I was invited to Barcelona over the weekend for the ND reveal shindig...

Yes, I have pics, but please bear in mind I had to battle a ton of people crowding the area to get some shots, so the quality is less than optimal.

Also, I "drove" the car. Pics to follow.

Couple of points:
(Trying to get info from the factory people was almost impossible - they are VERY tight lipped)

* There may be more than one hardtop offered, meaning there could be two different styles to choose from.
* Tire sizes may change by the time the car is offered to the general public.
* The diff will be limited slip.
* The car has adjustable front swaybar endlinks.
* The engine has a timing chain instead of a belt.
* They will keep the 4X100 lug pattern for sure.
* 15" and 16" rims may be offered, there is absolutely no 17" rim in the works.
* Mazda will be looking at different tax brackets (based on engine size) for different markets, and that will dictate engine size for a particular market.
* A pre-release test drive program is planned. Selected individuals wil be invited for those events. (There was a drawing, and two people were selected in Barcelona for that purpose)
* I was in the heart of Europe, and everybody speaks Mexican.


Alrighty, here are the pics:




And, apparently the ND has some *****:

 

Oh snap, you DROVE the car?

very cool. also some of that info is really cool (and contradicts what they told us here in 'Murricuhh)

 

Ohh, more juicy deets. I guess it's just the stupid US market that gets dumb 17" wheels, unless the US rep was lying to us in the reveal here.'

You DROVE it? how was it? did you wot? GIVE US DEETZ.

 

I know there are a million pics of the exterior of the car..
I wanted document the guts:

(Please keep in mind I was competing with a bunch of people around the chassis, and the light was "funky")

The much talked about EPAS steering system:

 

Close ups of the multilink rear setup:

 

Front suspension with adjustable endlinks (I was told production car would feature these)

 

Engine and the rest of the drivetrain:




































Incidentally, I asked the guy in charge about steel inserts on the PPF where the bolts run through at the front (transmission) end, and he was delighted to hear about that.
He said they ran into some eventual misalignment problems due to the fact that aluminum wears out over time.
I thought steel inserts would eliminate having to deal with noise issues from the diff after a clutch job or two.

 

Sadly, this was as close as I could get to driving the car...

They did allow me to climb on the display platform once the crowd thinned a bit, and I asked very nicely...








So there...

 

And, I was in Barcelona after all, so I had to go see the incredible works of Gaudi and pay respect...

 

wow, thats really cool stuff man. thanks for the pics.

 

Forgot one thing..
The car looks beautiful in person.
I don't think pics do it justice.

 

Sagrada Familia still under construction?

 

İt is, and will be indefinitely.

 

Damn that is nuts. Thanks for sharing all those awesome pictures, looks like a hell of a time.

 

Excellent report. I'm curious how differently it will appear in person than in the pictures I've seen.

 

I like how they did the intake manifold. I wonder if there are benefits to a similar design for the BP

 

Bolt in hub units, hope they can take some serious abuse.

 

Seeing the outside, even with its amazing scale, didn't prepare me for stepping inside. Incredible masterpiece of art/architecture/design/vision/craziness.

-Ryan

 

Amazing pics and trip report!

There probably is. Emilio is always looking for longer intake runners, and with fancy things such as DBW, you don't have to worry about routing a throttle cable.