Mazda's North American design head, Franz von Holzhausen, teamed up with Swift Engineering to form a body that creates around 80 percent of the downforce of the original racer. Air is sent down through a roof-mounted intake and mixes with E100 ethanol in a three-rotor 20B engine mounted amidships, producing 450hp.
The styling of the Hakaze, Nagare, Ryuga, Taiki and Furai concepts provide a glimpse into Mazda's future design direction. And the Furai might be an indication that Mazda is looking into another run of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Mazda Refreshes The RX-8 For 2009
In the ramp-up to the Detroit Auto Show, rumors swirled about what would become of the aging RX-8. A clean-sheet redesign? An optional supercharger? A three-rotor Wankel? Unfortunately, none of the above. Mazda trotted out what is essentially the same RS model that debuted at the Tokyo Auto Salon a few days earlier, with a new front and rear bumper, restyled air dams, a set of biggie-sized exhaust pipes and some new rolling stock.
For 2009, the RX-8 gets the aforementioned exterior changes and a refreshed version of the Renesis rotary producing 232bhp when mated to a six-speed manual-or 212bhp when attached to Mazda's six-speed automatic with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. A new instrument panel with a 'variable red-zone' integrated into the tach keeps tabs on coolant temps and shows when the rotary mill is ready for flogging. Owners opting to swap their own cogs get a new differential that lowers the ratio from 4.444 to 4.777.
Mazda has added some chassis bracing and a trapezoidal strut tower brace to increase rigidity, while revisions to the rear suspension attempt to keep things solid at speed. New front and rear seats accompany a few small tweaks to the interior to help make the 2009 RX-8 more driver-focused.
The real news comes in the form of the R3 package, which harks back to the options offered on the FDs of yesteryear. The R3 offers Bilstein shocks and front suspension crossmembers filled with urethane foam, along with 19-inch forged aluminum rollers, high performance rubber, a 300w Bose audio system, Recaro sport seats, and a keyless entry and start system.
Lexus LF-A RoadsterDrops Its Top In Detroit
The LF-A Roadster carries the same front/mid-mounted 5.0-liter V10 found in its coupe counterpart. With similar slippery styling, the super-cabrio can reach speeds in excess of 200mph. All 500 ponies are dispatched into a driveshaft encompassed by a torque tube that prevents chassis flex as power is sent to a rear-mounted transaxle. An adaptive rear wing ensures the LF-A won't get airborne at speed, while cool air collected from the ducts aft of the doors is sent through two rear-mounted radiators positioned under the trapezoidal taillights.
There's still no word on when the LF-A will finally make it to market. That's fine by Honda, since that company is still agonizing over the design of its NSX revival.