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I think, if the new RX does really well, it could increase the value of the FD as people who couldn't afford the Vision would still want to ride the rotary wave.
Great start for Mazda. This will generate quite the BUZZ heading into SEMA week and SS18. Now that the concept is unveiled, Mazda reps will at least be able to acknowledge that something is in the works. Great day for fans of the rotary engine!!
I absolutely love how the LED/DRL/turn signal seems to slice into the sheet metal above the headlight. And then the thin spoiler at the rear slices through the two tail lights. Very distinctive and cool.
How do you guys think the new RX if and when it comes out will affect the value of the FD?
Probably very little since the FD is rather niche. I think the upcoming 25 year old is what's going to drop FD prices. Depending on timing I'd rather buy a legally imported RHD FD than most that I've seen in the states.
I was very exited a few weeks back when I posted Mazda's teaser image. Now, I'm disappointed.The beltline is too high, wheels look very oversized for the proportions, and the rear comes to a very abrupt halt. It is too stubby.
My main gripe is the FD3S was one of a kind when it was shown in 1991 and looked ahead of its time. Mazda nailed the design, which has aged remarkably. This current RX iteration appears to be a generic luxury Euro sports car (Mazda 'me too') with current styling that will probably not age graciously.
The basic shape reminds me of the Mercedes AMG GT.
Both RX-Vision and Aston Martin Db10 share the "angular bulb" of the rear quarter panel.
The simplistic modern take of the FD's interior is elegant, but missing a clutch pedal. The front end looks great.
I hope Mazda shows off the engine later in the Tokyo Motor Show! Does anyone one if the engine's geometry is still 16X? Mazda's second generation Skyactiv Engines are HCCI which are supposed to be released in 2018. Considering Mazda wants to release this car in 2017 for Cosmo's 50th anniversary,
I wonder if this rotary engine is also HCCI? How the heck would that work with forced induction? HCCI would solve the spark plug heat sink/mountain problem.
I was very exited a few weeks back when I posted Mazda's teaser image. Now, I'm disappointed.The beltline is too high, wheels look very oversized for the proportions, and the rear comes to a very abrupt halt. It is too stubby.
those are the reasons i love the fd and this car lol
Nobody sees anything wrong with the fender arches, or lack thereof?
God how i HATE fender arches and big fat lips. GROSS. They are a tactic by designers to try to make modern cars not look so damn tall and enormous. This car has extremely low front fender and hoodlines. Hence no need to throw a bunch of ever-larger diameter lines and arches around the wheel openings, which to my eye make most modern car designs pretty hideous...
...and the doors? No flowing lines at all....it's completely flat.
You call that FLAT?! Hardly! I LOVE sculpted flowing continuously variable curvature, which is what we see here. I HATE lines thrown all over cars to try to make big bland taxi-cab shapes look "exciting".
This car doesn't have a flat surface on it.
There aren't nearly enough body lines and angles to it. It's incredibly...vanilla.
It needs "moar body lines and angles" about as much as the FD does. I.e., not at all.
I'm not happy.
Given your complaints here, what do you think of the FD design?
I absolutely love how the LED/DRL/turn signal seems to slice into the sheet metal above the headlight. And then the thin spoiler at the rear slices through the two tail lights. Very distinctive and cool.
Agreed, from a Designer's perspective the is concept hits all the right cues.
The headlight in particular are a great look into what Mazda's intentions are, they look back and hit a nostalgic mark as if they were pop-ups, and at the same time PREVIEW where the actual closed in sealed headlight housing is going to be. Very similar to the NDs headlights.
For the last 10-12yrs in the design world its been a huge no-no to create convex surfaces that interact with concave surfaces in a direct way, but recently, like in the past 2-3yrs brands are starting to be able to free up that faux-pa(Ferrari F12, Merc SLS, and others) and at first I cringed. But lately and especially this car somehow pulls it off. I think you add production appropriate mirrors, door handles and this thing is good to go. The side of the car looks like a baron landscape, but if you were to photoshop off the door handles and mirrors off the ND it would have the same effect. So saying that, I think this is a complete reality.
