Instead of the stark interior typical of race cars though, this cockpit is finished with more comfortable but still highly functional surfaces. An electronic display screen and shift paddles are built into the steering wheel. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos

The Furai concept serves as a turning point in the Nagare developmental process. While the four previous concept cars explored different ways to express Mazda's emerging design philosophy and to explore an aesthetic, this one is all about function – every last texture and detail serves some functional purpose. In essence, the Furai creative process boiled down to guiding air over and through the body in fruitful ways. To prove that this concept goes far beyond static aerodynamic analysis, Mazda's design, motorsports and R&D teams worked together to construct Furai as a 180-mph rolling laboratory to demonstrate its functional capabilities on demand.

"The basic proportions of contemporary race cars are every designer's dream," enthused von Holzhausen. "Furai is less than 40-inches high but nearly 80-inches wide."

While Furai strikes an incredibly strong presence, the real beauty of the project – and it's most valuable asset as a real-world test-bed – is in the details that von Holzhausen and his team incorporated:

• The body surface provides ample opportunity to feature core design elements such as aggressive headlamps and Mazda's trademark five-point grille.
  
• The headlamp trim pieces function as guide frames to help cancel aerodynamic lift.
  
• High-pressure zones just above the front wheels are relieved to serve the same end.
  
• The air flow package takes air moving under the front of the car and guides it inside the body to the engine-cooling radiators.
  
• Nagare textures incorporated in the side surfaces feed air to the rear brakes, the oil cooler and the transmission cooler.
  
• An under-car diffuser that begins rising aft of the cockpit helps draw the volume of air flowing through the heat exchangers and engine bay out the rear.

The Mazda design and R&D teams worked closely with Swift Engineering to refine the aerodynamic characteristics, assuring that Furai remains glued to the ground at high speeds. Through its existing relationship with Swift Engineering, forged through development of the Mazda/Cosworth-powered Champ Car Atlantic chassis, the team used complex Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to tune various Nagare design elements to function at a high degree of efficiency. Drag, downforce, lift and overall esthetics were all key considerations.

Sourced straight from the race track, the Courage carbon-composite tub is essentially intact under the new Furai body, including the right-side driver's seat. Instead of the stark interior typical of race cars though, this cockpit is finished with more comfortable but still highly functional surfaces. An electronic display screen and shift paddles are built into the steering wheel.

In the chassis' original racing configuration, the passenger seat is filled with electronic gear, so those components were relocated elsewhere to provide adequate space for two occupants. The greenhouse is somewhat wider than the original cockpit to provide adequate head and shoulder room and suitable outward visibility. Doors attached with butterfly hinges provide a very efficient means of entering the cockpit. In this instance, the design team followed an approach that has proven very effective during years of endurance racing.

"One thing we learned from CFD studies is that we don't need much rear wing to balance the down force created by the front splitter and the Nagare features we've sculpted into the body" offered von olzhausen. "Combustion air is provided by a variation of the Turbo Tongue device that Swift developed for Indy car use a decade ago. It rises slightly higher than the surrounding roof surface to ingest clean air above the boundary layer. Our final design works so well that we applied for a joint patent with Swift. Of course, it helps that it's a real piece of art, too, and one we had to incorporate into the design."


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