Mazda Debuting Freshened RX-8, Concept at Detroit Auto Show

Mazda Motor Corp. will stage the world debut of the “heavily revised” Mazda RX-8 at next month’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Mazda divulges little about the vehicle, except to say it will have “a freshened design, improved handling, acceleration, quality and features.”

Also on the Mazda stand in Detroit will be the Furai concept car, a road racer able to run on E100 ethanol, the auto maker says.

The Furai is another in a series of recent Mazda concepts that bases its design on the principles of flow, first began by the Nagare at the 2006 Los Angeles auto show.

The Furai uses the Courage C65 chassis of Mazda’s American Le Mans Series entrant of two years ago but sports a 450-hp 3-rotor rotary engine to make it unique from other ALMS vehicles.

“Furai purposely blurs boundaries that have traditionally distinguished street cars and track cars,” Mazda North American Design Director Franz von Holzhausen says.

Mazda will unveil the two vehicles at the show stand Jan. 14.