Read more »
The first corporate logo dates back to 1936. It was registered as a trademark when Mazda began manufacturing its first three-wheeler. The name itself is a derivative from Ahura Mazda, the god of wisdom, intelligence and harmony in early Asian cultures. It also derives from the anglicized version of the founder’s name, Jujiro Matsuda.
Read more »
The Mazda2s seen here are designed with two different goals in mind: looking slick on the street, or tearing it up at the track.
The Mazda2 Street keeps it simple by getting lowered on a set of 15x9s and adding some lower-body graphics, while the Mazda2 Evil Track gets the same rims, more aggressive vinyl, and enough safety/racing gear to meet NASA and SCCA standards. The "Evil Track" also wears a Mazda Design body kit and rides on H&R coilovers.
His goal is to create a one-of-a-kind Mazda RX-8 Coupe (yes, the stock model's rear-hinged suicide doors are gone) with inspiration coming predominantly from two Lamborghini models, the limited production Reventon and the conceptual Estoque sports saloon.
Shawnz will send more photos and details over our way as the development progresses, but for now, you can follow the jump to read his story and check out the full gallery.
PS: Our friend from Singapore is working his way through school, so as you can imagine, it's not easy to keep up with the expenses involved in such a project.
That said, Shawnz would appreciate any kind of support or sponsoring from companies engaged in the tuning industry. If you're willing to help out, send us an email and we'll bring you in direct contact with Shawnz.
____________________________________________________________________
The Story as told to us by 'Shawnz':
My goal is to create a completely unique RX-8 Coupe with a sleek design that will stand out from the crowd.
The company associated with the project is called J's Artworks. They initially turned me down when I could not settle with their asking price but the company's boss liked my idea and so we finally agreed on a fair amount.
Starting with the side skirts, I did not like the usual aftermarkets parts that were readily available. In most cases, side skirts simply make the car look lower without adding to the design of the car.
I really liked the Lamborghini Reventon's side skirts so I decided that was the way to go.
Next up the front bumpers that were a real challenge. For the RX-8, I found the Nakamura Racing Factory front bumpers truly eye-catching. So from there on, took some styling cues from other Lamborghini models and voila!!!
The rear-end of the car was a big question mark. There was no design to my liking. However, after going through all sorts of supercar exotics and hot rods for ideas, I came up with something I liked. The back won't be finished until September 2010. It is to surprise the public at the upcoming Super Import Nights here in Singapore.
So with the Lamborghini Reventon-style skirts, J's Artworks suggested that I widen the body. That did not sit very well with me because I still wanted the use the car on the race track.
I wanted the car not only to look good, but also to be reliable. Lots of planning, trials and errors, and setbacks were encountered along the way. First of all, I wanted to make sure that the FRP, putty, etc used was the right amount so that no unnecessary weight would be added.
Second, I didn't want to make the body too wide so I could still be able to use my own 245/35 R19 tires. However, we did have to use spacers at the back. And that took quite a bit of time to find a suitable pcm so that I could use the thinnest spacer required. We ended up using a pcm from a BMW.
Due to the known heat issues with the RX-8, we had to be careful with the bonnet. I really wanted to go with a vented hood, but having the sleek design in mind, I decided to create an inverted vented bonnet. The heat will escape through an opening we created at the back of the hood.
The large vents on the front bumper also help by directing plenty of air to the oil coolers and engine bay.
Color wise, the obvious choice was to go black. But the boss at J's Artwork told me that with this finish, the sharp lines and contours of the car would not stand out therefore defeating the purpose.
Going glossy was a no no. Matte was the answer. Since I could not get glossy black, and yet wanted it to look cool and stealthy, I chose the F-22 color.
Something grayish and dark but not too much. The Reventon looked similar and I found out that it had a pinch of special green in it. So we ended up using this combo.
I think that's about it. Interior wise, I have no plans yet except to have lightweight materials installed.
Officially, the only piece of information that Mazda has released about its next generation RX model is the development of a new 1.6-liter (800cc per rotor) rotary engine called the 16X Renesis. Rumor has it that the new engine can produce up to 350 ponies.
Inside Line says that while Mazda's initial plans were to offer the next RX-7 with a high-power version of the Wankel engine and a $35,000 price tag, the company is now considering to follow the example of the first generation model by developing a less powerful two-seater with not so many fancy features and a price of around $25,000.
In this case, the Wankel would deliver somewhere around 200 to 250HP, which shouldn't be a bad thing if Mazda manages to keep the rear-wheel drive coupe's weight down.
With the economy being what it is these days, and looking at the current and future (see Toyota FT-86) proposals in the segment, a less powerful but better priced RX-7 doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. Plus, there's always room for a more powerful version if the market's up to it.
Via: Inside Line - Opening Photo: Mazda Furai Concept
Mazda RX-7 Gallery
