. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Mazda Hatchback Sedan

Electric Miata smokes Tesla Model S at the track

Yes, folks, you read that headline right. A souped up battery-electric version of a Mazda Miata took down a Tesla Model S on a quarter-mile drag strip. And it wasn't even close. Road Test TV was kind enough to post a video of a forest-green Miata (and its very stoked driver) doing a quarter-mile run in a rather brisk 9.27 seconds, beating the Model S sedan by a whopping 3.5 seconds in the process. And the Mazda crossed the finish line moving at 142 miles per hour, or 40 miles per hour faster than the Tesla was going when it finished the race. It's a good thing for the Tesla owner that they weren't racing for pink slips. Granted, the comparison is probably an unfair one because the Tesla was a stock, production vehicle (the P85 Performance model, but still), whereas who knows how the Miata was juiced up and how much cash it took to do the job. It's sort of like putting, say, an automotive writer against Usain Bolt because we ate the same breakfast and share 99 percent of our DNA. Still, the video does lend a certain credence to the idea that a battery-electric, super-light, rear-wheel-drive Miata would be a lot of fun, or at least a heck of lot more fun than any other Mazda out there. We're just sayin'. Check out the 100-second video below, and remember not to blink. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2019 Subaru Ascent vs. 2018 Mazda CX-9: Driving two class leaders side-by-side

As the de facto replacement for the family sedan, we expect a lot out of modern crossovers. They need to excel at family-hauling duties while delivering reasonable performance and fuel economy. They have to offer all-wheel drive and the latest safety technology. They ought to be ruggedly handsome, and they can't be so prohibitively expensive that the families they are targeting can't afford them. It's a tall order, and some automakers have hit closer to the proverbial bullseye than others. By some stroke of luck, we managed to snag a 2018 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring as our chariot to take the four-hour drive from Seattle to McMinnville, Ore., where we got our first drive of the 2019 Subaru Ascent. As one of our favorite vehicles in this class, the CX-9 would serve as a good comparison to the Ascent. And, on paper, the similarities are abundant: Both come from automakers with a clear, go-your-own-way approach to vehicle engineering, are powered by turbocharged four-cylinder engines, and offer three rows of seating in a relatively compact package. Put simply, we expect the Ascent and CX-9 to be cross-shopped by a lot of new-car buyers looking for a new family car. What we found is that the CX-9 is the better choice for the buyer who values a sporty driving experience above all else, while the Ascent is probably better for families looking for a healthier dose of practicality. Either option will ably serve the suburban American family they are targeting, but the ways they go about that life of servitude are quite different. It's worth noting that pretty much every automaker in America is selling a vehicle in this class, which means there are a heck of a lot of vehicles from which to choose. For a few other options, check out this spec-sheet comparison here, and for anything else, be sure to visit the handy Autoblog compare tool. With that out of the way, let's break it down a bit more granularly. Styling: View 36 Photos Looks-wise, we prefer the Mazda. A crossover is going to be generally box-shaped, but that doesn't mean it has to be boring. The CX-9's bodywork flows gracefully from nose to tail, with just the right amount of flashiness in the form of headlights that take the form of cat-like eyes, a five-point grille surrounded in chrome, and gently arcing bodyside lines. It all works to form what we think is the most attractive midsize crossover overall. We don't hate the Subaru Ascent's looks, but it's definitely more boring than the CX-9.