Your MilePost now comes to you as an email newsletter and also remains available on the site. If you are not seeing this email in its entirety, click here to see the online version.

Contents:

Luncheon Nov 10:
Robert Davis of Mazda

A Message from the President
Aaron Robinson

Coming Events

What We Drive
Frank Bohanan’s Mustang

Contribute to your MilePost

Maintain your own profile

MPGLUNCHEON / NOVEMBER 10, 2009
Zoom-Zoom Going Forward
Mazda’s Davis on Sustaining Enthusiasm through Technology
– photos by Pete Lyons and Lorna Lyons for MPG

 
The hydrogen fueled Mazda out in front of the Proud Bird restaurant.

Robert Davis, Mazda’s Senior VP for Market Development and Quality, also heads up the automaker’s motorsports operation — which is said to support about 50% of U.S. amateur road racing. Oh, and he’s just raced his own RX-8 to a NASA national championship.

So when he speaks of how Mazda means to sustain its Zoom-Zoom amid the environmental and other challenges of the industry’s future, we want to listen.

“Sustainable Zoom-Zoom,” in fact, is an official company program announced in 2007. As detailed by Davis, it involves new fuel-efficient gasoline, diesel and rotary engine technologies, particularly direct injection small displacement turbo engines, and also lighter, more space-efficient structures. All that should help achieve a 30% improvement in mileage by 2015 while retaining “cars that are appropriate for the Mazda brand.”

“Appropriate” in Mazda’s case does not embrace pure-electric vehicles, a point Davis was at pains to explain in response to an MPGer’s question. “We just don’t really see the viability, the business viability of a company our size being in that marketplace.”

Instead, Mazda will concentrate its R&D resources on improving internal combustion powertrains and adapting them to new fuels, especially hydrogen. To demonstrate its commitment, the automaker is developing hydrogen-burning IC rotary engines, and had one on display at the meeting in the form of an RX-8.

“Why hydrogen?” Davis knew we’d wonder. “And why internal combustion hydrogen?

“Hydrogen vehicles really are in two areas, internal combustion hydrogen rotaries and fuel cell hydrogens, like the Honda Clarity. [There are] various pros and cons to each technology. Obviously for CO₂ the fuel cells and hydrogen vehicles are very emissions-friendly, very CO₂-friendly. A fuel cell is very energy efficient vs. a internal combustion engine, but also fuel cell’s very expensive. Fuel cells are also have no opportunity for a gasoline alternative.

“We really feel strongly, until the infrastructure is available for hydrogen widely, dual-use of hydrogen and fossil fuels will be required … you’re never going to have infrastructure developed fast enough to be able to go from here to Salt Lake City on hydrogen alone. You’re going to need dual-use. So using hydrogen as internal combustion allows you the dual-use.

“The strengths of a fuel cell vehicle are in the efficiency, the weaknesses are in the cost. The strengths of an internal combustion hybrid are in cost, reliability and dual-use of gasoline.

“The car outside is a dual-use car. If you run out of hydrogen, it’s a flip of a switch [to] switch over to the gasoline….”

But that begged another question: Why select rotary engines to launch Mazda’s hydrogen program?

“Well, beyond us being Mazda and being rotary guys,” Davis continued, pointing to a chart, “the key here is the combustibility of gasoline vs. hydrogen.

“A rotary engine uses the combustion cycle in one part of the rotor housing itself, vs. a piston uses the intake, the compression, the power and the exhaust stroke all on the same cylinder. So with the combustibility of hydrogen, you’re able to cool the chamber that you use and develop a hydrogen injector, which allows you to inject the hydrogen in a cool area of the engine, before it is compressed and before it is ignited.”

Not that Mazda is turning its back on batteries. Davis also spoke about a dual-fuel (hydrogen-gasoline) Mazda5 hybrid, which he said “offers 40% more power.”

Other developments covered in this presentation included i-stop (for “idle-stop,” which shuts off the engine at stoplights), fuel-saving Sky-Drive automatic transmissions, and a new series of Sky piston engines in both gasoline and diesel forms. For one thing, Sky-G (gas-fueled) engines have catalytic converters that employ “nano technology” to improve operating efficiency while also saving both weight and cost.

