Concept from the pic looks pretty cool. Really futuristic but I like it. Mazda says it’s going to have better exceleration? I wonder what kind of a hp increase we’re talking about here if we are. Please 300hp!!!

You actually have to wonder wether that’s a 2009 Rx-8? Your other story about it was completely off-base, too! It’s a pretty mild facelift & drivetrain change is all. No wonder everyone in the comments said it looked the same! Too bad for Mazda though, they couldn’t change that car enough for me, it’s that ugly. How can they make a CUV so nice looking and a sports car so ugly?

Mazda’s concepts are such a waste of time it’s not even funny. They are always totally outlandish and unbuildable with powertrains that exist only on paper. Ryuga, anyone?

I suppose an improved RX-8 is a good thing, but it’s all relevant since you can’t really make a worse sports car in the modern market than the slow, ugly POS we’ve got now.

The spy shots of the RX-8 were obviously of a mild facelift. And no mule for a new RX-8. I hope they don’t mess up the car because the RX-8 is still one great looking car with great handelling!

Concept car will be cool.. although I’m kinda Mazda Concept-tired..

CA36GTP, you are really missing the point of concept cars…

Not really. A “design language” concept car is great every couple years or so, but the majority of concepts are supposed to be able to translate into production models. Otherwise people just stop being interested in pictures of **** they will never ever see in a dealership.

That’s something I like about GM. 90% of their concepts end up as production cars which are 95% identical to their conceptual models, with some exceptions like Volt needing a redesign and the 2003 G6 concept. Honda and BMW are also fairly good at this.

Mazda, Toyota, and VW seem to be the worst offenders when it comes to pumping out tons of concepts that mean absolutely nothing.

“better quality and design, as well as better handling and acceleration.” won’t make much difference it if drinks oil like there’s no tomorrow.

CA36GTP - I agree with Ahura. You’re completely missing the point of concept vehicles. It’s to generate buzz and show what’s possible in the somewhat near future. It’s marketing. Eventually, some things make it to production, but it’s more focused on the “pie in the sky” thinking. Compare this to the domestic manufacturers that can’t seem to get away from this whole retro trend. Focusing on the past does not prepare for the future. Toyota, Honda, Mazda…at least they’re looking ahead and trying new things.

If you immediately like it, then the designers haven’t pushed hard enough.

6ix, I’d rather a manufacturer show me “this is what we know we can make, because we’re that good at building cars”, rather than “this is what we can draw or mock up, because we’re really good at making fake cars”.

Again, I have no problem with as you say “pie in the sky” design language concepts, but they lose their effectiveness when they are saturated as much as Mazda has done. For every “pie in the sky” concept, there should be at least a few “we can do this” concepts.

I agree with ya on the “we can do this” concepts. The auto world needs both. And you know what…we love them all! ha ha ha.

My profession is making fake cars and concepts, so I’m a little biased here.

Mazda has been teasing us with promises of three rotor engines since the ’70s. The lump they’re stuffing in the RX-8 is essentially the same old 13B first introduced in the ‘74 RX-4. Time to **** or get off the pot Mazda. Go concept yourself to death but let’s see you up the ante on the showroom floor. The current rotary belongs in the Miata. A three rotor in the RX-8 might make people notice again.

6ix, as long as you’ve never put nets in a car for seating and airplane controls where the steering wheel is supposed to be on one of your projects, you’re okay.

CA36GTP, I agree with you that Mazda is showing off a bit too much. But the first signes of the new design already shows on the new Mazda6. The front is kinda like the Ryuga and the whole design is also smooth. And the new Mazda3 will be a production car with more concept cars elements and the rest will follow in 2011

BTW: Mazda also has a lot of concept cars that are similar to the production models! MX-Crossport (CX-7), MX-Flexa (Mazda5), MX-Micro Sport (JDM Verisa), MX-Sportif (Mazda3), MX-Runabout (Mazda2) etc..

http://www.mazda-madness.nl/proto.htm

CA36GTP - actually, have you seen the interior concepts that Johnson Controls have done? They use the same mesh fabric that the Herman Miller Aeron chair does, so you can see right through them. Makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Very thin seat frame.

But I do agree with you about the crazy user-interfaces some of these concept cars have. They’re a little, um, much.

