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We go Unplugged to celebrate Mazda Miata Month

Chances are good that you, loyal Autoblog reader, have long since chosen to follow us on Twitter and 'like' us on Facebook. (If you haven't, feel free to take a second and do so right now.) Anyway, if you're one of our social media posse, you might have already heard that we're smack dab in the middle of Miata Month. We've gotten Mazda to loan us a couple of MX-5 Miatas, allowing us to say a protracted, tear-filled goodbye to the current generation (NC) of the beloved roadster, just before it exits stage right and ushers in the next generation.
You'll see a few more Miata Month items here on Autoblog after we've said our final farewell, but we absolutely wanted to make sure we created some great video evidence of our month, as well. Right down below, then, in its unfiltered-audio splendor, is the Autoblog Unplugged version of the 2015 Mazda MX-5 Miata PRHT. Your author had a pretty great time wringing out the roadster for the creation of our short vid, and we really hope you dig listening along.

Mazda Miata livery design contest in Forza Horizon 2

If you're into video games, creativity, the Mazda MX-5 Miata and South by Southwest, then there's a contest in Forza Horizon 2 you'll want to know about. Called the Livery Design Contest, your job is to head to Xbox Live sometime before midnight on January 4, 2015 and design a paint job for the 1994 Miata in the game. A panel of judges will evaluate designs for originality, aesthetic design and technical proficiency, and settle on up to five semifinalists who will regroup in the next round, which is public voting. Come January 26, the public can begin voting on its favorite design until February 12, to narrow the semifinal pool down to two. Those two will be flown to South by Southwest in Austin, TX – which happens from March 13-22 – and one of them will be crowned the winner. Said winner will lumber away from the event with $3,500 worth of prizes, including a 55-inch curved-screen television, and their livery will be free to all of the minions playing Forza Horizon 2. There's also a Mazda hub on Xbox Live for everyone to take an in-depth look at the 2016 Miata, if you just like to watch, in which case you may also want to see the related videos joining the press release below. MAZDA TEAMS UP WITH XBOX TO LAUNCH 2016 MX-5 - Mazda MX-5 Livery Design Contest Now Live in Forza Horizon 2 - - Branded hub allows Xbox users to virtually tour 2016 MX-5 and enter MX-5 design contest - Winning design to be featured in Forza Horizon 2 and gifted to all players IRVINE, Calif. (December 4, 2014) – For the second consecutive year, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) is teaming up with Xbox, this time to promote the launch of the 2016 Mazda MX-5 and give Forza Horizon 2 players the chance to enter the Mazda MX-5 Livery Design Contest. An interactive experience with the 2016 Mazda MX-5 and information on the design contest will be available through the Mazda branded hub on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The Mazda MX-5 Livery Design Contest, which is now live through January 4, 2015, will give Forza Horizon 2 players the opportunity to design the livery for the 1994 Mazda MX-5 currently available in-game. Two finalists will be awarded a trip in March to South by Southwest 2015 for the final design showdown. The winner will walk away with a new 55-inch curved TV, audio music system, Xbox One Kinect console and one MadCatz Racing Wheel estimated at $3,499.95.

Watch what happens inside a rotary engine

Since it looks like Mazda may very well revive the Wankel rotary engine as a range extender for electric cars, there's no better time to become reacquainted with the quirky internal-combustion engine. And there's hardly a better way to become reacquainted than by peering into a running rotary engine, which you can do with the video above. The video comes to us from the YouTube channel Warped Perception. The channel has already shown what happens inside a conventional internal-combustion piston engine by putting a clear cylinder head on top of a flathead engine. This new video shows off the rotary engine by adding a clear side to a tiny model-airplane engine, something that we weren't aware existed and are glad to know about now. Despite the tiny size, the engine is functionally almost exactly like the bigger versions you'll find in Mazdas from about 1967 to 2012. It has intake and exhaust ports on the edges of the rotor housing, and the triangular rotor swings about in a peanut-shaped housing. For maximum effect, jump to right around the 7:40 timestamp. This is the point at which a bit of acetylene is added to the air-fuel mix for a brighter flame. It's at this point that you can really see when the mixture combusts and how the pressure of the flame pushes the rotor to produce rotational motion. Each stage of the video does slow things down to make everything as clear as possible. Even if you already knew how rotary engines worked, it's still fascinating to watch, first because it's something you don't get to see usually, and also because of the engine's elegant simplicity. Related Video: Image Credit: YouTube / Warped Perception Weird Car News Mazda Technology Videos rotary rotary engine