2012 saw the introduction of a new concept from Mazda UK and Jota. The GT concept borrows heavily in the looks department from the earlier American Super20. It uses the same orange and black contrasting vinyl wrap colour scheme, using vinyl from Creative FX. The GT doesn't get the wheel arch flares of the Super20 though, instead they are just coloured to look the same. The GT was unveiled at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it was driven up the famous timetrial hillclimb by young race driver Jade Paveley. You can see her in action in the video below. |
So what is special about the GT concept? Well for a start there's the engine. Based on a 2.0 RHT model the GT was tuned by Omex and features Cosworth performance camshafts and Jenvey throttle bodies. This makes a nice change from the previous supercharger versions we've looked at. The GT boasts over 200Bhp @ 6500rpm with 144lbft of torque @ 4800rpm, and will rev to 7800rpm, a nice increase over the standard car. The GT also features some unique carbon fibre interior trim, front splitter, rear diffuser, a small rear lip spoiler, Recaro seats, Federal RSR tyres, 35mm lower Eibach springs, and the roll-bar also has some special trim pieces to make it stand out. I'm not sure how many of these cars Mazda produced for promotional media appearances but I've seen it fitted with 18" alloy wheels and also 17" and with at least three different registrations and various look-a-like cars, so perhaps a handful exist. In this state of tune the GT has similar performance figures to the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 and there was talk of a production model costing in the region of £30,000. This was unlikely to ever happen though for the same reasons the Yusho remained a prototype. Still, it's all good marketing. You can see some more photos over on the MX5Nutz forum including shots of the engine and throttles. |
