Mazda’s been on something of a roll lately. They have some of the most consistently fun to drive cars in the entire industry, from the new 2016 Miata all the way up to their crossovers and sedans. You have Dave Coleman to thank for that, and now he’s here to answer all your questions for the next hour.
Dave’s official title is Vehicle Development Engineer, Mazda North American Operations, but as Automotive News said about him recently, he’s “the official arbiter of how a U.S. Mazda should drive.” He leads a team of engineers in California tasked with making sure American Mazda cars have the right “feel,” the right handling, the right fun-to-drive qualities that separate a Mazda3 from a Corolla or something equally abysmally boring.
Before that, Dave was the technical editor at Sport Compact Car, one of the finest car magazines of the 1990s and 2000s and probably a publication many of us loved back in the day. He came to Mazda from the magazine about a decade ago and probably has a ton of great stories about what that was like.
Dave’s around for a bit so ask him whatever you want about Mazda, the magazine, what a fun car is supposed to be, or what he does as an engineer every day.
Update 3 p.m.: Dave had to peace out but he did an awesome job and is welcome back anytime. Thanks for all the great questions!
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.