All well and good, but you have to go back to 2005 to find it, and even then it was offset by crap like Senku. Mazda’s design studio seems to have gone a little over the top after 2003.

” Very thin seat frame.”

I’m not so sure it’ll do well in a crash test due to the hard frame.

pure ethanol?
That’ll go over well in peoria

The last thing a designer wants to hear in response to a concept exerise is “Gee, I don’t know”. Either a strong, “I like it” or “I hate it” will provide direction for evolution of the design.

Morgan goes a little psycho, cornering her in the bathroom and tormenting her from outside. This only turns Alicia on and she has to masturbate while he verbally abuses her through the door.

3 rotors are unbeatable, put a single turbo on that and nobody will catch up to you

even jay leno said the rx8 is one of the best cars hes ever driven, and that it also had the best suspension of any other car hes ever driven including most supercars

///m: that’s saying a lot

not really.. its true

bout time. i love the rx series of mazda’s i can’t wait to see the new one and offer a dame turbo on it

the rx-8 was a “concept” turned into a production car. the concept was called the rx-evol
the rx-8 is great. good balance and weight distribution.
only thing about mazdas are, it looks great when it comes out, then it starts to get dated rather fast.
I thought GM was the king of making concepts that never become production.

///m: Leno is known as a guy who knows cars

Mazda has put a 3-rotor rotary in a car before. In the 1990-1995 Eunos Cosmo.

Haha buytheredcar “GM IS the king of making concepts that never become production” Until lately. The solstice went from concept to production in a shorter time, the Enclave, and i’m trying to think what other concepts went from concept to production. But yeah Mazda has come out with some far out Concepts but they do make the future look promising. I hope the RX-8 gets a power boost. Something close or at 300hp would be good. But I also hope that Mazda brings back the RX-7 I just don’t know if they’ll be able to keep both around.

The current RX-8 is a good care but pales in comparison with the 3rd generation (1990’s) RX-7. The RX-7 had more power and weighed less than the RX-8. Furthermore it was a screaming barely street-legal banshee that was a couple of screw-turns from track performance.
My cousin owned one but I knew how to drive it better than he did; he mis-shifted 5th to 2nd one too many times and blew the apex seals. Friggen’ moron didn’t have the cash to fix it and sold it before I had a chance to look at it. I don’t speak to him anymore…

‘To the Batcave, Robin’

Seriously lol, this thing is awesome, I cant wait to hear it, 3 or 4 rotor engines are some of the best engines I’ve ever heard. And lets not forget the balance this thing is gonna have. I really hope this sees production!

Nice! If they make a smaller, more production-friendly version, maybe it can compete with the R8?

Either way, I like those headlights. They are very NOT-bland which is a great thing for a Japanese car (..or American if that’s what you consider Mazda to be)

It’s actually a very badass vehicle due to its pure functionality that doesn’t look like ****. Make one street legal even if it costs the same as a GT-R, I’d get one.

That’s pretty Ballin. Based off of a courage C65 platform eh? Yeah you can definitely see its traces from its ALMS entry in that the shape of it is not only futuristic but also looks like a Prototype class racing car which I think is even more awesome! I really doubt something like this would make it to production from Mazda although I’d like to see it make production. Mazda could use a “supercar” or at least upscale the RX-8 or keep it like it is and come back with an RX-7

I think it is a study that could not been conceived in Italy. From some angles it looks like prehistoric fish and from others it does not inspire me, but I am a minority here. Well, if you need to party you can drink straight out of the fuel tank.

Could Mazda really pull off a “supercar?” I’d love to see them pare this down into a production version to take on the R8 and possibly even settle in just above the Corvette. Something between $60,000 and $80,000. I can’t see Mazda doing this, but I’d be awesome, they have such a unique style and unlike Ford, actually seem to have “forward thinking.”

Obviously just a design study but as somebody who has loved prototype racing since it was last IMSA that thing is Fing awesome. Best translation of the Nagare language yet. Wish they’d make it but ALMS cars cost millions to build so forgetaboutit.
RX-8 is so pure a sports car anybody who dogs it is a douche. Dont like looks thats your opinion. Is it under powered, sure by todays std. But its lightness lends itself to so much fun, steering and brakes are dead on and the car is incredible tossible. Its a great chassis. The rotary is a blast to rev the hell out of. Need more power the aftermarket for this car/motor is brimming with parts.

