Funny. I was just looking at this over the weekend and thinking “this would be fun in SoCal gridlock”.

All Mazdas share a similar sporty driving character. They used to use the BMW 3 as a benchmark for driving dynamics and ride quality. Things are now refined more towards comfort, as they attempt to move up-market, but the sporting character is still retained. The 2 was/is a good little car. Just imagine what a tarted…

Ponder what life might be like in the post-apocalyptic world... Race gas and hookers, all day long.

You ain’t nothing but a pathetic worm.

With rise in petroleum prices, on-going war between Iran and the Saudis, plus sanctions on Iran (which is useless since Iraq is now effectively an Iranian satellite)... I see history repeating itself.

Dave McTracy does sound a little more rugged.

Because jobs. Because campaign contributions and the revolving door between the military, the lobbyists, congress and the military industrial complex.

There are no easy passes unless you structure the series so that one or a few teams completely dominate all others (hm, that sounds familiar). Even under that structure, depending on the track (which one and which portion) and drivers involved, the drivers still have to work at it to make it stick without incident.…

Slow cars that aren’t yours are fun for this very reason: drive it like you stole it.

It’s because it’s a Mazda2 made forced to conform to the Toyota/Scion corporate grille, as cheaply as possible.

“This,” I eagerly explained to my more normal, more well-adjusted, less car-savvy friend, “isn’t a Toyota. Through the miracle of global brand partnerships, it is actually a Mazda.

It’s a street course, y’know like made out of existing streets? It’s not like they could bulldoze and pave over sidewalks and buildings just for the sake of an annual weekend event.

No one said it couldn’t be done. But if it was as easy as you make it to be, there’d be a lot more action and no complaints of the race being boring. Even some of the top drivers said it was boring... on camera!

All that’s required is ground clearance (which it has) and low range gear. It will scale Renaults, Prii, Hyundais, or whatever your heart desires. Even a lifted Jeep could do this.

It may have been more exciting when the cars were small enough to fit two or more cars side-by-side. With modern F1 cars, you could barely fit two. When there is no passing, it’s a parade. I don’t think there is anyway to fix this particular race without scaling the cars down. Maybe that’s what F1 needs overall.

Nice. Please do one for automatics under $1k?

It’s available in the higher trims. It is a TFT display measuring 7".

Again and again. The answer is no. People in this segment do not buy manuals. Not in numbers that would support a business case.

Time to use aftermarket rotors?

It won’t trample you to death. It has pedestrian idiot detection and automatic braking (in certain trim).