Mazda Furai concept sneak preview

Mazda Furai concept By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 12 December 2007 11:37 Mazda will pull the wraps of yet another concept car at Detroit – and has released this teaser shot to whet our appetites. Called the Furai – that’s Japanese for ‘the sound of the wind’ - the car was inspired by Mazda’s claim that on any given weekend, there are more Mazdas and Mazda‑powered racing cars in action on circuits across the United States than any other brand.Drawing design clues from racecars in the ALMS (American Le Mans Series), the Furai is underpinned by the Courage C65 chassis the company campaigned in the 2005 ALMS series, and it’s powered by a mighty 450bhp triple-rotor rotary engine. 'Furai purposely blurs boundaries that have traditionally distinguished street cars from racing cars,' says Franz von Holzhausen, Mazda’s North American director of design.

Help CAR find the best hot hatch of all time

By Tim Pollard Motoring Issues 01 March 2009 15:00 The poll is closed, votings over click here for the latest instalment of the greatest hot hatches. You've been voting over the past fortnight for your greatest hot hatch of all time – and there are still two weeks left to influence our poll. At the time of writing, the top ten is led (perhaps curiously!) by the Saab 99 Turbo, followed by the Lancia Delta Integrale, VW Golf GTi Mk1 and Peugeot 205 GTI.

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.