Mazda showed a prototype hardtop at the last Tokyo Motor Show but it hasn’t been put into production yet.  The Abarth gets one, I don’t understand why they haven’t released the MX5 one.  Then again, I haven’t understood most of the decisions Mazda made this year, so to each his own, I guess.

The NB2 seats are awful. I just swapped from a base NB1 to a Mazdaspeed NB2 and if the old seats didn’t have 100k miles on them starting to wear through in the bottom then I’d swap them over before I sold the old car.

I don’t know, they match left and right. I’ve never found the visors to be inadequate in practice. They’re probably just perforated for style. They can’t really be lighter then standard visors so I doubt it’s a “gram strategy” thing.

The perforated visors allow you to see stoplights through them. They block enough sun to keep you from going blind but work in traffic (because of where the roof line is).

This isn’t your average car that you can just throw a T56 in. I don’t think there’ll be a surprise manual down the line. That center console design doesn’t really have any way to package one.

Not really. As far as I know there is no “fix.” You can replace the clutches but they’ll wear out again. I had a co-worker have the clutches replaced twice and then the entire transmission replaced over the course of 18 months. Unless Ford has finally come up with a miracle calibration to solve the transmission’s…

As a Mazdaspeed MX5 owner I can confirm the balance wasn't upset by the power but it has its own issues.  Gearing being #1.  A lowered redline #2.

I’d generally agree with you but apparently the A3 can be had all the way up to $45k with the same 184hp engine. Granted the S3 is an option (and one that suggests Mazda could make more power and not lose the image they're going for) but it’s amazing how little the power matters in the mid-lux market.

I’m convinced the suburban group is just out to fleece the everyday buyer.  I have a story about a brake recall I tell all the time about my local dealer.  I'm thinking about going all the way out to Ann Arbor to see if I can get better service.

I love the look of the new 3, but if it drives anything like my wife’s 2015 Mazda 6, the 2.5 NA isn’t the right motor for the top trim. With all these reviews of how good the new AWD system is in the snow I’d love to get the hatchback but still want a stick.

I feel like this should be the real story of the race. Max’s pace in the second half of the race is absurd. Is Max just that fast? Did Red Bull change a setting and burn the wick from both ends to secure a win on their home circuit? How do you go from an also-ran in the first half of the race to putting down FTOD on…

It seems like if these new V’s come in cheaper then the old ones to make up for the lost power (maybe $10k cheaper), and a full high-performance variant is still coming then it’s probably fine. This is GM we’re talking about, producing cars like the Cavalier LS Sport and the Sonic RS, that have go-fast looks and no…

This was the entire premise for “Junkyard Wars” and yes, it was great.

My local dealer’s service department is awful and I will never go back at this point. We have an ‘09 RX8 and a ‘15 Mazda 6 (and a ‘99 Miata). I’ve had both the RX8 and the 6 in for warranty/recall work and it’s like pulling teeth to get the work done right. They’re super pushy on making me pay for things.

Cost is a big part of this too. I passed up on the Anniversary Edition because I realized it was pushing $38k and there were cars I’d rather have for that kind of money (like a Speed3, but I digress). The Miata thrives on being a cheap(er) coupe. For many it’s a 2nd or 3rd car. The extra cost of the driveline would…

It absolutely needs to be at some point. In-Lieu of a Speed3, this is the bare minimum to keep my business. The speed3 is out of production 5years now, I love the way Mazda tunes cars, they just feel right, but if they can’t put more then 200hp in their compact I’m going to take a serious look at the Veloster N and…

This was, indeed, the original meaning of CTS/DTS/STS.  At this point it might mean “cadillac touring” but more then likely even internal documents just call it a meaningless nomenclature unless the advertising company wants to do something with it.

The how was the whole point of the patent you posted about the last time. It’s a utility patent for a subscription system. They’ll configure the trucks for you. Owners don’t keep the modular parts. You use an app to reserve them.

You have to look at the actual claims of a patent. Figures and descriptions are just “teachings” and the whole skateboard car goes back at least as far as GM’s 2002 Autonomy concept but likely back to Coach Building around the turn of the century. Throwing extra batteries in things or building a car on top of a common…

HVAC in particular is prone to little noises or little leaks that didn’t show up in Design Validation. For some reason the moment you move to production tooling all hell breaks loose and the hounds start barking from their circle and suddenly mode changes make little popping noises for no apparent reason.