Mazda Kiyora Concept Car

02 October, 2008 07:14:00

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Mazda has revealed the Kiyora Concept Car, which is a small, friendly city car designed to meet the needs of young urbanites and indicates the direction Mazda could go with a car this size in the future â€“ especially technologically.

Mazda Kiyora demonstrates how Mazda will achieve a 30 percent improvement in fuel economy in the near future and introduce new vehicles that are exciting to look at and drive. Featuring next-generation environmental technologies, Kiyora was envisaged as a fun and cool concept for young European urbanites, and one that only Mazda could produce.

Mazda Kiyora gives an indication where Mazda could go with a small, eco-friendly city car in the near future. It is highly fuel efficient, with a very small CO 2 footprint, delivering Zoom-Zoom driving fun and high levels of safety. The car achieves this by taking Mazda's acclaimed lightweight strategy to a new level by employing an extremely rigid and lightweight carbon-fiber body structure beneath a small, aerodynamic outer skin and a spirited, small-displacement 1.3-liter DISI (direct injection spark ignition) engine. Mazda Kiyora also features Mazda's unique Smart Idle Stop System (SISS) and a newly developed six- speed automatic transmission with direct feel and fuel efficiency similar to that of a manual. With these technologies, the Mazda Kiyora concept would produce CO 2 emission of under 90g/km.

The idea for this car was born from research that identified market opportunities to address future unmet customer needs with innovative concepts and ideas. The very first step taken by Mazda Motor Europe's Advanced Product Strategy (APS) team was an in-depth analysis of the small city car segment in Europe. Having defined several potential customer profiles in this segment, the team focused on the urban customer with a post-modern lifestyle.

APS found that exterior styling, compact size, maneuverability and flexibility were just as important to these young people as high fuel efficiency. European urbanites, then, will continue to commute and use their cars in the city of the future; but they will expect them to use less fuel and produce fewer toxic emissions, while still being fun to drive, easy to park and use. To achieve this, the vehicle must be lightweight and small. Kiyora is even smaller than the new Mazda2. Reducing vehicle weight is a key concept that is crucial to achieve the goals set out in the Sustainable Zoom-Zoom plan. Kiyora takes Mazda's 'gram strategy' - that has been used previously to produce new vehicles, all of them lighter and more fuel efficient than their predecessors - to the next level. It should also be flexible, a kind of 'urban HUB' that would allow you to go to university during the day, go shopping in the early evening, and take three friends clubbing at night before driving home, thanks to its flexible interior that can be used as a two-seater with boot, or as a 2+2 seating arrangement. The car should have a next-generation cockpit and be fun to use on a daily basis. And it should be safe and environmentally friendly.

Zoom-Zoom Experience and Environmental Performance Mazda Kiyora supports the active lifestyles of young people with its agility, cleanliness, and excellent economic performance.

Mazda's next-generation 1.3-liter DISI petrol engine is an evolution of technologies used for the 2.3-liter DISI petrol engine that currently powers Mazda's sports crossover SUV, the CX-7. Improved direct- injection technology and newly designed combustion chambers enable more precise ignition control. The engine's efficiency is increased by a combination of advanced dual sequential-valvetiming (S-VT), variable-valve timing and lift mechanism, and optimal valve control. The engine is spirited as well as clean and efficient and, in combination with a compact and lightweight six-speed automatic transmission with manual shift control, it would make Mazda Kiyora powerful and cultivated, even at low engine speeds. In stop and go urban traffic conditions, Mazda's newly developed Smart Idle Stop System (SISS) would save fuel by automatically shutting down the engine when the vehicle is stationary, and achieves a quick and quiet restart for stress free driving.

The system injects a small amount of fuel directly into the engine's cylinders and ignites it to generate downward piston force which, with the aid of an electric motor, rapidly returns the engine to idle speed. Emissions would be among the lowest thanks to a new catalyst that more effectively removes harmful exhaust materials by employing single-nanotechnology to control catalyst particles that are smaller even than those controlled by conventional nanotechnology. Combined with reduced weight and improved aerodynamics, these insightful technologies would result in CO 2 emissions of 90g/km or less.

The Mazda Kiyora concept car is formed in the shape of a water droplet on its side, as are its two side windows. Its diminutive size and low roofline give it a small front cross-section. This is combined with an elaborate underbody that controls wind swirl, a rear roof spoiler, and specially sculptured body lines for a highly aerodynamic form with a coefficient of drag that is over 10 percent lower that of the current Mazda2. This outstanding fusion of engineering and the Nagare design was a key target.

The doors and side windows of Mazda Kiyora are fused into a single unit and function as both. These 'windoors' are made of plastic, which provides the same transparency and refraction properties as glass, and the strength of a thin-panel door, but with far less weight. They are also easy to use and practical. Touching the surface of the front tip of the door activates a sensor, which opens the doors up and away from the car, a plus when parking in tight city spaces. They also allow a view into the interior when the doors are closed. But looking into Mazda Kiyora is more than just looking through glass.

The interior shapes not only provide aesthetic motifs, they also function to stiffen the passenger compartment with minimal weight. Mazda's strategy of shedding excess grams wherever possible in its production cars was taken to a new level in Mazda Kiyora. The visible body structure is a real structural element of the car – stiff and crash-resistant. It is indicative of Mazda's approach to conduct a thorough structural analysis to solve complex issues such as safety and rigidity requirements instead of simply replacing materials with more expensive ones. The rear seats that are integrated into the body framework are also examples of this approach. Lightweight materials such as aluminum and a special resin foam, which is under development at Mazda, would be used not only for interior parts such as the instrument panel, but also for the bonnet, tailgate and sections of the chassis. Their effective usage contributes to improving the yaw moment of inertia and reducing the unsprung mass, and leads to superb handling.

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