Frankfurt Motor Show 2009
Mazda Superlight concept
The Superlight concept is a nimble 1,000kg two-seater sports car, built to celebrate 20 years of the iconic MX-5 roadster, as well as showcase how higher performance and low consumption can be achieved through simple measures in weight reduction.
Designed at the European studio in Germany, the team led by Peter Birtwhistle, stripped the third generation MX5 body and interior of everything that didn’t impact on the driveability – including the windscreen - to achieve the dramatic reduction in weight.
‘This is a bit of a fantasy car,’ admits Birtwhistle. ‘Someone could almost built this themselves, have in their garage and when the sun comes out take it out for a ride.’ With the absence of a windscreen, the aluminium bonnet has been extended towards the cabin with a sheet of carbonfibre that forms the single rear-view mirror and curls around the instrument cluster.
Mazda’s philosophy is to take more weight out of its future cars and many of the features including the lightweight carbonfibre slim bucket seats will find their way through to the production cars. ‘Cars just got too fat, heavy and inefficient,’ says the designer. ‘Maybe some of the visual appeal based on weight reduction will return.’
www.mazda.com
The Superlight concept is a nimble 1,000kg two-seater sports car, built to celebrate 20 years of the iconic MX-5 roadster, as well as showcase how higher performance and low consumption can be achieved through simple measures in weight reduction.
Designed at the European studio in Germany, the team led by Peter Birtwhistle, stripped the third generation MX5 body and interior of everything that didn’t impact on the driveability – including the windscreen - to achieve the dramatic reduction in weight.
‘This is a bit of a fantasy car,’ admits Birtwhistle. ‘Someone could almost built this themselves, have in their garage and when the sun comes out take it out for a ride.’ With the absence of a windscreen, the aluminium bonnet has been extended towards the cabin with a sheet of carbonfibre that forms the single rear-view mirror and curls around the instrument cluster.
Mazda’s philosophy is to take more weight out of its future cars and many of the features including the lightweight carbonfibre slim bucket seats will find their way through to the production cars. ‘Cars just got too fat, heavy and inefficient,’ says the designer. ‘Maybe some of the visual appeal based on weight reduction will return.’
www.mazda.com
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cars 30 Sep 2009
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