LEAKED:Mazda Furai Concept
Filed Under: Concept Car Leaks Detroit Auto Show Mazda Technology
"Zoom-Zoom" philosophy goes on race track with Mazda's new concept car. It is back to the future as Mazda wants to give a reminder of its overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991. Some official photos have leaked just two weeks before Detroit Motor Show 2008, where the Furai Concept is making first public appearance. The name Furai (pronounced foo-rye) means "sound of wind".
The Furai is not a typical non-functional concept as it is designed to really perform. The basis of the car is a 2005 Courage C65 chassis, which is an LMP2-class entry in the American Le Mans Series. The body resembles the style of the Nagare concept car. It's the fifth concept of the family – after Nagare, Ryuga, Hakaze and Taiki concepts, that clearly represent Mazda's exploration of a new design language for its future cars. So far the company has not confirmed if these design cues will finally take root in a production car.
The car is powered by a mid-mounted, three-rotor Mazda 20B rotary engine, that gives around 450 hp thanks to E100 ethanol fuel. Mazda's studio in Southern California led by North American design boss Franz Von Holzhausen is responsible for the design of the Furai, and further developed by the racecar specialists at Swift Engineering. As a result, the Furai is able to generate about 80 percent of the downforce of the original race-spec bodywork, which is phenomenal achievement given the fact that Furai has never seen a wind tunnel.
Mazda Furai actually made a couple of hot laps around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca piloted by ALMS ace Jamie Bach. Swift and Mazda worked closely to come up with an innovative intake configuration. Unlike a traditional F1-style snorkel, the Furai takes breath through a shallow, leaflike cup known informally as an "air fang." As the air flows through, 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. Will we ever see this in a production car?
Unbelievable! Other super sportscars can hardly get their foot on the ground compared to this beauty!
mazda, always designs the future
but just one seat...
Its so fkng nice this car...Its really beutiful every way you look at it....I really hope engine got turbo or more power later
MMMMMMMM, BEAUTIFUL.... MAZDA.. CAN WE SAY YES!!! YEEEESSSSS!!
finally!!! some decent pictures, man this car rocks!!! if mazda decides to make a sportscar even loosely based on this car i'll be the first in line for one.
Please make this a production car, and turbo. Forget the RX-8 or return of the RX-7, just build this!
Sweet! Look close at photo #4 and, you'll see that it is a two seater.
thx, i missed the white helm:) but does it a little...crowded? bases on a LMP2.
Quite possibly the most beautiful Japanese car ever....
this mazda is just awesome. now we can see how serious they are about making the next generation rx7 as good as the fd3s. brilliant. looks like a zonda f on steroids.
yeah its really cool. very nnice shape.. its an art!!! MDS
yeah! its very cool... very beuaty....its an art!
Art, with detail, absolutely brilliant..Mazda is quickly become a leader in design, if not already there!
This concept car would not become reality as a roadcar but its design cue will be reflected to the next RX-8 or RX-7. Mazda expressed to put "sports car spirit" to all of their models starting from Mazda 2 probably because of less influence of Ford. I really wish the next RX gets 3-rotor rotary engine not necessarily a E100 mounted at middle but would not be realistic because of cost.
If anything, Ford is one of the biggest reasons behind Mazda's continuing push to gain a more sporty image and make sportier/prettier cars with common (and beautiful) design language throughout their model range....
This is beautiful and I hope that Mazda takes this to the 24hr Le Mans. People forget that they were the only Japanese company to do that. I would also like to add that in my opinion when it comes to concepts i feel that Mazda's are the most exciting. Even if they don't make it to production they stir up some type of emotion and they have a theme that they have stuck with. Everyone is talking about the GT-R, the NSX and the new Lexus super care but I think Mazda will sneak up on everyone. They may not build a car that beats a Pagani Zonda but when drive one of their RX's either the 7 or 8 you can't help but love them. They do a great job of injecting a little sport into every vehicle that they produce. zoom-zoom! LOL
sorry, they were the only Japanese company to WIN the 24hr Le Mans.
yeh as i remember they won the le mans 24hr in the 787b. am i correct?
as you can also see from the front of the car, it shares some styling cues with the fd3s. the front i believe will share a lot with the upcoming rx7 but the rest of the body i doubt.
very original..takes getting used to. but i give mazda respect for their bold concept. this is not just some lame concept..its progressively coming to reality.
if you dont mind guys that i make an analogy..it looks like something from the Spawn comics. Not meant to be a insult to Mazda. its fantastic.
quilla_b I can see what you mean with that analogy.
The more I look at this concept the more I'm convinced it's the prettiest Japanese car EVER made.... I'm not sure if it's a fluke or whether they spent a lot of time and money on it, or even who was responsible for he design, but it definitely works in pretty much every way....
In fact, the only thing that bugs me about this is that the nose isn't longer in proportion to the muscular bulges in front of the front wheel wells....
Yeah, seems like the front overhang has been truncated, so if they made it a bit longer and less tortured it'd be a true winner. 9/10
Very... organic. Beautiful.
Sad enough that you can't just put a car like this on public roads due to regional traffic rules and safety restrictions.
Would probably get a 0 stars rating for the protection offered to pedestrians' legs. Protection of pedestrians would be predominantly poor overall.
And I wouldn't want to flip one of these to find myself landed on my head with just a few inches here and there to be smashed away.
And of course you wouldn't wanna crash a beauty like this.
ceven are you suggesting that the crash worthiness of a LeMans car is not up to snuff? If the car is designed to protect it's occupants at 200+ mph I think it'll do ok at 70. You do have a point regarding pedestrians though.
Pure Beauty.. Its supposed to be a racing car, and the designers are beautifuly sculpting every single part of it. desert like waves.