mazda

Drag Racing for Android puts you in the driver's seat of your favorite street racer. With more than 50 real cars to choose from, dozens of upgrades, and a nearly unlimited pool of opponents, don't be surprised to find yourself behind the wheel for hours at a time.

The game offers four racing modes to choose from. You can Race Offline against the computer, Quick Race one-on-one against an online opponent, join the Pro League against a group of online competitors, or race against Friends. Also, you can choose either quarter-mile or half-mile races, with the shorter distance … Read more

Ford and Toyota team on car tech, Audi announces plug ins & hybrids, In-car internet radio explodes, and we take you - but just one of you - for a ride in the Scion iQ.

• Ford and Toyota team on hybrids for trucks, SUVs

• GM teams with LG to develop electric vehicles

• Audi plug-in hybrid rumored to be coming in 2014

• BMW to integrate MOG app

• Cadillac drops the cloth and top on new Ciel concept

Mazda Motor Corp. has canceled production of its RX-8 rotary engine sports car, citing falling sales and stringent global emissions standards.

Production in Hiroshima, Japan, ended in early July and global sales of the car will conclude later this year.

The RX-8 and the three generations of the RX-7 that preceded it have long been the foundation the brand's fun-to-drive aura. The car's high-revving 1.3-liter, twin-rotor rotary engine produces 232 hp at 8,500 rpm -- a big punch in a relatively small package.

But Mazda sold just 1,134 RX-8s last year, a 49 percent decline … Read more

VANCOUVER--You can't say Mazda's new Skyactiv technology lacks ambition. The comprehensive engineering effort looks to set a new standard for performance and fuel efficiency in a consumer-accessible combustion engine.

While Toyota, Honda, Ford, and other automakers spent billions of dollars researching, developing, and building hybrids and electric cars, Mazda directed the bulk of its new engineering into new car designs that provide reliability and performance while serving up a magic number of 40 mpg in highway driving.

In a special media event in downtown Vancouver, Mazda debuted the new Skyactiv-G (a high-efficiency, direct-injection gasoline engine with the world's highest compression ratio of 14.0:1) and Skyactiv-D (a clean diesel engine with that same prime compression ratio). Journalists had an opportunity to drive last year's, pre-Skyactiv Mazda models and new prototype test cars with both engines to prove how much quicker and more efficient each 2012 model-to-be is. … Read more

From generation to generation, automakers tend to make their cars bigger, boasting of increased headroom and legroom in updated model years. But the Mazda5, the mini minivan, kept its dimensions unchanged for the 2012 model update. And this vehicle is still the size of a first-generation Dodge Grand Caravan, yet contains third-row seating.

Although a fairly typical cramped people carrier for the rest of the world, the Mazda5 is an odd fit in the U.S. Here, our minivans are the size of buses, with lots of room for the kids to play, camping gear, and robust rear-seat entertainment systems … Read more

The EPA doubles fuel economy by 2025, BMW shows off an electric car, Nissan complains about an electric car review, and drivers think about stopping.

• New EPA regs are out

• BMW i reveals electric car concepts

• Nissan calls out 'Top Gear' over Leaf review

• Mazda Minagi concept becomes CX-5 at Frankfurt auto show

• Drivers put the brakes on with thought alone

The 2011 Frankfurt auto show will see the unveiling of a new model from Mazda, a model that shows the future of all cars from the company. The CX-5, based on the Minagi concept shown earlier this year in Geneva, comes to the market with new design language, fuel-saving technology, and cabin electronics.

The CX-5 will be a small crossover vehicle slotting in below the current CX-7, and will be sold globally. The exterior shows off Mazda's new design language Kodo, which means "soul of motion" in English. Replacing Mazda's earlier Nagare design, Kodo involves an … Read more

SALINAS, Calif.--Though the Red Bull Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is considered a pilgrimage destination for motorcycle and racing fans, anyone with an interest in technology and engineering will find a wonderland of expensive toys here.

The Red Bull Grand Prix packs several days of test runs, time trials, and elite motorcycle racing into the big weekend. Thousands of bike and racing enthusiasts flock to the Mazda Raceway, as they do to Daytona Beach for Bike Week or the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota. In between races, fans can see the superbikes up close, explore the latest motorcycle and car models, and shop the latest developments in gear and helmets. … Read more

This is episode 21 of CNET Roadside Assistance for Thursday, the 14th of July 2011, the show were the Car Tech guys take a moment to field your questions and listen to your comments. We tackle a Skoda question, Antuan's love affair with a 1st Generation Miata, mounting your Droid X, and debate who likes the convertible Nissan Murano.

• LOLcars (photos)