Click above for a high-res gallery of the Mazda Furai
Of all the Nagare-themed concepts that Mazda has released over the past two years, one stands out. The Mazda Furai concept was unveiled this past January in Detroit and it walked away with our internal Best of Show award. Built around Mazda's two-year-old ALMS Courage C65 chassis and motivated by a 450-hp, three-rotor Wankel juiced by E100 Ethanol, the Furai was a concept that stood above the rest. Part of that was due to its stunning design, but mainly because it was also runner. And run it does. We've already seen video of the Furai testing at a track in Japan, and now we get to experience what its like inside during a few hot laps around the Buttonwillow circuit. Hit the jump to check it out, and make sure your speakers are turned up to 11, unless you're still at work.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Xcountryflyer @ May 14th 2008 6:05PM
Great looking vehicle.
ugg.tryptophan @ May 14th 2008 6:12PM
understatement of the year
Torrent @ May 14th 2008 7:27PM
I know, Imagine if this went into production. I'd buy this in a heartbeat.
That being said...If it does go into production, I can't imagine how much they'd charge for this.
porschedevotee @ May 15th 2008 2:21AM
I just made a mini Furai in my metal sculpture class. Even with my undying love for Porsches, this is the first vehicle that grabbed me so much I just had to make one. Crappy cell phone pics of the work in progress here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/porschedevotee/Furai
Josh @ May 14th 2008 6:17PM
That sounds wonderful...
speedball3 @ May 14th 2008 6:22PM
They should make this car, it'd be awesome.
Tourian @ May 14th 2008 6:26PM
Hopefully it will be in the next Gran Turismo game.
Noah @ May 14th 2008 6:27PM
Thanks, AB, now I got a woodie. Very funny.
typhoon5000 @ May 14th 2008 6:39PM
Awesome car. Got to see it in person and it look even better.
Just a small correction though, the link attached of video of the Furai testing at "a track in Japan" is actually Mazda Raceway/Laguna Seca in Cali. (I've played too much Gran Turismo)
2004m3driver @ May 14th 2008 6:30PM
This car makes me feel like a kid again. With big dreams of making it big so I can buy that Ferrari of my dreams, but now a MAZDA! Wow, I love the looks so much. Pity if they don't even make a super limited production run of it.
Adam @ May 14th 2008 6:32PM
sheesh.
Matt @ May 14th 2008 6:35PM
WOW. Now that caught my attention. Highly recommend checking out the related videos too.
ugg.trytophan... agreed, this truly is the UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR.
4agze @ May 14th 2008 6:40PM
i wonder how aerodynamically competitive this chassis vs a LOLA LeMans chassis...wait is this a rotary or pistons?
MikeofLA @ May 14th 2008 6:40PM
Okay, I'm a little confused, I know it is a concept right now but is this meant to be a limited production super exotic like the Carrara GT/Enzo/McLaren F1/Koenigsegg or is it strictly a race platform like the Porsche GT1, Mercedes CLK GTR?
mk @ May 14th 2008 8:17PM
I believe it is merely a styling exercise based on an existing mid-engined race chassis.
I don't think it is supposed to directly portend a street car, like the LF-A Lexus.
I think this is a proof-of-concept, and a buzz-generator for Mazda's new design language.
I think we'll see styling drawn from this on future mazda products. I certainly hope so.
sdn @ May 14th 2008 6:41PM
holy smokes. talk about a mazda halo car.
MajorGeek @ May 14th 2008 6:46PM
WOW. Scanned by the previous article with hardly a glance, but this one just shows a totally different car. Beautiful.
Mi key @ May 14th 2008 6:59PM
Mazda Build it to Race or for the Streets; just build it.
Michael @ May 14th 2008 7:10PM
Absolutely awesome.
havoc @ May 14th 2008 7:10PM
i goota put that on my mp3 player
i love the zoom-zoom sticker on the dudes helmet
i gotta get back to work
in a few more minutes...