Rotary News | Mazda Furai
Written By Cody Miller on Friday, 4 of January , 2008 at 10:51 am
Mazda has everyone guessing with it’s latest concept, the - Mazda Furai. It looks like a race car, it sounds like a race car, heck it was co-designed by Swift Engineering - a company that specializes in (you guessed it) race cars. So why don’t we just call it a race car already? Well, Mazda’s very own Franz von Holzhausen (North American director of design) says,
“[the Mazda] Furai purposely blurs boundaries that have traditionally distinguished street cars from track cars. Historically, there has been a gap between single-purpose racecars and street-legal models — commonly called supercars — that emulate the real racers on the road. Furai bridges that gap like no car has ever done before.”
So while every sign seems to point towards the Mazda Furai remaining on the track - Mazda wants it on the streets.
Engine - The Mazda Furai sports a powerful mid-mounted Mazda 20B 3 Rotor Rotary Engine which produces around 450 horsepower. The engine is fueled by E100 Ethanol. That is, purely ethanol - no gasoline. (For example, E25 Ethanol is 25% Ethanol and 75% gasoline.) This appears to be a part of Mazda’s long-term plan to reduce pollution and dependence on oil for fuel. (See: Mazda RX8 Hydrogen RE)
The 20b is fed clean, fresh air through an “air fang” atop it’s roof, designed and developed by Swift’s engineers. Surprisingly it hasn’t seen their wind tunnel just yet but it appears to have no problem staying on the ground, even through the violent corkscrew of Mazda’s Laguna Seca Raceway.
Wow, that guy seems way too calm for having just survived a ride in that monster, wouldn’t you say?But seriously, you can really hear the engine in that video. Because the Mazda Furai has 3 Rotors it sounds different from other Rotary Engines - it isn’t nearly as smooth as a 13b. (Mazda’s popular 2 Rotor Engine used in the legendary Mazda RX7.) Because of the odd number of rotors, one has to move in a syncopated rhythm which produces the “gnarly” sound of the infamous Mazda 20b.
That sound you hear as the driver runs through the gears is an F1-style spur gear transmission. (Built by Swift no doubt.) Ah, the graceful tone of metal on metal. There’s nothing like it.
Sphere: Related ContentCategory: Rotary News, Mazda Furai, Mazda News
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Comment by Jimbo Mancini
Made Tuesday, 8 of January , 2008 at 2:28 am
The car sounds like that has nothing to do with the fact that it’s a three rotor. It a peripheral port, which is the piston equivalent to a lumpy cam. That’s where it’s getting the sputtering sound as it limps around the pit lane. Once it’s up to speed it has a very seamless screech to it.