Yep, I might have been a bit premature with the rest of the styling... but that turn signal really grates.... look it's here too...

 

Ya know, even though those markers aren't gonna be on the US car, that picture we have is pretty darn horrible. I wonder if its poor quality makes the side markers look even more like an afterthought?

 

Boowana, so are you saying that the puzzle is the correct thing? I'm a bit confused...

 

Are you saying that the German car we are seeing now is NOT the same one we saw in Irvine? And if they are two separate cars, why would the one in Irvine have the European lights???

 

I hate to break to you all, but Mazda may not have much of a choice in the matter. The 2002 reg is not yet online, but according to the 2001 CFR 49, Chapter 5, Part 571 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)), Section 108, Table IV:

Side marker lamps MUST be "on each side--1 red as far to the rear as practicable, and 1 amber as far to the front as practicable. "
Turn signal lamps MUST be "at or near the front--1 amber on each side of the vertical centerline, at the same height, and as far apart as practicable."

The lone, mirror-mounted turn signal probably would not have met the requirements. Still would have to have the ones up front.

Here's a link to the regs. The .pdf versions take forever to download.

 

Yeeeha... Mabe its only the US that gets the side markers! Man I hope so, I really am gonna have to get rid of them on my car if I have them...

 

uhhhh i dont think that applies both my parents cars dont have em....

 

Do their cars have a horizontal amber light under the headlights that wraps around the corner? That is a side marker. Looking around my hotel parking lot, I saw many variations, but all cars appeared to have a marker of some sort in addition to a turn signal of some sort.

Some cars have the amber turn signal (or amber bulb) inboard of the headlight, and place the amber side marker outboard, wrapping slightly.

Another car had rectangular amber turn signals a couple of inches below the headlights, and an amber light outboard of the headlights counting as the side marker.


I guess if the orange reflector is that much of a gripe, get an orange RX-8:D

 

My thoughts exactly:D

 

According to that article, those are regulations that come into force later in 2002... so your parents cars wouldn't...

 

That's odd...usually it ís America that have those sidelights! Just look at the Mazda6...

 

The side marker lights are ugly and the new fat/thick mirrors are ugly. If they had decided to get rid of the lights on the mirrors, did they have to make the stalk that attaches the mirror to the car so ugly?? Fat and black. Out of touch with the rest of the car.

 

I think the new front looks great. The headlights seem slightly larger, on slightly more curvaceous fenders, while the intakes on either side of the main front grille are definitely wider and somewhat more aggressively shaped. The downside to this update, which draws the eye more towards the sides of the front end, is that the center grille no longer has the same impact as it did before.

I'd like to see more shots with different lighting/angles before I make up my mind, but I think I'm pretty much indifferent about this update... sometimes I feel like it's an improvement, other times I like the yellow concept's schnoz better.

 

I quess there will be more pics later this week. That's usually the case at Autobild.de

 

Was I the only one that actually liked the Rx-8 logo on the grille?

 

No, I kinda like it too!

 

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sweet. thanks elise. Finally we get a look under the hood! Where's the engine? heh heh.

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's the scans, but in a couple of the shots the corner markers look clear. Also noticed the drivers seat was still 2-tone. Hmmm...

 

Elisemk1,

Could you get the entire article translated. I know we are missing out on a bunch of information from what I can see from your scans.

Thanks
Fritts

 

Thanks elisemk1!!

 

Yeah... thanks elise...

More to the point however, if a german mag can get a test drive and publish production pictures... I'm sure other mags can too...

Go get that scoop, we want to see ALL the details you can torture out of Mazda!

 

Gad, more of those nasty plastic panels that cover things up in the engine bay for looks. My first mod will be to remove most of those pieces.

---jps

 

Some of it might well be for directing airflow... but I make you right on some level...