http://www.just-auto.com/article.aspx?id=101181

'Petrolhead' and sports car enthusiast Ikuo Maeda wants to inject a fourth element into Mazda's design philosophy.

He's not sure what it is yet but the new head of Mazda design knows there's something missing.

"Our Nagara design shows emotion and passion," said Maeda who was chief designer on both the RX-8 and 2/Demio. The RX-8 shows the automaker can produce "alluring and sexy" cars while the 2 demonstrates "the lean, sharp element of the design," he said.

"We need to combine all these elements and add a fourth."

To do that, he will be drawing on the expertise of his design centres in both Europe and North America.

"Co-ordinating design globally is a big challenge since everything has to be engineered in Japan. It doesn't work to have the centres working on different designs of the same model so each studio will produce its own concepts," he said.

While Maeda agrees that the current line-up is "fine", he would love to add a sports car to rival Nissan's GT-R or the Porsche 911.

"We have the technical capability, but now is not the right time," said Maeda who drives a Lotus Elise at home in Japan and has previously owned a Mini Cooper and Alfa Romeo Guilietta.

The Superlight MX-5 concept unveiled at Frankfurt has no production future.

"It demonstrates the very simple soul of Mazda - a car that is fun to drive and simple," said Maeda. "It also helps to showcase lightweight technology which is increasingly important in the quest for lower emissions and better fuel economy."

He believes the advent of electric cars and other alternative powertrains will allow designers much greater freedom to change the proportion of vehicles.

"Personally, I don't like EVs, I love the sound of an engine and the smell of oil - I'm old fashioned like that, but now is a good time to be a stylist."

 

we need more people like this.

 

Great Comment too..

"Personally, I don't like EVs, I love the sound of an engine and the smell of oil - I'm old fashioned like that, but now is a good time to be a stylist."

Me too..

 

!!!!!!

 

snap!!

 

Enter the street prepped Furai,,,

That would be absolutely incredible....

 

How hard would it be to chop out the back seats in the 8 slip in a 16x and make an awesome 2 seater sports car - really . It would not be a GTR killer but they really don't need to produce a car like that .

 

**** yea. I really hope they embrace this philosophy before the time of the combustion car is up..

 

Well, if they ever did unveil a production car that competes closely with the GTR or 911 it will surely be out of the price range of most people that frequent this forum, so Im not even worrying about it.

If they can put the 16x into a production car and get better MPG, torque and maybe around 275hp (and not having to adjust it down), Id be more than thrilled.

 

Producion offering of a turbo'ed 16x in an MX-5....

Any takers on meeting his goal? It's have power to weight greater than any of those, and with that kind of curb weight, it would still dominate cornering.

Great thinking though. I like series hybrids from an engineering and efficiency perspective, but yeah, can't have a 'incredibly smooth rotary engine' that isn't combustion

 

I also second that last quote.

Yes, I'm sure Courage could churn out a bunch of street damped chassis.

I agree. If they could make a small, light coupe with *enough* power to match a 370Z, that would be enough. They wouldn't need 400 or whatever hp, Maeda knows this from driving an Elise.

 

id like it to be at least as good as the Cayman and cost a good deal less

 

By the time Mazda is ready for a 911 killer, he would be retired !
________
Laylah

 

Thats actually not that hard to match!

They certainly have all the knowledge to engineer a chassis that is comparable to what the top manufacturers produce. But how they will achieve the power figures is what is interesting to me, and with the rotary engine!
________
LIVE SEX WEBSHOWS

 

this is a good guy to have in the mix.

 

yup def need more people who love the sound of a car

 

Maeda: "We have the technical capability, but now is not the right time"

This is the current problem in Mazda IMHO.

it's a small cap, very expert in tech but, simply too small for big projects on small numbers cars (gtr, 911 etc....)

 

Now he is a true enthusiast :D

IMO Hybrids are ****. You can get a diesel car to have better fuel mileage and go faster and have a better looking car overall at a lower cost.
Heck I wouldn't even mind a Hydrogen Rx8!

 

Agree with him 100% on the smell of oil and sound of engines. I really really really really wish Mazda would make something to compete with the GT-R, something 3 rotor and under that in price. They've got some of the best design philosophy and the expertise, just **** the environment with the sports cars and let the rest of the cars take care of that

 

I agree with all you guys. There aren't enough car people in the car industry anymore, which is why it is going to ****.

 

Yup, that's all I'm looking for: 2-seats, lower weight, and the 16X - Simple.

Give it to me in 2012 Mazda or I'll be going elsewhere - Simple.

 

I love the smell of oil in the morning. I love the sound of my roto when hammering it through the gears.
Electric is for household appliances like my blender. I love the sound of my blender when blending a 151 proof rum with a good drink mix. NOT FOR CARS!

 

Yes, and Mazda has a lot of other great guys like him in Japan and US branches. You'd be surprized how high up the rotary enthusiasts go at Mazda and sportscar nuts. If they can afford to do something cool they will. You can depend on that.

Paul.

 

If they really do think they have the capability right now, I wonder what it all includes? For all we know, maybe it would not even mean a rotary for a supercar but the only other thing I could think of would be a turbo or maybe twin turbo 6 cyl.

 

Twin turbo v6 is technically possible in MAzda , but is not its "tech Flag"....

a 3 rotor 24x it's more interesting (and plausible) to be the "flagship" of Mazda but:

1)high costs
2) low volumes