Turbo Zone

A Mazda representative has announced the next generation of the Mazda2 will appeal to the feminine crowd. The new Mazda2 will likely see the light of day sometime next year and according to the company’s design chief for Europe, Peter Birtwhistle, it will be “designed to appeal to a predominately feminine customer base.” As a consequence, Mazda says they had no other way but to avoid implementing “too much visual muscle” into the car’s styling.

 

Source: World Car Fans

Sporting a bright blue color, the car will be coming with the same transmission as the six-speed automatic that’s gone through a little tweaking and connected to better paddle shifters. The six-cylinder T6 engine gets a new twin-scroll turbo and intercooler, says Volvo, to produce 350 hp at 369 lb-ft of torque. All this runs through a Haldex four-wheel drive system and can scoot the car to 62 mph in 4.9 seconds on its way to an electronically-limited 155 mph.

 

Source: Jalopnik

Literally meaning blacksmith in English, “Ferrari” seems like it could have been a name hand-picked for a car company. As the Italian sports cars have long been known for their precision craftsmanship, the name seems appropriate. The name is actually a happy accident. Ferrari, like most of the car companies on this list, was name for its founder, Enzo Ferrari. With Enzo at the helm, Ferrari took a strange journey. The company began with a strict focus on racing, was seized by Mussolini’s fascist government, briefly produced aircraft and machine tools, and then finally became the luxury auto brand we know and love.

 

Source: Complex Rides

Considering that the current Audi R8 already uses a lightweight aluminum structure, news that the German automaker plans to drop as much as 130 pounds on the second-generation R8 caught a lot of people by surprise. This could usher in a new era of how the company will construct the bodies of its cars moving forward. And another thing: don’t sleep on what 130 pounds less can do to the performance characteristics of a car, let alone one that’s as fast and powerful as the R8. Let’s see what happens.

 

Source: Top Speed

 

Popular motoring site Complex Rides recently rounded up weird traffic rules in the whole world, and guess what? Our number coding landed on the top spot. Here’s what they said: “If you thought the United States had some convoluted laws, look no further than the South Pacific. Here’s how this law works: if you’re license plate ends with a 1 or 2, you are not allowed on the roads on Monday. If the last letter on your license plate is a 3 or a 4, you can’t drive on Tuesday. If it’s a 5 or a 6, then no driving on Wednesday, and so on and so forth. We assume that this law is aimed at reducing congestion and pollution. It’s hard not to appreciate a smaller carbon foot print, but you have to wonder if there is a less confusing way to go green.”

 

Source: Complex Rides