As for Sky-D, Mazda’s coming diesel engines will be 50-state compliant without using urea.

Davis also mentioned a new model to be introduced at the upcoming LA Auto Show: the Mazda2, the company’s first new car to benefit from an aggressive new focus on weight reduction — 100 kilos saved for a gain of 3 to 5% in fuel economy.

Such savings are to be incorporated into all future Mazdas. As Davis put it in his summation, “We have an environmental brand strategy, not an environmental model strategy.”

For a complete transcript as well as a digital audio file of the presentation, including questions by members and guests, click here.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT/ AARON ROBINSON 

Every year, right after Thanksgiving, the city of Torrance plants some guy in a Santa Claus suit on a police-escorted parade float and drives him through all of the fine neighborhoods in our fair burg, tossing candy and taking Christmas wishes from children. Yesterday I saw the convoy roar past on Crenshaw, lights ablaze, sirens howling, yuletide spirit cleaving the traffic.

As if further evidence were needed that 2009 passed by at wide-open-throttle, it feels like the 2008 Torrance Santa went down our street just last month. Sheesh. At this rate it seems like I’ll be eligible for Social Security by next Thursday afternoon.

What’s this got to do with you? Well, think as you might that it has been mere minutes since you flossed the remnants of last year’s yummy Dean Batchelor Award dinner out of your teeth, it is in fact time to gather again for our organization’s annual banquet.

On December 8 at the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, there will be fine food and drink served, there will be the breathless recounting of this year’s great drives and great crashes (and near misses and busted embargoes and so forth), and there will be presentations of awards for excellence in various fields of automotive media.

This year, in addition to the awards and the museum’s huge collection of vintage cars to ogle, we have hired live entertainment. Locally famous slide-show raconteur and comedian Charles Phoenix has put together a car-themed presentation that is, by all accounts, outrageously hilarious. Don’t be a boob and miss it. As always, online registration is at www.motorpressguild.org.

In other news, once again we have a full slate of candidates for our three available board slots, a fact that I attribute to my personal magnetism. Please do not forget to vote!

Late in January, after the ballots have been sent with the renewal notices and returned, a new board will be seated. I will be there, as I have one year remaining on my sentence — er, board term.

But I will not be MPG’s president. Our Bylaws limit the terms of executive officers to two consecutive years, so I will step aside and let someone else from the board have a shot at the glory. It’s been a rewarding trip and an experience well worth the sweat — which has mostly to do with writing this monthly column for MilePost, the deadline for which seems to come around every 16 minutes or so. That’s even more frequently than the Torrance Santa.

During my time on the board and my run as president, we re-launched and greatly expanded the website, took MilePost electronic, moved Track Day to its new home at AutoClub Speedway, enhanced our staff, re-worked our accounting procedures, and weathered the economic crisis while bringing MPG through (slightly) in the black. It would not have been possible without the volunteer labor and dedication of the whole MPG board and without our excellent staff.

I will leave office secure in the firm belief that all the votes taken at the board meetings were with the goal of enhancing MPG’s effectiveness and value to its membership. I hope you feel the same. 

— Aaron Robinson, MPG President 2008-2009

COMING EVENTS

MPG’s luncheon meetings are on the second Tuesdays of most months at the Proud Bird Restaurant near LAX airport. Guest speakers come from every area of the automotive business, and all industry professionals are welcome to attend. Price is $25 for MPG members, $30 for others. Arrive by 11:30 am for networking, with lunch beginning at noon. Check www.motorpressguild.orgfor latest details and driving directions.

December 2: LA Auto Show opening Media Day, with breakfast followed by the MPG Keynote Speaker, GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson. Media registration at www.laautoshow.com/Press.html

December 8: MPG Dean Batchelor Award dinner at the Automotive Driving Museum. Located at 610 Lairport Street, El Segundo, CA 90245 (only a short distance from our Proud Bird luncheon site), this fascinating facility is a new venue for us. But this will be MPG’s 15th annual DBA, which honors excellence in four categories of automotive journalism. Click here for a map to the Museum, or go to its website at www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org; Tel: 310-909-0950. [CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE DBA DINNER]

2010 MPG Luncheon Meetings at the Proud Bird: January 12, February 9, March 9, April 13, May 11, June 8, July 13, August 10, September 14. Details to come for meetings in the last quarter.

