The 2015 Mazda Miata!

According to Autoweek, Mazda is about to show its 2015 Miata at the New York Auto Show next month! It has been a quarter of a century since the original Miata, and it makes sense that Mazda would want to release the Miata on its 25th anniversary.

Autoweek's prediction of the design of the new Miata and Miata-based alfa

This new Miata will be significant for multiple reasons. The first being that Mazda has said that this new Miata will weigh around 2200 pounds, which is insanely light for a modern car. The original Miata weighed about that much, but that was before emissions laws, passenger safety laws, etc. became so stringent. To put this into perspective, a Lotus Elise S weighs about 2000 lbs, but costs twice as much. And if Mazda continues to follow its new design language, the Miata should look a lot more aggressive than the outgoing model.
Another aspect of the huge weight savings, is that the Miata will now be legitimate competition for the Toyobaru twins. Until now, the Miata seemed underpowered when stacked up against the similarly-massed Toyobaru twins, but if the new Miata does have 170 hp and weighs 2200 lbs, that should make it significantly more performance oriented. With Mazda's skyactiv technology, it could be more efficient than the Toyobaru twins, and with the added bonus of being a convertible.
If Mazda does everything the rumors suggest, this car could be just as innovative as the first Miata, and in the meantime, I'm going to start saving for one of these in manual transmission and all white.

Honda Culture

As a first post, I wanted to start off with a topic very near to my heart. And that is the culture that comes with Honda enthusiasts. Personally I love Hondas, and I've taken a lot of flak for doing so...

Me:"Dude that S2000 is sick!"
Friend:"It's just a honda..."
Me:"OMG Look at that!" (Points to mint Integra Type R)
Friend: "What, you mean that Camry looking thing?"

Maybe I'm so allured because my first car was a Honda, but there's a lot more to my interest in this japanese brand. What draws me to Honda is their unique approach on performance. It's all about  being lightweight, cornering neutrally, and extracting as much power out of tiny (by sports car standards) naturally aspirated engines.

The new Civic Type R is the sole exception to the naturally aspirated thing. But who cares? It looks like it'll eat your face. 

For example, let's look at the Civic Mugen RR. This is a sedan with a 2.2 liter naturally aspirated four cylinder sending power to the front wheels. Sounds like a boring old economy car right? WRONG. This thing happens to go around Tsukuba faster than the Nissan R33 Skyline GTR, BMW M3 CSL, and Lexus IS-F. To be fair, Tsukuba isn't a track with lots of straights, but that just shows where Honda's priorities are. They don't want to build a car that obliterates the quarter mile, they want to build a car that carries a ton of speed through corners. The latter is much harder to do, ask any manufacturer!

And another thing; Honda makes amazing engines. The S2000 made 240 horsepower. 240! Out of a naturally aspirated 2.0 liter! Just for comparison's sake, the Scion TC makes 180 hp out of a 2.5 liter. And a Golf GTI Makes 200 hp out of a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine. And Hondas sound absolutely incredible too, just check out the video on the right.

The culture behind Hondas is incredibly developed. With one of the largest number of aftermarket parts available for any given model, and builders all over the world pushing upwards of 300 horsepower out of the K24, a 2.4L I4, all while staying naturally aspirated. Honda really knows how to work magic with airflow.

Hondas are cheap and reliable. They're also reliable. Did I mention they're reliable? The NSX is seen as the most reliable supercar ever made, with its simple, yet balanced midengine V6. You can take a Honda to the track, beat on it, and drive it home like nothing ever happened. Before you tell me that a supercar can handle hard driving better, try doing a burnout in your Ferrari F430, and see how many parts you have to replace.

Every brand has its unique take on performance. Nissan, for example, using the most high tech computers in its ATTESA AWD system to produce massive amounts of grip. Toyota created the rock solid 2JZ-GTE engine that can make upwards of 500 hp on a stock block.

Except Smart. Smart has no idea what performance is.

 Every brand appeals to a different type of person.

But that's beside the point. There's a culture behind every brand, and it's important to respect that. What appeals to you might not always appeal to another, and there's no real standard to compare cars with. The automotive world often lacks a sense of respect for brands. Ask yourself next time your slammed miata busts an oil pan, whose diesel F350 is going to tow your car? And when your Evo blows a turbo, whose Civic is going to give you a ride home? Automotive enthusiasts always want to push for more performance, and the first way to do that is to respect each others' differences, so they can learn from each other.

An Introduction

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog. A little bit about me first. I'm a college student studying Mechanical Engineering, and I've been absolutely obsessed with cars all of my life, since I've been eight years old. There's something about the sound of engine, the feel of a steering wheel in your hands, the feeling of speed that makes a car more than just a machine. If you're a car enthusiast, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. We form a bond with a car we grew up with, a brand that we admire, a racecar driver that we look up to. This blog will be full of automotive news I find interesting, pictures and builds I really like, and my own thoughts about cars, etc. I hope you guys enjoy my articles. Please do subscribe, and check back often for more stories!