We've seen plenty of motorcycles take on India's Wall of Death, and even a lion riding in a sidecar do it. But we've never seen a modern car driving perpendicular to the ground until now.

Compared to the sprawling efforts of Chevrolet and Ford, Mazda is taking a fairly laid-back approach to this year's SEMA show with five cars: two MX-5 Miatas, two Mazda2s, and a Mazda5 sure to inspire lust in suburban dads.

Mazda'sSKYACTIV-G direct-inject/high-compression 2.0-liter fourbanger already puts the new Mazda3 in the 40 mpg club. The same tech in the smaller 1.3-liter SKYACTIV-G engine now produces 70 mpg in the Mazda2/Demio. Ye olde internal combustion engine. Can you believe it?

Not to be outshone by the flood of Scions and Hondas crowding SEMA, Mazda brought a full range of toys, from cosmetically enhanced Mazda2s up to the time-attack Mazda3 sporting 500 hp from a 2.5-liter four banger.

Assuming large cars exist only to compensate for anatomical deficiencies, there's now more for those of us with an abundance of "spirit." Presenting the 2011 Mazda2, created to bring Zoom Zoom to the Boom Boom.

We've seen the Mazda Kiyora many times, and contemplated the Nagare design evolution it represents. And now that we know the Mazda2 is U.S.-bound, we're contemplating how much of an influence the Kiyora will have on the latest subcompact.

After getting us all hot-and-bothered about the Ford Fiesta and the prospect of high quality, affordable mini motoring the company has decided to also bring the identically platformed Mazda2 stateside in Fall 2010. [AutoNews]