Tokyo Report: New Real-World MPV Inviting but Otherworldly Senku Enticing

Well, weve seen all there was to see at the 39th annual Tokyo Motor Show that took place back in late October, and one of the few companies we have yet to mention is also one of my favorites, despite its annoying "Zoom, Zoom" marketing slogan: Mazda.

Mazda had several vehicles at the show, ranging from a cozy, production-ready MPV, a pair of hydrogen-burning vehicles, and the gem of the bunch, an all-out flaming concept called the Senku.

While Im itching like a helpless kid with poison ivy to tell you all about the Senku and its flying doors, Mazda has a few other vehicles and technologies on display that deserve some attention.

Lets start with the real and move slowly and progressively onto the more imaginative and surreal. First, Mazda went and quietly did what GM and others spent hundreds of millions trying and pretty much failing to do: build a more stylish minivan. If anything, GMs foray into the SUV-nosed minivan market with the Uplander/Montana SV6/Relay/Terraza quadruplets seems to me like a giant leap backwards. Accept reality GM, SUVs are SUVs and minivans are minivans, and where the twain meet is neither at Rendezvous nor Aztek. Give it up.

As I was saying, Mazda, on the other hand, followed Nissans lead (kudos to Nissan for being brave but missing the mark) by stretching its car design language into the minivan form without any regression or denial. In fact, the MPV is long and low enough to bring it almost down to wagon proportions. Mazda signature flared wheel arches and distinctive fenders flowing back from the big, vertically stacked headlights give the front three-quarter view good presence.

Unlike Nissan, Mazda has not gone overboard separating the greenhouse from the rest of the body, as the shoulders dissipate into the glass above the vans waistline. The roof, in profile, angles mildly downward, helping the MPV achieve that Mazda raciness, or at least as much as can be gotten out of a minivan. While this is the MPV planned for launch in Japan, no word yet as to whether it will be adapted in size or styling for European and North American markets (probably the former but not necessarily the latter), where it will be released at later dates. Hearsay indicates that Mazda will lose the MPV for NA, relying on the upcoming super sporty CX-7 crossover to fill Mazda customers 7-seater needs. Seems silly to me, but hey, its not my call.

My favorite new technology is Mazdas new 2.3-liter turbocharged engine. Mazda likes to call it the MZR 2.3 DISI Turbo, and while it is a conventional inline four, no hybrids, rotarys, or even variable valve timing technologies involved, between the use of direct injection and a turbo this engine manages to crank out about as much power as a 3.5-liter V6. Translation: 274-horsepower and 280 lb-ft as used in the new Mazdaspeed6, for instance, and 250+ horsepower and 250+ lb-ft of torque in the new MPV mentioned above. Fringe benefits of this high-strung, small-displacement turbofied engine are reasonable fuel consumption (assuming you dont drive like I do) and very low emissions, in fact, Super Low, as in SU-LEV standards in California. The only thing better than a SU-LEV rated car is a bicycle or a hang-glider.

The next item on my reality list is the Mazda RX-8 equipped with a rotary engine that burns hydrogen. Reality? Thats right. Mazda is showing off this car because it plans to lease a limited number of them as street rats, essentially, getting feedback on the technology from a small number of hydrogen hungry drivers. Other than being a hydrogen-powered ICE (internal combustion engine), similar to BMWs hydrogen-powered 7-Series and MINI Coopers, instead of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric motor, Ill have to get back to you on how this specific drivetrain works because there was nothing more in the press release.

Also on the list of cars weve actually seen before is the MX-Crossport, as Mazda would like to have it called, a Sports car Utility Vehicle. It definitely is bold and athletic, but well see how much of that gets whitewashed once the real deal is shown (expected for Detroit in January), after the product planners, bean counters and marketing types have had their hands all over it, ran the numbers and held their focus groups. Mazda is currently working on a production model that will be called the CX-7, as mentioned previously in this monologue, based on the MX-Crossport concept. In Tokyo, it was shown in pure concept form, with high-tech Borg-interface interior and an exterior that looks like the RX-8s big brother on steroids.

Another minivan of interest on the Mazda stand is a Premacy with a twist. Premacy is the name given to Japanese market Mazda5s, but this one comes all in white with big blue stickers on the side. What do those stickers say? Hydrogen RE Hybrid. Yes folks, that translates into a hydrogen-burning rotary engine assisted by an electric motor. The engine is actually dual-fuel burning, using either hydrogen or, if stranded without a hydrogen refueling station nearby, ordinary gasoline. I believe it also works if you mix the two, but consult your local mad scientist before you attempt to stir up any duel-fuel concoctions. As far as the conventional aspects of the car, its a simple front-engine, front-wheel drive layout with batteries packaged underneath the second row seats, so careful with your drinks back there. Oh yeah, and the high-pressure hydrogen storage tank is under the third row seat, so no smoking or playing with fireworks either. But seriously, you shouldnt play with fireworks in a conventional car either.

Mazda had other vehicles and stand alone technologies on its Tokyo stand, such as its upcoming Tribute Hybrid, based on the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid models, as well as its Mazdaspeed6, bearing its domestic-market Atenza nameplate, the Demio-1 barrier free compact hatchback, plus all of the brands new vehicle lineup that includes all the cars sold here in North America except for the tiny Verisa subcompact and unique AZ-Wagon subcompact.

New technologies included a Sideswipe-Preventing Communication System, which exchanges data with approaching vehicles, that would have to be using the same system, and then alerts the driver to their presence using a display and audible warning.  Mazdas Integrated Vehicle Dynamic Stability Control "monitors inputs received from the accelerator pedal, steering wheel, and brake pedal and uses them to determine the vehicle behavior desired by the driver," or so says the automakers press material. "The computer also uses data from sensors to determine the extent to which the vehicles actual behavior differs from the desired behavior. Whenever the calculation results indicate the risk of a skid, the computer effects control over the brakes and engine and actively countersteers by exercising control over an electric power-steering system." So in other words, if this happens to you, youre in way over your head and you wont be complaining about too much electronic intervention in modern cars.

