Furai Concept and Updated RX-8 for Detroit

For the coming year Mazda continues down the road of curious design, this time with a brand new concept

car that it will be displaying at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Named Furai (pronounced “fu-rye”), it's the latest in Mazda's series of “flow” inspired concept cars. In Japanese, Furai means “sound of the wind”, a pretty good indication of what type of concept car it will be.

Mazda's North American director of design, Franz von Holzhausen says, "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."

From the one teaser shot that Mazda is providing, the Furai looks like it'll be a real speed demon. From its gentle, sloping fastback to its pontoon

fenders, scored with the now unmistakable lines of Mazda's “flow” design language, this thing is truly unique. The body is further decorated with lighter gray and red paintwork, a contrast to the car's stealth bomber-like matte finish.

Indeed, to go along with such fast styling will be some really fast components underneath, as it's being based off of a real race car. Mazda has dusted off the racer's Courage C65 chassis, which appeared two years ago during the ALMS series as a base for the aerodynamic machine. It'll also have a mighty powerful motor which reportedly makes 450 horsepower when it's run off of E100 ethanol. In true Mazda style, it's a rotary, albeit one with three rotors rather than two, like the current RX-8. The

combination of racing car underpinnings and racing car powertrain should have Mazda enthusiasts drooling.

The Furai might be the stuff of rotary-powered dreams, but Mazda is also planning on showing something else that's powered by the brand's trademark engine. Since 2003, Mazda has done well with its four-door, four-seat RX-8 sports car, and now it's time for an update. The RX-8 will receive a facelift for the upcoming model year, which will give the car a fresh new image. A variety of new components including revised headlamps as well as updated front and rear bumpers should help to freshen things up, though the structure of the car, from the windshield back, will remain the same.

In addition to these two cars, Mazda will be showing off a third vehicle, though it is one that we've seen before. The outrageous Taiki Concept, featuring Mazda's new “16X” next generation rotary engine, was shown at the most recent Tokyo auto show and will make its North American debut in Detroit. There is the distinct possibility that Mazda might introduce the aforementioned 16X engine in the facelifted RX-8, but we'll have to wait until January to find out.