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Flyin' Miata's 525-hp V8-powered ND finally hits the streets

Flyin' Miata, in its valiant quest to turn Mazda's roadsters into small, Japanese Corvettes, has finally finished its first V8-powered ND Miata. The company has been slowly teasing us with images and videos for months, but it wasn't until this week that the car finally made it to the streets. As soon as the current ND generation Miata was released, Flyin' Miata started the work to shoehorn a GM LS3 under the hood. The company has a history of building brutish, V8-powered Miatas. It sells everything from minor parts to full V8 conversion kits. For those with the cash that prefer to avoid the hassle, Flyin' Miata will sell you a complete, turn-key car. The price hasn't been finalized, but customers should expect to pay about $50,000 plus the cost of the MX-5. The new car has a worked-over LS3 that sends 525 horsepower to the rear wheels through a Tremec T56 transmission. Flyin' Miata says the rear differential comes from a V8 Camaro. Other new bits include exhaust, suspension, brakes, and a roll cage. Flyin' Miata tells us that the V8-swapped ND will weigh 2,592 lbs, a little more than 200 lbs more than the porkiest stock Miata. Despite twice as many cylinders and more than three times the displacement of the stock four banger, the LS3 V8 is a relatively small and lightweight engine. The finished car has a 53:47 front to rear weight distribution. Final touches are being finished, but cars and kits should be available soon. This article has been updated with some info straight from Flyin' Miata. Thanks, Keith! Related Video: News Source: Road & Track, Flyin' Miata Mazda Convertible Performance flyin miata

Mazda goes on engineer hiring binge as recovery picks up speed

Japan's larger automakers - companies like Toyota, Honda and Nissan - have tremendous engineering talent at their disposal. That's largely because, selling as many cars as they do, they've got more revenues to tap into. Logic might dictate, then, that smaller automakers like Mazda, which no longer has the deep pockets afforded to it by its former partnership with Ford, might have less of a budget and workforce for engineering. But Mazda has been raking in record profits, and it plans on cashing those revenues in by hiring a substantial new pool of engineers.
According to Automotive News, Mazda is preparing to hire as many as 185 new engineers over the next two years - almost four times as many as the 50 engineers it previously targeted. Many of those engineers will be put to work developing the second-generation, Skyactiv 2 technologies that are on the drawing board while the first round of Skyactiv features are still being rolled out.
The boost in recruitment is enabled by a positive fiscal year that ended last March, marking the first profits Mazda had logged in four years. Sources anticipate that the fiscal year culminating at the end of this month will mark the company's most profitable yet, netting over a billion dollars to eclipse the fiscal year that ended in 2008 when it recorded $872.5 million in profits.

2018 Mazda CX-5 is the only IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus compact crossover

We've highlighted a number of vehicles tested by the IIHS, and specifically ones that come up just a little short of being lauded with the organization's highest safety rating of Top Safety Pick+. The reason most of these vehicles fall short is sub-par headlights. But this time we have a different story. The 2018 Mazda CX-5 actually snagged the coveted award, and impressively, it's the only small crossover SUV the organization has tested to earn it. The reason of course hinges on headlight performance. In order for a vehicle to get the award, it has to have headlights available that score a "Good" rating, in addition to having stellar crash tests. The award for good lighting and the Top Safety Pick+ only goes to the CX-5 with the optional adaptive lighting system available on all trims (optional on the base Sport). The standard headlights on the Sport model earned the second-highest rating of "Acceptable." The CX-5 also earned a "Good" rating in every crash test, including both small-overlap tests. It earned 5 out of 6 points in forward collision prevention, netting a "Superior" rating. There are many safe options in the small SUV category besides the CX-5, though. The Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda's own CX-3, and Mitsubishi Outlander match the CX-5's straight-"Good" crash test ratings. They all also pick up an additional forward collision point in the collision warning category. The best headlights any of them can offer, though, are just "Acceptable," and the standard headlights can be even worse with "Marginal" or "Poor" ratings. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Mazda CX-5: First Drive View 25 Photos News Source: IIHS, MazdaImage Credit: Mazda Mazda Safety Crossover SUV consumer mazda cx-5