They could pull off a supercar with a 20b, rotaries have awesome balance, and if anyone knows balance its Mazda, drive an MX-5, Jay Leno loves his Miata more than any of his cars. I am really happy to see they’re using a 3 rotor. If this car doesnt make production please put that engine in the next RX model!!!!

ALMS= No rotaries allowed, since 1992 =(

Yikes! It’s another freaky concept car from Mazda! As much as I love their production vehicles, I have to admit that they make some of the most bizarre looking concept cars. As long as they keep pumping out awesome looking production vehicles, I could car less.

snoboardguy- If your referring to Ford as not “forward thinking” because their not producing a similar super car, then they have the GT.

But man, this thing is amazing looking. I could have never imagined they could fuse the body lines so nicely with the rest of the car. This is really ambitious design and thinking- I’d love to see it in person.

This is where Ethanol should stay. On the track where it’s high-octane-emulating properties are actually useful.

THAT’S ****ING SWEET !! ALTHOUGH I WAS THINKING SOMEWHERE ALONG 700BHP AND NOT 450

Based on the pictures, I’m wondering if this or something similar couldn’t be planned for production as a track-day car. A kind of Mazda version of something like a Lotus Elise.

It makes a lot of sense when you consider Mazda advertises that “More Mazdas are raced than any other car”.

It’ll be a shame if it never saw any road as a production car. It’s a surefire win for MAZDA.

After all the good work MAZDA has done for FORD, this would be a total worth it reward.

Sweet.

LP640,

700hp would be overkill for a car from a company better known for tight course racing and not all out speed. But I wouldn’t mind seeing MAZDA try something like that.

Nowei,

What can I say. I think Mazda may want to build this as their high end, any-day, car. Something higher up the food chain than the RX-8 to give grief to the GT-R, the “NSX”, and LF-1 (when that one ships).

MAZDA’s got street cred and racing cred. This could be exactly the way to spend some of it.

i like this design, its totally original.

Did you all here that the Lexus LF-A lapped the ‘Ring at 7 minutes 24 seconds, spanking the Porsche GT2? A Lexus? This is just like an arms race. I love it.

^Why are you surprised ??

Still though, this looks awesome

jayjc08 - Ford ditched the GT, but I was referring more to the tagline they use in their commercials. Ford claims “forward thinking,” but this Mazda actually looks like it was dreamt up by thinking about what cars will look like in the coming years. This design is years ahead of anything else on the road, save Lambos.

^Agreed dude. This is awesome. It shows that the japanese are leading the world in innovations.

The LF-A time is unofficial. Knowing next to nothing useful about the car, I don’t have an opinion other than it sounds interesting. But the car would have to have much more than the disclosed 500hp and/or weigh about as much as a Mosler MT900.

An arms race? Maybe.

I think the Japanese are being more assertive, much like GM was when they decided to take the CORVETTE to the world stage. Whether it lasts beyond their shores is up to those companies. But “Innovation” is not necessarily the word I would use to describe their latest performance efforts.

In the 1960’s, a time I like to call “the Golden age of high performance automobiles” simply because every idea was a good idea and every idea was new, the only car that was a loser was the car that didn’t get built. But as the rules became more concrete and companies where more interested in getting big and/or famous more than better, the number of innovations declined and only refinement was pursued.

“You can only sharpen a sword so much before you start to burn down the blade.” Eventually you will have to make a new sword. I think the newest sports cars that have come along in the last decade or so are those new swords.

While many of these newest sports and super sports cars seem to more and more resemble race cars, they are not necessarily innovative, as that is what sports cars in the 1960s were: very close to the race cars that spawned the technology to begin with. We are just seeing that tech being used to a more pronounced degree.

It’s no big surprise if the Japanese, the king techno-philes of the world are doing it more that most.

The word I’d use is “Nostalgic” to denote that time when you built what you raced and you raced to win. This sudden surge may not last as it might well be a last horrah before the Japanese buckle down and start seriously working on making hybrid and electric race cars.

But if it has one lasting effect, it’ll be to light a fire under the butts of many of these companies and get Ray Sinclair’s “arms race” roaring in a way that hasn’t been seen in a couple of generations.

