Start with what the Mazda Taiki is: a 2-door coupé with 1600cc 16X Wankel engine, built from 2007, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Laurens van den Acker, Joseph Reeve, Atsuhiko Yamada.
How it came about
The Mazda Taiki (マツダ・大気, Matsuda Taiki) was a one-off concept car produced by Mazda, and was the fourth car in Mazda's 'Nagare' design series. Mazda said the Taiki "reflected one possible direction for a future generation of Mazda sports cars aimed at helping to create a sustainable society".
The hardware
The engine is 1600cc 16X Wankel engine. Drive goes through a 7-speed Dry twin clutch automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Volkswagen Tiguan, the Nissan GT-R, the Hyundai i30. Its Mazda stablemates include the Mazda BT-50 and the Mazda T2000.
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