Mazda unveils Taiki concept in Tokyo

Mazda has launched its latest concept car on home turf at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Named 'Taiki', the concept is the latest of four design studies to explore the graphical theme of flowing lines.

The first such concept was the Nagare (Japanese for 'flow'). Establishing the parameters for the guiding theme, the Nagare (more here) was designed by Mazda's US studio under the leadership of Franz von Holzhausen.

Subseqently, Mazda's studio in Hiroshima developed the Ryuga concept, which was followed by a European design study, the 'Hakaze' crossover model.

Taiki is the latest concept car, this time created at Mazda's Yokohama facility.

As a preview of future sports cars, it encapsulates much of Mazda's automotive design and engineering prognostication, with a particular 'sustainable' vision. Mazda calls this 'sustainable Zoom-Zoom'.

Despite the common conception that 'sustainability' and rotary engines go together like chalk and cheese, the Taiki is powered by a RENESIS engine mounted in the front and driving to the rear wheels through a seven-speed DSG-style manual transmission.

With the work that Mazda has done modifying this engine to run on hydrogen -- to use one example (more here) -- the rotary is still an engine with future prospects ahead of it.

A concept that embodies fluidity and is named after the atmosphere should be aerodynamic. The Taiki certainly is, with a drag coefficient of 0.25Cd and, according to Mazda, zero lift.

Designers have styled the Taiki with a tapering body from front to rear, to optimise the car's aerodynamic efficiency. The outrigger-style pontoons which accommodate the rear wheels channel the slipstream between the wheels and the body, providing some rear downforce in the process.

Lighting has allowed Mazda to enhance the Taiki's looks, with leading edges of the grille fitted with LEDs and tail lights shining through body-colour covers so that the lights are only visible when illuminated.

The 22-inch wheels have been styled to resemble the blades of a turbo-fan in a jet engine and are matched to 'dynamic size' Yokohama tyres with a special tread pattern.

Persisting with the flowing form, Mazda designers steered clear of symmetry in the cabin. Each side of the cabin has its own ambience. Black is the 'keynote' colour and is particularly prevalent in the driver's position. In the passenger's seat, white is used more extensively and the accommodation, without diverging from the flowing aesthetic, is more akin to a lounge chair in style and comfort.

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