Mazda RT24 P Design Overview and Mazda RX Vision Closer Look – Video
The Mazda RT24-P uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that puts out roughly 600 horsepower. Mazda used the same engine in its P2-class race car last season. Mazda’s body and engine will ride atop a chassis developed by Riley Technologies and Multimatic. You may remember that latter company as the one that developed the awesome spool valve shocks on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2. The RT24-P will be campaigned by Speedsource, a company that has been racing Mazdas in American endurance racing for years, including last year’s P2 cars.
Undeniably alluring, the RX-Vision ultimately exists as a host body for the next-generation, Skyactiv-R rotary engine that resides underneath its long, low hood. For its part, Mazda is quick to point out that without the compact dimensions of the Skyactiv-R engine, the RX-Vision’s sultry hoodline likely would be impossible to implement. Although the maker pulled the plug on its last rotary-powered production car, the RX-8, in 2012, research and development of the rotary is said to have continued unabated. (This despite reports to the contrary.) Reviving the rotary for public consumption, however, is predicated on triumphing over all three of the rotary’s demons—namely poor efficiency, poor emissions, and poor reliability. Here’s hoping Mazda’s engineers are in it for the long haul.
At this point, the fact that the engine is a rotary is all Mazda has confirmed regarding the powertrain. We do know that the RX-Vision concept is 172.8 inches long, 75.8 inches wide, and 45.7 inches high—and that it has proportions that remind us of some pretty alluring stuff, such as the Mercedes-AMG GT S and the Jaguar F-type coupe. That said, the Mazda doesn’t exactly ape them dimensionally; the AMG’s measurements are 179.0, 76.3, and 50.7 inches, while the Jag’s are 176.0, 75.7, and 51.6. And although it’s shorter in overall length, the RX-Vision’s wheelbase is taffy-pulled to 106.3 inches, nearly three longer than the GT S’s 103.5-inch span. The resultant short overhangs add to the long, lean, and low effect that’s also augmented by a set of 20-inch wheels that adhere to the slightly exaggerated but somehow perfect aesthetic embodied by the rest of the car. Measuring 9.5 inches wide in front and 11 inches wide in the back, the staggered ten-spoke pieces are wrapped in 245/40 front and 285/35 rear rubber.