Mazda Furai Concept & New RX-8 to Make World Debut at NAIAS '08!

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Mazda Furai Concept and New Mazda RX-8 to Make World Debut at 2008 North American International Auto Show


HIROSHIMA, Japan, December 12, 2007—Mazda Motor Corporation will showcase the world premieres of the Mazda Furai concept vehicle and the heavily revised new Mazda RX-8 sports car at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), to be held in Detroit from Sunday, January 13 through Sunday, January 27, 2008. On the heels of its show-stopping debut at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show in October, the Mazda Taiki concept vehicle also will make its North American debut, the first time it has been shown outside Japan. Additionally, Mazda will have a special display of racecars on its stand during the press days, and the full lineup of production cars for consumers to sample on the public days.

All attending media are invited to the company’s formal unveiling on the Mazda show stand, scheduled at 13:45 p.m. on Monday, January 14, 2008.

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[Mazda Furai, an eco-friendly, super performance concept car]​

Mazda Furai –‘Sound of the wind’
Inspired by the fact that, on any given weekend, there are more Mazdas and Mazda-powered cars road-raced in the United States than any other brand, the Mazda Furai is the sort of car that could only come from a company that incorporates the “Soul of a Sports Car” into everything it builds, but with an eye toward the future and the environment through the use of ethanol (E100) produced by British Petroleum (BP).

Furai takes Mazda’s unique Nagare (Japanese for “flow”) design language a step further as it is translated into a concept car based on an American Le Mans Series (ALMS) racing car. The car utilizes the Courage C65 chassis the company campaigned in the ALMS series only two seasons ago, and the 450-hp three-rotor rotary engine that distinguishes it from anything else on the track.

Says Franz von Holzhausen, Mazda’s North American director of design, “Furai purposely blurs boundaries that have traditionally distinguished street cars from track cars. Historically, there has been a gap between single-purpose racecars and street-legal models — commonly called supercars — that emulate the real racers on the road. Furai bridges that gap like no car has ever done before.”

Mazda’s critically acclaimed Nagare design language describes the flow of water, air, people or things moving in one direction. Mazda Nagare is flow, with an insightful and spirited styling, which, in Mazda Furai, invokes a raw, unfettered desire to possess everything this car represents.

Major Exhibits on stand
Furai (World Premiere)
Mazda Taiki (North American Premiere)
Mazda5 Hydrogen RE Hybrid (North American Premiere)
New Mazda RX-8 (World Premiere)
MZI3.7 V6 engine cutaway model
RENESIS engine cutaway model
Next Generation I-4 Direct Injection gasoline engine cutaway model
Next Generation Clean Diesel engine cutaway modelNext Generation RENESIS (Rotary Engine 16X) engine cutaway model
Mazda CX-7, Mazda CX-9, Mazda MX-5 PRHT, Mazda6, Mazda3, Mazdaspeed3, Mazda5, Mazda Tribute

-Mazda
 
Wow, that thing looks awesome! I guess it would be waaaaay too much to hope for for that to be leading up to a future production Mazda supercar.
 
"Now don't get too excited about a 3 rotor Renesis. It's not one. It's the 3 rotor peripheral port race engine the Courage has been using. It's just really chromed up, painted and pretty now. Nothing new to see in the way of engine technology. RB actually tried to convince Mazda to let them turbocharge the 3 rotor just to have fun but they didn't. I can only imagine how crazy the rumors would get if it had a turbo 3 rotor!

This is not a new concept car. It's a promotional vehicle. This car will be run at the track but only from a PR perspective. You will not see a production supercar based off of it and you also won't see a new race car based off of it either. It's a promo item that goes around track to track. That's it.

This is the actual Courage that was raced for a few years. It's the same chassis and rebuilt engine. They have just custom built a new body around it. It should be neat looking but don't get your hopes up fantasizing about something it'll never be."

- Quoted from RotaryGod
 
well, if anything i hope it makes them realize that people want more out of the current rotary offering so hey might do something about it soon (ie 16X)
 
I have two problems with this:

1. If you say "Furai" out loud, it sounds a lot like "Ferrari"
2. Ethanol is a terrible fuel.
 
I have two problems with this:

1. If you say "Furai" out loud, it sounds a lot like "Ferrari"
2. Ethanol is a terrible fuel.

1. It sounds more like "Fury". LOL
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2. Agreed. It's being driven by politicians because the domestics back it and it supports American farmers, but it'll never be a good idea.
 
