![]() |
![]() |
||||||
Automotive Intelligence - the web for automotive professionals and car enthusiasts |
|||||||
December 12, 2007 This Week:
© 1998 - 2007
Copyright & |
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. New Mazda RX-8 Sporting a freshened design, improved handling, acceleration, quality and features, the new Mazda RX-8 continues to be a “Sports Car like no other,” and shows that the rotary engine is still an important part of Mazda’s future. Since its launch in 2003, the Mazda RX-8 has been hailed as a genuine sports car, but with a totally new, four-door, four-seat format that delivers sports car values, passenger comfort and driving pleasure. Powered by the world’s only mass-produced rotary engine, RX-8 is the spiritual successor to the 1967 Cosmo 110S, the world’s first twin-rotor production car. With almost two-million rotary engines sold, and the company’s legendary win at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans – the only Japanese brand to ever win the endurance racing classic – the rotary engine is the sole preserve of Mazda. Photo: Mazda (Dec 12, 2007)
|