bern

Here you go...

http://mazdanews.com/node/view/384


Enjoy,

-Bern

Tirminyl

Hmmm. The Senku, Nagare, and now the Ryuga. All essentially the same albeit the details. The previous two shared sliding doors, and this has gull-wing styled doors. I can't help but think future design hints at the next gen RX-8. Though the Senku celebrated the fact it was a family sports car with seating for 4. The Nagare had a single center seat. I'm interested to see more of this but I feel let down as I was wanting to see more of a different design. Could be bait and switch.

rx8wannahave

Yeah, I'm interested to see this thing in real pictures. It looks nice from the front and the bit you can see of the rear looks like it would look HOT. Stick a NEW rotary in there or heck, here is a CRAZY idea....how about a Mazda V8?

Hmmmm, has Mazda ever made a V8?

Anyway, we will have to wait and see what it looks like outside of pictures. I hope another RX8 is made but Mazda is like the Skunk Works man....wow, they don't tell ANYONE ANYTHING about their future. Only bread crumbs here and there...

Tirminyl

Nope. The largest they have made is a shelved V12 that never saw production. The rest is Wankel, 4's and 6's. Someone correct me if im wrong.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

-yawn-

MadRonin

Exactly. I'm sick of concept cars. Here's a thought, how about giving us a preview of an actual upcoming car? It's not just Mazda, either; all car manufacturers do this. Granted certain concepts do make it to production, but most of the time they look nothing like the really cool concept.

Give me something tangible and then I'll get excited. Until then it's all ****.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

oooh gullwings

let's see THAT make it into production lol

Gambit

it could be a nice looking car....as long as they don't butcher the back like they did the nagare.

make the damn kabura already!!!

j_tso

But This Is Zoom-zoom Defined!

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

i actually like where the Ryuga is going compared to Nagare

it's probably just the gullwing talking though, damn i want a gullwing Marty McFly style lol

rotarygod

I like seeing new concept cars from manufacturers. Especially Mazda. They've been building many of them lately. That's good news. That means they have some long term plans and more than once the rotary has been a part of it. They will never show you a preproduction car until they are about ready to sell it so don't get your hopes up. All of these different concepts are good from the standpoint that we can see which way the company is headed. It shows the commitment to the future is there.

Spin9k

I agree it's nice to see direction thru concept cars, even if only on paper, but gee I get it already. Low long swoopy thing with big doors and futuristic flying car styling.

I mean, with the RX-8 (check my join date), we had 4 YEARS notice 1st with the 'RX-EVOLV' concept car with RENESIS prototype engine unveiled at Tokyo Motor Show in 1999, then the actual RX-8 concept car unveiled at 2001 Tokyo Motor Show. It was a long wait but there was light...

Where are we with possible production on these? So far nothings could come even close to reality except the Kabura (which I really liked). And that seems as far from production as any of them at this point.

Mazda's lack of anything real... frankly continues to depress me. When are they going to give some thought to satisfing their heretofor loyal consumers desire for 'new' or at least 'improved' vehicles who are left sitting on their thumbs?

Since there are no 3rd party Renesis improvements, no forseeable Mazda Renesis upgrade, I get more depressed and ready to jump ship with each new paper dream.

Design1stCode2nd

One far out concept a year is enough. How about at least be on par concept wise with the Kabura and then your third concept is close to a production version. The Mazda6 is due for a redesign soon, the Miata just got one and they have introduced two new models. The 6 and then the RX8 would be the next logical cars for redesigns.

rx8wannahave

I hear you on both counts, I call it fluff…I’m tired of the fluff also and their CIA-area 54 like secrecy.

With that said, we have to remember they just came out with (or recently did) the Mazda 3, a new Miata, CX-7, Mazda 5, CX-9 (soon), and are now working on the Mazda 6 which completely makes sense since it’s their money making cars.

BUT, I hear you all and I can’t stand how the RX8 has been ignored and surpassed by MS3 & MS6. Meanwhile, the Kubra is….um, where exactly on the “to build” list? RX8…is a new one even coming? Will they make a family sports car (like the RX8 but with more room in the back) from this latest concept?

Etc Etc Etc, it’s like they only got one department that works on one car at a time. But, I always say “seems” because we don’t really know what is going on behind their IRON doors.

rotarygod

The point of these cars is for a public design study on different ideas. They aren't to showcase a prototype car. They are gauging feedback on different aspects of them so they know which aspects they should try to incorporate into future models. That's actually pretty cool of them to do it this way. Rather than keep things covered up and hidden so only a few people can judge, they get all of their ideas out in front of the people that matter most and that is a potential consumer. That's smart of them. Other companies should do this. Then we wouldn't see ugly vehicles like the Aztek hit the market and flop or the powerful yet depressingly boring GTO come and go. Other car makers need to follow this lead and show off their ideas. It doesn't matter if they intend to build those vehicles or not. That's not what they are shown off for. The people that look at these and think that just don't get it.

If you really study these cars, they are all very differently designed. How many different variations have we seen? We've seen conventional doors, slide doors, doors that tuck away into the bodywork, and now gull wing doors. They are gauging interest. We've seen 2 seaters, 4 seaters, and evena 3 seater. One thing that has repeated is the general front grille shape and that's probably an accurate hint as to what they'll look like in the future as far as shapes go. We've seen a windshield that goes up past the traditional location. We've seen rotary engines, piston engines, hydrogen rotaries, hybrids, direct injection, etc. How can all of these sound like the same basic thing? They are design studies. I applaud Mazda for showing these ideas off to the public and hope we keep seeing more of these in the future.