From Autoweek..

"RX-8 for '09
While the Furai concept will likely steal all the spotlight on the Mazda stand in Detroit, the 2009 RX-8 will also be revealed.

Mazda is downplaying changes to the new sports car, saying only that it will sport "a freshened design, improved handling, acceleration, quality and features," which could mean anything."
 
As requested:

mazdafuraiconcept.mazdafurai02500.img.jpg


http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/a...munds.il.home.photopanel..1.*#mazdafurai02500

What is it?
Mazda Furai Concept

What's special about it?
Remember Mazda's overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991? The rotor-heads at Mazda sure do, and they created the Furai as a reminder of that accomplishment. Half concept car dreamery, half prototype racer, the Furai is less a car than a statement of Mazda's intention to re-enter the fabled endurance race at some undisclosed time, presumably in the near future.

Translating literally to "sound of wind," which we're certain is not intended to recall dinner with the Klumps, the Furai (say foo-RYE) is capable of making noise. The basis of the Furai is a 2005 Courage C65 chassis itself formerly an LMP2-class entry in the American Le Mans Series that Mazda reskinned in the style of its Nagare concept car. It's the fifth such design exercise as Mazda works to develop a new design language for the future, preceded by the Nagare, Ryuga, Hakaze and Taiki concepts. The company remains mum on when these design cues will finally take root in a production car.

The Furai's aggressive lines are the product of Mazda's studio in Southern California led by North American design boss Franz Von Holzhausen. Further developed by the prodigious brainpower of the racecar wizards at Swift Engineering, the Furai has been shaped with an eye toward function as well as form. Swift worked concurrently with Mazda's design team and performed computational fluid dynamics to ensure the concept wouldn't take flight and made sure the hot-running rotary had proper cooling.

Considering the Furai has never seen a wind tunnel, its ability to generate about 80 percent of the downforce of the original race-spec bodywork is respectable indeed. In fact, Mike Page of Swift Engineering is confident that the Furai could be made fully competitive without wholesale changes: "The overall form is solid. As it sits, it's a happy medium between form and function."

Most concept cars don't run. Heck, most of them don't even have engines. By contrast, the Furai is a runner, a point that Mazda was keen to emphasize by wedging us into the cockpit for a couple of hot laps around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca piloted by ALMS ace Jamie Bach. There's barely space for a second person in the tight cabin of the former racecar, which sports a passenger seat only because class rules demand it.

Powered by a mid-mounted, three-rotor Mazda 20B rotary engine fueled by E100 ethanol, the Furai generates around 450 horsepower. As expected, it's rapid. Even without its aerodynamic front splitter (a measure to prevent damage to this one-off showcar), the cornering grip is substantial, while even earplugs can't control the crescendo of sound from the rotary engine. Bach kept things tidy and clean in the corners, as the Furai we're sharing is the same one that will occupy the stage at the Detroit auto show.

In addition to advice about the bodywork, Swift also contributed an innovative intake configuration. Unlike a traditional F1-style snorkel, the Furai breathes through a shallow, leaflike cup known informally as an "air fang." It looks something like the bow of a boat, rising proud of the roof in order to breathe relatively clean, turbulence-free air that has not been de-energized by the boundary layer. As the air rushes past, twin vortices on either side of the device are generated, which then dump fresh air directly down the intake without incurring the efficiency losses of a traditional snorkel. It's an elegant solution in keeping with the Furai's design theme.

The Furai sounds sensational at full cry. As we exited Turn 11 onto the main straight with the sound of the rotary exhaust reverberating off the concrete pit wall, the effect was not of a lone car, but instead an entire field of endurance racers. With the Furai, Mazda is suggesting that this aural deception will soon become a reality as it moves to join Acura and Porsche in an assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

What's Edmunds' take?
It's fit for neither road-car duty nor true motorsports competition, but that's not the point. The Furai provides a glimpse of both Mazda's future design direction and its motorsports intent.
 
UH....DAMN! I am ready to place my deposit as soon as I know a price (that way I know how many banks to knock over).
The flowing design kind of reminds me of flesh in a wind tunnel. You know when it starts to crease due to air flow. This design gives me the impression that it was formed by wind. Very Nice!!!
 
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