Speaking of Carving Canyons in A Mazda High Performance Division Vehicle

[Guest2018]

For those who thought my idea was foolish, silly or ahead of its time, it looks like Volvo is now stepping out on the idea I had for Mazda.

Don't know what Mazda would call their new High Performance Division, but I sure would like to get my hands on a brand new 2020 CX-9 GT1 or CX-9 GT2 running 325 and 425 horsepower of compressed AWD turbo enjoyment.

I think the High Performance Mazda 6 GT1, would probably be the best starting point - then add the first High Performance CX-9 GT1. iSkyActive-HPE and iSkyActive-HPT technology would be developed by this new division. HPE stands for High Performance Engine technology and HPT stands for High Performance Transmission technology.

If Volvo can do it and they don't sell that many cars (relative to the others) here in the US, then by all means Mazda can do it too with their relatively small US market share. In fact, I think with Mazda's real world racing background and innovative engine development that they could probably do it even better than Volvo ultimately.

Let the race for New High Performance Divisions in the Automobile Industry begin and let Mazda join in! I'm certainly game. Say hello to (finally) Independent Polestar. A game changer:

 

[GJ-Molestor]

For those who thought my idea was foolish, silly or ahead of its time, it looks like Volvo is now stepping out on the idea I had for Mazda.

Don't know what Mazda would call their new High Performance Division, but I sure would like to get my hands on a brand new 2020 CX-9 GT1 or CX-9 GT2 running 325 and 425 horsepower of compressed AWD turbo enjoyment.

I think the High Performance Mazda 6 GT1, would probably be the best starting point - then add the first High Performance CX-9 GT1. iSkyActive-HPE and iSkyActive-HPT technology would be developed by this new division. HPE stands for High Performance Engine technology and HPT stands for High Performance Transmission technology.

If Volvo can do it and they don't sell that many cars (relative to the others) here in the US, then by all means Mazda can do it too with their relatively small US market share. In fact, I think with Mazda's real world racing background and innovative engine development that they could probably do it even better than Volvo ultimately.

Let the race for New High Performance Divisions in the Automobile Industry begin! I'm certainly game. Say hello to (finally) Independent Polestar. A game changer:

Mazda seems to be taking everything one step at a time and slowly building their way upmarket, which means racing and projects like this can't be readily done by mazda without a sufficient budget.

let's put it this way. Mazda has some of the best engine and chassis designs coming out of the japan. they would be able to build whatever they want and dominate any sort of market they wanted if they just simply had the money up front to do what they want.

remember how GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and then suddenly came back to life new and improved? that's what a nearly 2 billion dollar cash infusion from the american government does to a complete failure of a company. now... let's just imagine what Mazda would build with this money. this is precisely why Ford took Mazda under their wing in the 1970's because they knew damn well that Mazda had some of the best v8 and v12 designs you can find, but insufficient resources to put everything into production.

now that Mazda has finally gathered enough money to move their cars upmarket, the future looks good for them and I eagerly await to see what we will come from them next. I will say however, that if Mazda dropped the Mazdaspeed brand for the time being, this racing project you speak of may not happen anytime soon. Mazda is probably too busy chasing after mainstream sales gathering money with 4 cylinder hatchbacks and crossovers to be doing something like this for now.

 

[forties]

I remember going up to the GP race at Laguna Seca in like 2005 and seeing the "sporty cross overs" on display at the Mazda booth. Thinking to myself 'who are these guys trying to fool with these ginormous, terrible COG, body rolling, heavy ass things.' And now here I am...

 

[Guest2018]

Mazda seems to be taking everything one step at a time and slowly building their way upmarket, which means racing and projects like this can't be readily done by mazda without a sufficient budget.

let's put it this way. Mazda has some of the best engine and chassis designs coming out of the japan. they would be able to build whatever they want and dominate any sort of market they wanted if they just simply had the money up front to do what they want.

remember how GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and then suddenly came back to life new and improved? that's what a nearly 2 billion dollar cash infusion from the american government does to a complete failure of a company. now... let's just imagine what Mazda would build with this money. this is precisely why Ford took Mazda under their wing in the 1970's because they knew damn well that Mazda had some of the best v8 and v12 designs you can find, but insufficient resources to put everything into production.

now that Mazda has finally gathered enough money to move their cars upmarket, the future looks good for them and I eagerly await to see what we will come from them next. I will say however, that if Mazda dropped the Mazdaspeed brand for the time being, this racing project you speak of may not happen anytime soon. Mazda is probably too busy chasing after mainstream sales gathering money with 4 cylinder hatchbacks and crossovers to be doing something like this for now.

China, given its recent wild ride of nearly 7.5 GDP a few years ago, probably had (still has) a lot of cash looking for a home and took Volvo for a magic carpet ride in 2010. So, you have a point there. They literally stole it from Ford, for a 'whopping' little sum of $1.6 billion when Ford paid more than 3 times that much almost 11 years earlier. Volvo, then comes out like gang busters with a new design language of its own and seems to be traveling that language throughout its entire line up very well indeed. I've always liked Volvo because of their commitment to Safety and their "truth" in Engineering. But, I probably like them even more now given this bombshell just released on Polestar and its "independence."