Tirminyl

You can say that again.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

i'd really like to see mazda get a gull wing design into production, it'd be so impractical but soooo cool lol

Spin9k

Frankly I'd really like to see some down and dirty under-the-skin nuts and bolts sports car innovation show up from Mazda at some auto show. Something highlighting other than "fashion". OK so skin-pretty and fancy door designs are cool, but my sexy is further research/feasability on a DI Rotary, SC Rotary, or some as-yet-unknow alternative design Rotary engine; improvement of fuel economy, new light-weight chassis innovation/cost reductions techniques, advanced computer aided DSC functions, and the like.

We don't REALLY need a car desgn sweepstakes from Mazda. For example the MX-5 aka Miata is as plain jane a car design as possible on the outside, but it's a great handler by all accounts, and well respected worldwide. (Personally the new car reminds me of a jellybean more than anything else). The RX-8 is a fairly swoopy design-wise, certainly the polar opposite of the MX-5, but again a great handling car, and respected for its merits by those who are aware of it.

Bottom line... It's what's underneath the skin that REALLY counts, yet all we see lately from Mazda is mumbo-jumbo voodoo words about "flow", "energy", and "spirit". What about the basics and some hard engineering?

So being tired of all the fluff, I simply want some meat (plus the other stuff) on display from my favorite company. It seems other than fashion, the engineers are all hell bent on producing one new yet bigger SUV after another, some fashionable hybrid elephants as well, and interesting but genetically flawed FWD vehicles.

What's happening to Mazda's flaunted DNA? One would think they could share some of what's up with that with us as well.

rotarygod

Mazda is working on direct injected rotaries. They won't put one into a car to show off until they have it worked out good enough to consider it close to production. They have a ways to go so don't expect this soon.

The outside looks design studies are where you need public opinion the most which is why it's good to show these off. When it comes to handling or any other under the skin technology they will take care of that on their own. They do a pretty good job of it. They've already admitted to really liking the RX-8 suspension and have planned to use it's basic design on multiple cars. Other electronic features are going to just turn into a standard everyday thing and already have on many accounts.

rx8wannahave

Any specifics? I know the MX-5 has a modified one but the RX8 suspension in a sports (4-5 passenger) sedan (RWD/AWD a must) would be sweet.

RG...it's just that alot of us are tired of the wait, yeah...we are spoiled but the 8/sports car/sedan future still seems WAY OFF.

saturn

But if that's true that means Mazda isn't going to do anything exciting for at least 3 or 4 years. I don't mind if they have pie in the sky concepts that are used for excitement or even feedback, but to let their flagship sports car go 6 or 7 years without any real upgrades is where all the trouble comes from. They have more concepts than many car makers and yet have fewer actual changes. It may be good in several years, but for the foreseeable future it just seems like a big sign that says "nothing new here".

zoom44

one thing is clear from the begining of the RX-8 thru the washu http://archive.cardesignnews.com/aut...zda-washu.html to these new concepts- Mazda is continually looking for something new in the door department. they clearly want to take a path that leads to easier entry /exit but still has strong torsional stiffness. i think you will see a slider on a production car in the near future. they tried the rear openers on the 8 i think we'll see a slider for a rear door on the next gen car. either one that slides in like on th ekabura or outside like the washu/senku/nagare etc. the other thing that is clear from the washu to today is they want more glass on the roof. all of the3se concepts (even the cx-7 mazaspeed at sema) have incorporated more glass for a lighter interior. i know allot of folks are worried about all that glass in a crash. but id really like to see it on a production car from mazda myself. and with it being employed by many other car makers ,including some lux brands and ford itself with the Vista Roof, i think we will definetly see a kabura like roof soon

Ajax

The problem with vertical doors is always getting them open in the event of a roll over. If the car is on it's roof, you're stuck unless they can be detached.

Renesis_8

I dont know about the new door concept, this part of the car is hard to change and it'll take time for people to accept it. But nonetheless, mazda is again seeking innovative designs, like the rotary engine, some risky business, they're willing to take.

What I really really want to see is interior change. The dash/radio control of Mazdas is slowly getting outdated. I am not asking for futuristic designs like Honda (which will look pathetic in a couple of years IMO). While the current design is straight forward, easy to use, it lacks the upscale feel. They need to make some changes if they want to introduce cars with higher price tags. CX-7 is taking the right step, with the integrated touchscreen, I think it looks good, but yet still not good enough overall. Like the tach and speedo, many cars in that price range have some beautiful designs with electrolumin gagues.

Also the choice of materials is getting better, it is very apparent in the CX-7, compared to the cheap-@$$ leather (its more like plastic) used in the early Mazda6, the difference is day and night. (The mazda3 still has it)

Mazda makes some very quick adjustments to what the market wants. However I would like to see a car that is a hit on the first try from Mazda, setting the standard for others, not following.
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Bubbler Pipe

Razz1

Hmmm. The Senku, Nagare, and now the Ryuga. All essentially the same albeit the details.

^^

Yep