Month: September 2007

World’s Best Selling Sports Car Mazda Miata Excellent Donor Vehicle

World’s Best Selling Sports Car – Excellent Donor Car for Roadster Kit Builds

A risky venture in 1989 yet the shrewdest move for Mazda, this little Japanese roadster eventually chalked up 700,000 sales worldwide as it capped the Guinness Book of World Records world”s best-selling sports car. Mazda is now looking toward the 1 million mark with the third-generation, 2006 MX-5.

The 2006 Miata debuted in Canada, called the MX-5 Miata for a year or two, but Canadians and Americans can look for the Miata name to disappear after that, unifying the vehicle as an MX-5 worldwide.

It is wider and more muscular in appearance with a prominent front and rear fender
arches that recall the same style on the flashy RX-8; a more smoothly tapered nose and tail; the inboard placement of the headlights and taillights; and a particularly appealing revised grille.

The body structure is now 47 per cent more rigid, and has a lower center of gravity that should enhance handling. One unusual feature of the ”06 Miata is the convertible roof,
which, is a manually raised and lowered metal top.  A stiffer unibody structure serves as the chassis foundation, with a double-wishbone suspension in front and multilink system in the rear. Larger front-brake rotors and 25-percent-stiffer calipers help extract optimal stopping distances from the four-wheel single-piston-caliper disc system.

Power is enhanced with its new 2.0-litre engine rated at around 160 hp and balance will be improved by moving the engine 135 mm rearward to create 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution.

A newly developed six-speed manual transmission will be available, along with
the standard five-speed manual. An available six-speed automatic transmission can be manually controlled by the shift lever and by steering wheel-mounted paddles.
For all of these technological wonders from Mazda, Partstrain offers the most
impressive line up of Mazda Miata Performance and Replacement Parts. Suspension, spoilers, front and rear fenders, tailgate, hoods, hubcaps, electrical parts, engine parts and many others are the best in the industry.

About the Author: Jenny McLane is a 36 year old native of Iowa and has a knack for research on cars and anything and everything about it. She works full time as a Market Analyst for one of the leading car parts suppliers in the country today.

These heavy duty and highly reliable parts are available at http://www.partstrain.com/ShopByVehicle/MAZDA Online shopping for Partstrain”s top of the line Mazda Miata Parts reduces high maintenance cost for your vehicle.

By Jenny McLane

Source: www.isnare.com

 

Jaguar E-Type – Favorite Feline Of The Sports-Car World

It was pure lust on wheels. Jaguar”s voluptuous E-type had car enthusiasts” tongues hanging down to their knees when it was introduced. And to this day the car commands head-spinning attention whenever it makes the scene.

First conceived in 1956, the E-Type was originally intended as a replacement for the Coventry, England firm”s mighty D-Type endurance racers. Jaguar quit racing shortly after the E-Type”s development began, but work on the car continued nonetheless, culminating in a production road-going version introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March, 1961.
Offered as a two-seat coupe or convertible, it was an immediate hit.

Among the car”s revolutionary features was independent rear suspension, a first for Jaguar, at a time when almost all streetable sports cars still used a more primitive solid-axle setup. But the E-Type”s most compelling claim at the time was its speed. The car’s smooth aerodynamics and 265-hp 3.8-liter inline six allowed it a top speed of 150 mph – strictly the domain of race cars and ultra-pricey exotics back then. Although not cheap, the E-Type offered such thrills for far less money than similar-performing machines.

To ensure the E-Type’s continuing sales appeal, Jaguar gave the car a succession of changes over the years. The 3.8-liter six was replaced for 1965 by a 4.2-liter version that had more torque. The following year, a 2+2 bodystyle was introduced. In 1971, Jaguar launched the final iteration of the E-Type, powered by a 314-hp 5.3-liter V12. The last of the 72,507 E-Types left the plant in early 1975.

Today, experts invariably list the E-Type as one of the world’s most beautiful cars. Combine that appealing design with the car”s pleasing road manners and sporty smooth exhaust purr, and you’ve got one of the finest
sensory delights known to man.

About the Author:

David Bellm is a seasoned automotive writer and historian. His work has been featured in a wide variety of online and print publications.

For more articles on vintage sports cars, along with drive-test articles on today’s hottest performance cars, go to http://www.autiv.com/
By David Bellm

Source: www.isnare.com