“It shows that the Japanese are leading the worlds innovations”

Last time I checked LP640 the Jap’s didn’t invent the assembly line. Also the Wankel rotary engine that Mazda uses (and I must say has vastly improved, although I’m still not a fan of them)was created by a German and was also developed and used before Mazda by Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Bristol Meyers and GM in the early 1970’s. One of the Corvette concepts even had a rotary engine (imagine that). Yes Mazda has improved the Rotary but I’d hardly call the Japanese leaders in innovation. If anything they improve existing technologies like they do pretty much with every technology out there.

LP640- I’ll show you the same thing I showed 1115 a long time ago, if that’s what you want to shove around.

snoboardguy21- I had only saw the “forward thinking” commercial a few minutes ago for the F-150 (I’m not sure if it’s exclusive to that one commercial). When Ford’s talking about the F-150, that’s relatively forward thinking; I say that mostly because it’s still extremely competitive against Chevrolet, Toyota, GM and Dodge, even after all the others had been redesigned atleast once or more. Otherwise, with the exception of the Edge, Fusion, Taurus (very nice car, most people just overlook it) and Mustang (which really set the benchmark for Chevrolet and Dodge, and still remains competitive after a few years), Ford of America is stuck in the past.

But I understand what you mean; not just remaining competitive 4 years into the future, like the F-150 or Mustang, but thinking forward in terms of design.

Astonishing is the only word to describe this car.
It is a marvel of auto design. I’m pretty damn sure that this is not a production car. Who would they sell a $200,000 Mazda to in this national economic catastrophy that we are currently in? Anyway who would even buy a $200,000 dollar Mazda supercar?
Before you ask “who said it was 200 grand?” Look at it, if this thing wnet into production it would be a supercar.

I hope Mazda uses this new design language.
It is the first breath of thematic fresh air to the auto industry since the now ever infamous “Bangle Flame Surfacing”. Mazda is definitly kicking it up a notch.

I have little doubt this car would be six figures, but that is no guarantee that the car would cost $200K. While not out of the range or possibility, MAZDA strikes me as a company more interested in delivering at a reasonable and responsible price, not “ego-stroking” prices.

I would think anywhere between $75K-$150K would be about right. MAZDA has neither the ego nor the inclination to build the Furai for $200k. But I will say this. It wouldn’t surprise me.

Appearances are the cheap part of any cars design. You can make them look like anything you want for any price point these days. Look at the Kia Amanti and you the Ferrari 360 Modena. One looks much more costly than it was and the other looks vastly cheaper than it was. Styling is hardly a predictor of price and it has not since the days of Chrome.

Carbon Fiber: too costly to even build with, too fragile. They look at the C5 and C6 CORVETTE and see a car that big, and it is physically huge for a sports car, and the Porsche 911 and see cars that car light, and tough, win races easily, and don’t cost as much as an apartment in New York… or Tokyo. It would likely be used only on the body and a mix of advanced materials used throughout. Also the weight savings from Carbon Fiber is not as great as it used to be thanks to more advanced methods of using Aluminum and lightweight alloys.

Even with totally original parts end-to-end, it is very possible to deliver this car at a price under $100K (roughly Porsche money). One would think a car like the Molser MT900 would cost $200K. The MT900S, doesn’t crack $190K while they start at and the car has always been relatively inexpensive compared to other supercars. The FORD GT stickered for $150K, speculation drove the price up to over $250K.

Price does not denote the status of “Super Car”, that is a function of performance (think Nissan’s GT-R - about $70 and one of the quickest and most agile cars around). That does not mean the Furai is NOT a Super car simply because it does not cost as much as or more than $200K.

Driven007, you may have that title confused with “Exotic” (as in rare). I have little doubt that Mazda would, if they did, build fewer that 1500 units a year most going to collectors and/or racing teams. Speculation would jump the price badly upward, especially if MAZDA let it slip that they were going to build only x number for n years and then no more, not even a follow-up just as FORD let happen. NO, FORD did not get that extra $100K per unit. The dealers did.

The Furai is a beautiful car, but it need not be “unobtainium”. I don’t see it being in MAZDA’s best interests nor fitting with their character, as a company known for making reasonably and responsibly priced performance and racing vehicles, to build a car that for sell that costs upwards of ten times their average.

Yes. I love this car.

Laguna Seca rocks!

Love those short overhangs.

C^ Racer: agreed

It’s Mazda’s new race car. I doubt it’ll go to production except as a race car. But we can hope.