We just brought to your notice, the name Furai a couple of weeks back when the much-hyped E100 Ethanol driven car was to make an appearance at the NAIAS. The name is doing rounds here again at AutoMotto for the ’sound of the wind’ will notch up some decibels at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show.
The Furai is a product from Mazda that serves a dual purpose. It is definitely the torch-bearer of the future design language for Mazda, continuing on the lines laid by the likes of the Nagare and the Taiki. The other purpose is hinting the carmakers interest in returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a title the company had in its kitty, 16 years ago.
The Furai is virtually different from the others in its league in more than one way. Hailed as a race-bred sports car it runs on a fuel which would take decades to establish itself as a regular challenger to gasoline but is definitely the need of the hour. An engine that runs on Ethanol, yet produces 450 horsepower speaks volumes of the engineering put in to have this concept made.
The word concept at the end doesn’t gel much with Furai for it has an engine and not many concepts have been heard of with a beast under their belly, as they focus more on the way they look rather than defining a drivetrain.
Another commendable fact is that the Furai has never been taken into a wind tunnel yet it produces 80% of the downforce of the base race-spec bodywork speaking volumes of the engineering brilliance again.
The Furai will be positioned at the Mazda camp in the upcoming Detroit auto show and trust me it would be a concept that would turn more heads than any other for its inviting looks and then again it would have environmentalists flocking it for the fuel it sports. We really know that they have been pushing to see something that is close to a genuine spots car and yet green, could this be the answer, only time will tell!
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