WHAT WE DRIVE

Frank Bohanan’s Restomodded Mustang

I've been a "car guy" as long as I can remember. I really got hard core when a classmate handed me a copy of Hot Rod magazine in the 7^th grade. I always liked Mustangs and had bought a new '87 GT on the X-plan while I was a Ford employee. I still have it.

Several years ago I decided I also wanted to again get something more classically styled. I had become more and more impressed by the '66 Mustang Fastback a friend of mine owned. He and his brother drove the car everywhere and really enjoyed doing so. I wanted one.

So I got one; by selling "coke." Coca-Cola options, that is. I had a really good day doing options trading and decided I'd lock in some of the profits and reward myself with the car I'd been lusting after. I found a really good example in San Clemente and the deal was done.

On the drive home, however, I knew I didn't want to keep it stock. It was a 289 with a 2-barrel and a C4, so it was a decent performer, but not enough for me. The steering and the brakes left something to be desired as well, since my reference point had changed considerably since high school and from working at Ford, SEMA, and elsewhere.

 Again taking a cue from my friend with the '66, I decided to restomod the car to make it both more fun and more usable as a daily driver.

I dropped in a moderately modified fuel injected 5.0L engine plus an AOD trans. out of a '92 'Stang, and proceeded to upgrade just about everything else to make the car better while (mostly) keeping the look close to what it was. I call the paint scheme a "Heritage Edition" because it takes ideas from several Mustang models ('70 Mach 1, for example) and combines them along with a slight tint of blue pearl.

I've since gone to a T5 trans. and have added NOS to get the power up some more (about 425 rwhp), while I've also upgraded the brakes (discs all around), steering (rack & pinion), and the suspension (Global West everywhere) to make the car stop, steer, and handle as well as it goes.

It also has Recaro seats, Vintage Air A/C, and Sirius radio with a good sound system to make cruising as nice as you'd ever want it to be.

The proof is that I drove the car to the Silver State race in Ely, NV, and then averaged over 120 mph for the 90 miles (45 Min.!) of the event before I drove it back home. I was able to drive it as fast as 138 mph (I had to stay under 140, per the rules) while waving to people as I drove by. I also got mid-20's for mpg on the trip there and back.

I love the idea of combining the look of an older car with newer technology to make the car more fun to drive. This car does that for me and I drive it quite a bit without reservation. It performs much better than a 1965 car has a right too and looks good doing so. Best of all, I don't have to deal with Smog Check and I enjoy driving it even more since I did a lot of the work myself.

It may have begun with Hot Rod, the admiration of my friend's car and a fortunate day of trading, but this car has been one investment that has given me many, many pleasurable returns. — Frank Bohanan

[Frank’s car was voted Best in Show ‘n’ Shine at our recent Track Day — Ed.]

WHAT’S YOURS? Are you the proud owner of a neat vehicle? Want to share its story? Send us about 400 words along with a few photos. Please include yourself in at least one of the pix — this is about what “we” drive, after all. Cars, race cars, trucks, bikes, bicycles, boats, airplanes, steam traction engines…whatever have you, tell us all about it! Send material to milepost@motorpressguild.org

CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR MILEPOST

Any member is welcome to post items in the monthly newsletter that are of special interest to fellow members, including event announcements and reports, What We Drive stories and photos, job openings, free classified ads or Member News about products and services you offer or awards you may have received, letters to the editor, etc. Acceptance and revision are at the discretion of the Editor. MilePost does not publish general industry PR or paid ads. Items run one time only unless renewed. Deadline is the Monday following each month’s MPG meeting. Send both words and pictures (small JPEGs, please) to: milepost@motorpressguild.org

MAINTAIN YOUR OWN PROFILE

IMPORTANT: When any of your contact info changes, please go straight to your own online Profile (under “Members” on the MPG website header bar) and “Edit” it to reflect your new data. It is vital that you do this yourself, because next year’s printed “Membership Roster & Media Guide” will draw from this database. Nobody will double-check it for you, so the accuracy of your printed information is now totally your responsibility.

If you read this far, click here. Thank you.