Probably very little since the FD is rather niche. I think the upcoming 25 year old is what's going to drop FD prices. Depending on timing I'd rather buy a legally imported RHD FD than most that I've seen in the states.
Yeah I forgot about when there 25 yrs old you can legally import one from Japan.
Hopefully they do not stray too far away from the concept like the Toyota 86 / Subaru BR-Z. With the current turbo technology ( EFR's, etc... ) and ECU processing power is 20 mpg's reasonable ? Also what about some type of factory AI ? Just wondering how much of the tech the rotary tuning world uses could be applied to the production car.
I love the FD queues that it has. The front end is so damn long, though. Almost as if a 3 or 4 rotor will be in there.
My biggest mixed feelings is with the front end.
When the FD came out NOTHING looked like it. In fact, nothing looked like anything. The Supra and the 300zx they all had their own unique wow factor. Too many cars today seem to look like something else.
Are all the designers graduating from the same school?
All the other cheesehead manufacturers were showing off there 'infotainment' robot people carriers and Mazda gives us a concept with an interior alot like a Ferrari F50. Very spartan, to the point. I expect the production model would have more stuff in it, unfortunately.
When I watched the unveiling I thought that the sides were very flat, but then they started rotating the car and all the beautiful curves came out. As to the waistline, well it really isn't much higher than the tops of the wheels, but the short roof height makes it look bigger. I'd bet this car would be breathtaking in person. Looking forward to maybe seeing engine specs one day.
I can't imagine they won't have to tweak the proportions a bit—the greenhouse is VERY small/flat, and the belt line is VERY high, and the nose is VERY long based on what's going in there (we think). If they brought it back from the proportions of the AMG GT to the proportions of the Aston, it would be about right. I love the super-short overhangs, especially at the rear.
It does have the nearly ubiquitous crease above the fender that all cars have now, and I think to some extent also might help with panel stiffness in order to not have a big lip like our cars gave, but it's very small and pretty unobtrusive compared to others, especially other Mazdas.
Is it timeless perfection like the FD? Maybe not. Would I drive it? Yes. There are an awful lot of beautiful features, like the door sculpt and the light treatments.
The side view is where this concept isn't doing it for me. The distance from the A-pillar to front wheel opening seems unnecessarily long. Even with those 20's. The reference unit is the A-pillar to front windshield distance. The FD is about 1x, but this concept is close to 1.5x. Just seems like dead space....or 4-rotor space.
I'll have to see how much different it looks in person.
It wouldn't be hard to restore some more realistic proportions and retain most all of the stylistic goodness. Just a quick photoshop that enlarges the greenhouse and shortens the nose a bit.
Mmmn, the A pillar and "hidden" B pillar lines flow into the door opening lines well.
With the good details and the dimensions (it is 3" lower than an FD and 3" shorter than an RX-8 on same wheelbase) this thing is going to be breathtaking in person.
Thank you Mazda for keeping it simple and elegant!
It wouldn't be hard to restore some more realistic proportions and retain most all of the stylistic goodness. Just a quick photoshop that enlarges the greenhouse and shortens the nose a bit.
Photo shop looks very good and boring. Exactly what I was expecting from Mazda on this car.
Thank you Mazda for being a little daring and evolutionary.
To me it is like the Maserati Alfieri was what the RX-8 should have been and then RX-Vision has further refined the shape to timeless simple elegance.
It wouldn't be hard to restore some more realistic proportions and retain most all of the stylistic goodness. Just a quick photoshop that enlarges the greenhouse and shortens the nose a bit.
Thank you for this!! I've been thinking the same thing, and that's why I stay optimistic about this. I would buy this realistic version.
I wasn't too hot about the RX-Vision, but it's not production model. It reminds me of when Toyota's FT-86 concept came out and it was awful looking, but the current GT86/FRS looks better for mass production. With the styling from Mazda's current line up, this thing has the potential to be a home run. The RX-Vision is a great canvas for the designers to tweak.
We just need some engine specs.
Anyone else notice the carbon fiber wheels? I didn't notice them until my girlfriend pointed them out.
10-27-15, 08:47 PM