Next to its Smart Idling Stop System, which shuts a cars engine down when at idle in order to save on fuel and reduce emissions, Mazda also had its version of G-Book Alpha telematics on display, incorporating the same name given to a similar Toyota/Lexus system (see automotive news section for April 20, 2005: New Toyota Telematics System to Battle GMs OnStar?). Mazdas G-Book Alpha system will launch with its new MPV next year.

And the pièce de résistance is the Senku concept, which translates as "pioneer" despite it following in the trail blazed by the Sassou at Frankfurt. While the Sassou was small and the emphasis was on cute, peppy and efficient, the Senku is much longer, and sports more of a serious, grown-up attitude. The Senku is also the second in a series of three concepts designed at Mazdas three regional design centers, the Sassou in Frankfurt for a European audience at the Frankfurt show, the Senku at Yokohama for the Tokyo show, and a third that is yet to come from the Irvine, California design center for next years Detroit show. Apparently the North American concept should split the size difference between the diminutive Sassou and the long, sleek Senku, and be in the form of an out-and-out sports car.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the Senku. Like the Sassou, the Senku relies on a lot of subtle curves and edges for its very stylish bodywork, more ink-brush design in the metal. The concept is labeled a "four-seater rotary sports car for adults," and more on the rotary engine later. The grille seems more of a smirk shape compared to the Sassous outright mad grin, and the headlights are simply long thin slashes tugging up at the corners of the black honeycomb pattern filling the grille opening.

The wheels are, of course, huge (22 inches huge), and they seem to push the fenders smoothly up into the long, sleek hood. The car is over 15 feet long (183 inches to be exact) with a wheelbase of 122 inches, which is 16 inches longer than the RX-8s wheelbase. Another long sleek feature is the shape of the door, which slightly resembles a bat wing when separated from the body: sharp pointy tips, with a long sweeping arc defining the deep-tinted glass and defining crease on the lower panel suggesting ribbing. And I mean separated because the door appears to float on the side of the car after it opens by power-sliding back and outwards. Whoa.

The interior is all about red leather, covering the front seats, head rests, steering wheel, dash runner, and the whole rear seating area. From the pictures, Im not exactly sure where rear seat passengers are supposed to put their legs, as there dont appear to be any foot wells back there. I think when you press a button it changes the configuration.

The steering wheel is the highlight of the interior, with the gauges set in the middle, in place of a conventional hub, and a series of switches lining the inside and outside of the rim. Its trippy, but it means you really never have to take your hands off the wheel unless you have a major itch to scratch.

But this concept doesnt just look good, it is also packing some sophisticated technology under the hood in the form of a hybrid rotary power plant. This HEV isnt just an electric motor slapped between the engine and the transmission, mind you. The conventional power (read gasoline) comes from the next generation 13B rotary engine with direct injection. Furthermore, Automobile magazine reports that this engine sports a two-rotor configuration combined with a motor, a generator and a battery, which is charged with the help of solar panels on part of the glass roof. All of the hardware is placed between the front and rear axles in such a way as to achieve the holy grail of sports-car balance, 50:50 weight distribution.

Mazda, already leaders in design and performance, and therefore reaping in the pursuant sales benefits that accompany such leadership, are not content to rest on their laurels. With the three concepts presented at the three major automotive shows, Mazda is setting forth the next stride into 21st-century design.

Were unlikely to be test-driving the Senku or the California-designed concept, or the vehicles that these prototypes inspire, anytime sooner than a few years down the road, but maybe we will see a reinterpretation of the big flying-wing coupe with more conventional wheel sizes and a more cost-effective interior. Nevertheless, the Senku and Sassou are visions of what Mazdas could look like in the future, and this point was discussed specifically by Moray Callum, chief of Mazda design, in an interview with Autoweek.com.

"We dont know if its the next generation, we asked designers to stretch and say where we would be in ten years time. Id be very happy if this is where we were in ten years."

Callum is no doubt happy with the common ground shared by the Senku and Sassou, pushing the boundaries of a new design language that will be honed by input from Mazdas design studios around the globe; as mentioned, two in Japan, one in Europe and one in California. For the three crown jewel concepts, designers were given scant details but instructed to pursue "new graphic expressions and new proportions," according to Nowihiro Iwao a lead designer with Mazda group, another point addressed by the Autoweek article.

The next few years will determine not only whether the regional design studios will advance a common global vision or if each is awarded responsibility for the local market and tastes it is immersed in, but also how much of these concepts will make it into production models, like the Senkus sliding door mechanism and rotary hybrid or the Sassous moldable rear seats.

There is no doubt that Mazda has benefited from Fords deep resources, and they are returning the favor with excellent chassis architectures, four-cylinder engine development and production, and other technologies, plus a strong Japanese identity (wacky rotary engines and all), something that will benefit Ford in the long run as car manufacturers attempt to continually take more advantage of economies of scale while treading that fine line of catering to regional tastes and meeting market demand for universal appeal.

I would even argue that Mazda is currently the gem in Fords crown (though sharing real estate with Volvo on the other side of the globe, which it owns outright, where Ford only owns a controlling 33.4 percent of Mazda), as no other brand in Fords arsenal has shown as significant a rise in market presence, matched by a strong lineup across the board (once the CX-7 enters the picture) and a willingness to continue to adapt and build on the successes it is currently enjoying.

Unlike so many others, its a company with a cohesive identity, an automaker that seems to know where its coming from, where it is, and where its going.