This is going to get very interesting for BMW, Lexus and Audi, I would think - particularly Lexus, as both BMW and Audi already have more established Sport Badges ("M" and "S" respectively). With Volvo now we have a real solid move up the High Performance Division ladder and I truly hope that sooner rather than later, Mazda makes that journey with them. I see the Mazda 6, Mazda 3 and CX-9 as serious GT1 and GT2 platforms. But, I also see the return of the Mazda RX-7 in a GTB form (Grand Touring Boosted) series. I don't care what they call them, just as long as they make them. I'd have a CX-9 GT2 and an RX-7 GTB on order in a heartbeat - faster than a heartbeat.

Maybe even go a little retro and call it the RX-1 GTB. Start the whole series count from scratch. I don't care - just build it Mazda! Nobody is buying the Acura NSX and there is a good reason for that. The NSX never had the heritage of the RX-7 and it was priced like a wannabe Ferrari with less performance than Viper. That kind of bizarre contradiction, I think, caused the old one to fail and is now causing the new version to see lack in sales in nearly every single market. Honestly, I don't think that even this NSX is going to survive.

Mazda, on the other hand has something that it can point to both on the street and on the track where it can say: "Look, we did this before and we are doing it again. Only this time it will be epic in performance and well mannered in daily driving, if that's how you want to drive it."

I think Volvo Polestar got it right and I hope Mazda is paying attention. (drive2)

 

[GJ-Molestor]

China, given its recent wild ride of nearly 7.5 GDP a few years ago, probably had (still has) a lot of cash looking for a home and took Volvo for a magic carpet ride in 2010. So, you have a point there. They literally stole it from Ford, for a 'whopping' little sum of $1.6 billion when Ford paid more than 3 times that much almost 11 years earlier. Volvo, then comes out like gang busters with a new design language of its own and seems to be traveling that language throughout its entire line up very well indeed. I've always liked Volvo because of their commitment to Safety and their "truth" in Engineering. But, I probably like them even more now given this bombshell just released on Polestar and its "independence."

This is going to get very interesting for BMW, Lexus and Audi, I would think - particularly Lexus, as both BMW and Audi already have more established Sport Badges ("M" and "S" respectively). With Volvo now we have a real solid move up the High Performance Division ladder and I truly hope that sooner rather than later, Mazda makes that journey with them. I see the Mazda 6, Mazda 3 and CX-9 as serious GT1 and GT2 platforms. But, I also see the return of the Mazda RX-7 in a GTB form (Grand Touring Boosted) series. I don't care what they call them, just as long as they make them. I'd have a CX-9 GT2 and an RX-7 GTB on order in a heartbeat - faster than a heartbeat.

Maybe even go a little retro and call it the RX-1 GTB. Start the whole series count from scratch. I don't care - just build it Mazda! Nobody is buying the Acura NSX and there is a good reason for that. The NSX never had the heritage of the RX-7 and it was priced like a wannabe Ferrari with less performance than Viper. That kind of bizarre contradiction, I think, caused the old one to fail and is now causing the new version to see lack in sales in nearly every single market. Honestly, I don't think that even this NSX is going to survive.

Mazda, on the other hand has something that it can point to both on the street and on the track where it can say: "Look, we did this before and we are doing it again. Only this time it will be epic in performance and well mannered in daily driving, if that's how you want to drive it."

I think Volvo Polestar got it right and I hope Mazda is paying attention. (drive2)

to be fair, Audi BMW mercedes and all these brands have had a huge head start in terms of refining their luxury brand which in turn allows them to blow asking prices out of proportion, increasing revenue which then allows them to start doing projects on the side such as racing and high performance models like BMW M.

when BMW came out with their first M car, the E30 M3 in the 90's they were very skeptical putting these into production because they were not sure whether they would sell or not. they did not want to be taking risks such as the BMW 507 back in the 60's which essentially killed the company back then. the American BMW enthusiast group at the time convinced the hesitant brand to put the M3 into production! Mazda was in a similar situation up until now playing their cards safe to avoid losing money. now that they have finally tapped into the luxury market it is only a matter of time until we see the company open up their potential and start building brilliant performance-luxury machines. patience is virtue.

I do however agree that Mazda should get into the racing scene more (although they already have some sort of motorsports going on) and I really hope they do so in the future. I am especially anticipating some performance models in the future although it is dissapointing that they dropped the Mazdaspeed niche.

I personally really like the Acura NSX, new or old. it is a great looking car inside and out and the performance is excellent in comparison to it's most direct rival the Nissan GTR. here is the most key difference between a performance car from Mazda, such as the RX-7 and this NSX that Acura made. Honda doesnt really care if the NSX doesnt sell well which is why they have made a second generation NSX despite the first one not selling well. apparently you can walk into an acura dealership and easily slash 30k off the stickered price which then makes it somewhat of a performance bargain for the money. it's basically like hey look at me, we can build a monstrous performing supercar with a sexy body, while Mazda builds their version of a halo performance cars with pure passion and keeping in mind that the driver should be involved and entertained - a true test of skill rather then the sheer robotic capabilities of the boring Nissan GTR for example.