We just published our First Drive of the U.S.-spec 2014 Mazda6, a midsize sedan priced from a base $21,675 Sport model as much as a higher equipped Grand Touring model that, before adding packages, carries a $30,290 MSRP. Sure that you can get a respectable midsizer just like the Mazda6 for around $25,000, but would you rather have a loaded compact for a similar price Motor Trend forum member THE­­_atvman is combating what’s surely a standard predicament. A Mazda3 Grand Touring, for instance, nets leather seats, navigation, and a premium Bose Sound System (and the high-performance Mazdaspeed3 starts at across the same price, too). But just how important is the additional rear-seat and trunk space As we’ve noted numerous times, automakers are stepping up their game in relation to compact...

Before Lexus waves goodbye to the LFA forever, the automaker threw a going-away party to honor the last LFA to be sold in America. We visited the Toyota Automobile Museum in Southern California, where Roy Mallady took delivery of his new LFA – but not his first. examples of the ear-shattering V-10 powered supercar were hand-built for patrons around the world, but only 178 units came to the U.S. Of these, 22 Nurburgring Editions were sold inside the States, including Mallady’s number 499, which wears steel gray exterior paint, red brake calipers, red leather interior, and an optional $25,000 carbon fiber roof. Although the Georgia native has a taste for exotics (he’s owned everything from a Maserati Merak to Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and a tuned GT-R) Mallady has a sweet...

The small-block Chevy V-8 often is the most raced engine on earth, with the fashionable LS Series engines continuing the craze. At CBM Motorsports, the LS Series engine is the focal point of the company’s research and development resources. In this episode of The Downshift, we have a look contained in the company started by Chris Bland and Bruce McKillop. CBM Motorsports builds engines for all applications including sand rails, boats, and muscle cars. With the recent direct-injected LT1 engine within the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the team at CBM Motorsports is worked up to explore the possibility of the recent technology. Inside the video, McKillop describes the prevalence of the LS Series engines in comparison to older small block Chevy V-8s, while Bland talks in regards to the...

There’s a brand new Toyota racecar on the town: British racing house GPRM just pulled the wraps off this blue and white fighter, the GT86 GT4. While it may possibly not have the classic paint scheme of last year’s GT86 GT4, let’s hope it upholds the old car’s reputation for achievement. Exactly how a lot more horsepower is unclear at this point. The two.0-liter, direct-injected boxer four-cylinder from the stock Toyota GT86 (referred to as the Scion FR-S) received an intensive once-over by the engineers at England’s Nicholson McLaren Engines. Nicholson McLaren added a turbocharger-a huge one-that ups the flexibility from its current, adequate 200 hp to an imposing 360-400. Nicholson McLaren says that it’ll choose a last figure after further endurance testing. Endurance is, obviously, a huge question with...

You’ve seen them reviewed on video and on MotorTrend.com — now we finally have pricing information at the 2013 Subaru Impreza WRX and WRX STI Special Editions. Impossible to overlook with their orange and black paint jobs, the 2013 WRX and WRX STI special editions will carry prices of $29,565 and $35,565 respectively. For $500 over the 2013 Subaru Impreza WRX Premium trim, the special edition gets you tons of visual upgrades plus exclusivity: just 200 WRX special-edition sedans would be made, and 100 WRX STI special-edition sedans. Including destination, the $29,565 price includes the Premium trim’s power moonroof, heated front seats, and fog lights plus — obviously — a five-speed manual transmission and a turbocharged 265-hp 2.5-liter flat-four engine. In our First Test, the auto accelerated from 0-60 mph...