Mad Skills in Auto Racing Sim Games Could Win You a Test in a Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Car

If you're an accomplished player of online racing simulation games who also dreams of triumph on a real-world track, take note. The Mazda Hot Lap Challenge could give you a chance to put your gaming skills to work to win the grand prize: a test in the Mazda MX-5 Global Cup Car.

Two paths can be taken to the grand prize of the test in a Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car. At select Mazda Motorsports events throughout 2018, Mazda’s consumer display will feature a racing simulator that utilizes a Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car at Daytona International Speedway. The race fan who records the fastest lap time throughout 2018 on that simulator will earn an all-expense paid VIP trip to the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona as a guest of Mazda Team Joest.

Mazda's Updated CX-3: An Example of What Tasteful Design Can Do for a Generally Boring Category—the Crossover

The crossover, or CUV, is not an automotive category that we're crazy about. We don't try to make that a secret around here. That said, it's also no secret that, at least relatively speaking, we are crazy about what Mazda has been doing design-wise recently. And the updated 2019 Mazda CX-3, which, interestingly, Mazda positions as a movement toward its next generation of vehicles, is a nice, if not earth-shattering, of what tasteful design can do for a category that, overall, is, well, shall we say somewhat lacking in the excitement department?

Get Ready to Say Buh-Bye to That Lead-Acid Battery in Your Car—if Mazda Has Their Way

Photo: Towel401 (Wikimedia commons).

Mazda Motor Corporation, ELIIY Power Co., Ltd. and Ube Industries, Ltd. have agreed to jointly develop lithium-ion batteries for use in automobiles. The three companies will work together to develop durable, heat- and impact-resistant 12-Volt lithium-ion batteries as a viable replacement for lead-acid starter batteries in motor vehicles by 2021.

Lithium-ion batteries offer a promising alternative to conventional lead-acid car batteries, as environmental regulations in some regions restrict the use of lead and engineers aim to reduce vehicle weight for improved fuel economy. But their application in motor vehicles so far has been limited due to the need for car batteries to withstand the high temperatures of the engine room and the potential impact forces of a collision. With this new project, Mazda, ELIIY Power and Ube Industries will combine their technical strengths to overcome such issues.

Toyota, Mazda Form Joint Venture to Manufacture New Mazda Crossover and Toyota Corolla in Alabama

Mazda Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation announced on Thursday that they have launched a new joint venture, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (MTMUS), to build vehicles in Huntsville, Alabama, beginning in 2021.

Today’s Automotive Design Aesthetics: All-Time High, or All-Time Low?

Left: 1954 Chrysler Ghia Thomas Special. Photo by "Mr. Choppers"
(posted to Wikipedia).  Right: 2018 Ford Fusion (Photo: Ford media website).

Are you excited by the car designs you’re seeing today?

Or are the lineups, by and large, getting tiresome—because everything seems more and more alike?

The sad truth is that, today, with some notable exceptions, many models within a given category—sedans, crossovers, SUVs, even sports coupes—are tending to look dishearteningly similar.

To those of us who appreciate the breathtaking looks from the heyday of car design (which, for us, was roughly from the 1950s through perhaps the mid-1970s), the current generation of look-alike fastback sedans, for example, is sad to behold.