Sad news today. The 4,703 Mazda new cars and crossovers which were trapped in the Cougar Ace over two years ago have finally begun to be crushed and shredded.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mazda has decided to shred all the vehicles rather then take the chance of some of them reaching customer hands. The surprising part is that people were calling Mazda and their insurer to see if they could take some of the vehicles off the company’s hands. Hollywood requested several cars to use for stunt vehicles while technical schools wanted to use them for educational purposes. Unfortunately, callers received a “No, sorry” and now get to watch as all of these brand-new vehicles are permanently erased.

I am very saddened by this. I do understand the point that it would be a liability that Mazda would face if these cars are sold to people and something happened to someone. But instead of taking such a huge loss in paying Mazda, why not set up a special subsidiary and sell parts off the vehicles? People could buy these parts, at a cheaper price, while being fully aware that they are off of undamaged Cougar Ace vehicles, and sign a waiver stating that they know what they are buying and cannot take any legal recourse towards Mazda.

In addition, I don’t see a problem with letting tech schools take these vehicles for teaching future mechanics. They will never be driven on public roads, and will only be stripped and rebuilt during their lives.

I just don’t like seeing things, especially anything automotive-related, going to waste. But maybe it is for the better.

WSJ Article Click for a video as well as their article.

Recently, my brother moved from the Big Apple back to Pittsburgh for a new job. Since he would walk, take the subway, or catch a cab if he needed to go anywhere, he never needed a vehicle in Manhattan. However, the sprawling suburbs of the Steel City have not been blessed with an adequate public transportation system. So he is in the market for a new car.

The ideal car for him would be something small, four-door, and frugal on gas, but at the same time, fun to drive. There are plenty of vehicles that fit this niche, but after some initial searching and brand preferences, he narrowed it down to three choices: the 2008 Mazda3s Touring, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, and the 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS. Each car was similarly equipped, with power everything, manual transmission, sunroof, upgraded stereo, sport-appearance packages, etc.

As my family’s resident car guru, I was invited along as a second opinion and to make sure he knew what to look for and how to feel each vehicle. So, I thought I would do a little comparison of each vehicle for you all to enjoy.

Continue Reading…

Question: How do you get a Gorilla into a tuxedo? Well you do what Tamer Kekhia and his boys did at Ground Zero Motor Sport in Tigard, Oregon. They started with a small light sports car and stuffed in enough power to send even the most uptight, rigid man into bouts of uncontrolled school girlesque giggling. Tamer, himself being no stranger to the speed thing, started out with some crazy street bikes to get his rushes of adrenaline. He then decided that he wanted that rush on four wheels and thought that the FD3S RX-7 platform would work out for him. Brian Friend, one of the crew at Ground Zero tells me, “Tamer is crazy into bikes, so he wanted a car to run with the big bore bikes.” He goes on to say, “even though the car is pretty light, it’s built for high speed pulls. You know from like 70 to whatever.” Yes please!

Tamer and the team at Ground Zero started with the relatively stock twin turbo 93 RX-7 and quickly got to work turning it into the monster you see here before you. They ditched the original twin turbo 13b and started with a fresh 13b that got some porting work to accommodate some big horsepower. Brian and the guys then fabricated equal length lower intake manifolds as well as the polished aluminum piping that connects the single Garret GT42R ball bearing turbo. The big old Garret is cramming 36 lbs of boost through a Greddy intercooler that then screams the cooled compressed charge into the Wankle producing 676 hp and 466 pounds of torque at the wheels. In a car that weighs less than 3,000 pounds, that’s just plain freaking brutal! The RX-7 uses a Greddy PRofec B boost controller to monitor the bad boy as well as a Turbo Excesses blow off valve to keep all of that boost in check. When you get that much boost blowing into an engine, you will need to ramp up fuel delivery as well so that the engine doesn’t go lean and self-destruct. To handle this task the team contacted Precision Turbo for a pair of their 850 cc primary injectors, and while they were at it, picked up a set of four 1600 cc for the secondaries to really get the Gorilla to roar. All of that spent fuel and boost then howls it’s way through a full four-inch exhaust.

To address the rest of the drive train, the team decided that a stock 5-speed tranny was up to the task of directing all that rage. They went with a single plate clutch from RX-7.com; Tamer reports that it has plenty of clamp to get all that power to the ground. They also taped RX-7.com to supply them with a little more adjustability in the form of a set of their adjustable control arms for the independent rear suspension. To maximize all of that adjustability they went with HKS Hyperman coil overs on all four corners to get the car down on the ground where it belongs. Hotchkis then followed that up with a set of their sway bars to keep the car level when Tamer hammers the car through the twisties.

Knowing the car was going to make that much power and still be able to corner like it was on rails, Tamer knew he would need to put some serious rubber to the ground. To do this the RX got some custom bling from i Forged, a set of Aeros from their Formula Series. He then went ahead and wrapped them with Pirelli P Zero rubber to plant the car in the corners. Continue Reading…

Over the past several months, Mazda has been showcasing their new mid-size trio with both auto show appearances and photos on the Internet. Called the Atenza in other parts of the world, the new redesign which has been receiving a great deal of positive praise and anticipation of its arrival here in the states.

However, the car that has been traveling the auto show circuit is not the same vehicle the United States will be receiving when it goes on sale here later this year. In spy photos recently published online, Mazda fans will be saddened to see that they will have to settle for a water-down version of the aggressively-styled Atenza.

When comparing a photo of the Euro- and Japan-spec Atenza to North America’s 6, you can see that we won’t be receiving the stylish front bumper, the futuristic-looking headlamps or the floating Mazda badge. Instead, the Americas will get what looks like a bloated Mazda3 with cheap-looking gray foglight housings and overly-emphasized wheel arches. Continue Reading…

What’s the Japanese word for wow?

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this in the slightest. Sure, it’s not perfect, some of the detailing around the rear wheels is clunky and there seems to be an over usage of gills & frills and various marine lifeform, er, forms (which I note is a growing trend in Japanese cars in general, and their show cars in particular). But I’m a real big sucker for that Group C/Le Mans Prototype look anyway.

But overall, what a stunner, and it’s not just skin deep. Continue Reading…

The fourth installment in Mazda’s crazy-looking-concept department - the Mazda Taiki. The Concept will be revealed later this month at the Tokyo Motor Show. The rear wheels are especially awkward-looking, but the front reminds us of the Ryuga Concept shown at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this year.

Keep reading for a few more photos… Continue Reading…