This is the Mazda Iconic SP, which is making its debut at this year’s Japan Mobility Show (formerly known as the Tokyo Motor Show) as a compact sports car concept that might as well be made into a new-generation RX-7.
The Japanese carmaker isn’t confirming anything of the sort just yet and says the Iconic SP was designed as a respond to the emotions of customers who “love cars” and “desire a car that simply embodies the joy of driving”.
The vibrant colour you see here is called Viola Red, and it is applied to a RX-7-inspired body that will leave most drooling. A low-slung nose, sleek roofline and strong haunches are just some of the design highlights that grab your attention, which is then held firmly in place by actual pop-up headlamps!
That’s not all, as the butterfly doors swing open to reveal a cabin that is equally as simplistic in its design as the exterior. A fully digital instrument cluster, a central wide-format touchscreen, a sporty steering wheel and paddle shifters the fixtures in a living space that appear to be primarily trimmed in Alcantara.
No manual transmission here based on the PRND switches on the centre console, which leads us to another exciting thing about the Iconic SP. Mazda says the concept is powered by a two-rotor rotary EV system that is highly scalable and can run on various fuel such as hydrogen.
The rotary engine can also burn carbon-neutral fuel to recharge the batteries, but it appears as though it won’t drive the wheels directly, meaning the engine might be acting more like a range extender. This idea is something we’ve already seen with the MX-30 R-EV that debuted earlier this year. For now, Mazda isn’t revealing the battery capacity or how many electric motors the concept packs.
However, the company is more than happy to reveal the Iconic SP has a 50:50 weight distribution and the two-rotor rotary EV system will provide a maximum output of 370 PS. This, along with the stated weight of 1,450 kg, means the Iconic SP has a power-to-weight ratio of 3.9. The heft is due to the complex powertrain, but it’s still about 100 kg more than heaviest version of the third-generation (FD) RX-7.
On that mention, the Iconic SP measures 4,180 mm long, 1,850 mm wide, 1,150 mm tall and has a wheelbase that spans 2,590 mm. That’s not too far from the FD RX-7 that is 4,285 mm long, 1,760 mm wide, 1,230 mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2,446 mm. The MX-5 is smaller by comparison as it is 3,915 mm long, 1,730 mm wide, 1,235 mm tall and its wheelbase is 2,310 mm.
Of course, as exciting as the Iconic SP looks, we should remember that this is still a concept and Mazda has yet to confirm if there will be a production version. Nonetheless, what do you think of the Iconic SP? Doesn’t it look like a suitable successor to the RX-7 that ended production over two decades ago?
The post Mazda Iconic SP concept debuts with 370 PS two-rotor rotary EV system – previews a successor to the RX-7? appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
