Mazda Furai

The Mazda Furai (Japanese: マツダ風籟, Mazda Furai) was a concept track day car, and is the last of the Nagare concept car lineup.
== Description ==
The Mazda Furai was a concept car that debuted at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. It presented an idea of what a "middle ground" between a track day car and production car might look like. Designed by Swift Technologies, the Furai is part of Mazda's Nagare series of concept vehicles, which explored the themes of flow and motion, and thus reflected the hallmarks of the concept—a smooth, seamless exterior, with a windshield that molds into the shape of the car, and large, prominent wheels that sit flush against the body. The bodywork also provided function in that it was aerodynamic and optimized using computational fluid dynamics. The Furai's name literally means "sound of the wind" in Japanese.
The Furai was based on a Courage C65 LMP2 chassis that was used by Mazda to compete in the American Le Mans Series in 2006. Power came from a heavily modified 2.0 L Mazda R20B RENESIS 3-rotor Wankel engine built by Racing Beat that ran on E100 ethanol fuel and produced and of torque. Racing Beat also built the car's rotary-shaped muffler canister.
The Furai featured the number 55 on the bonnet, which was a tribute to the No. 55 Mazda 787B that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991.
Mazda intended for the Furai to be a "rolling testbed" for the company to experiment with modifications to design and aerodynamics; it was not meant to be pushed into production. Despite this, the car was fully functional and had the performance characteristics of a track day car, and its aesthetics drew a lot of attention from car enthusiasts and the media.
On August 19, 2008, the Furai was undergoing a road test and photoshoot for Top Gear magazine at RAF Bentwaters when its engine bay caught fire after it crested a hill. The driver escaped, but the Furai was almost completely destroyed by the fire. Its remains were transported to Mazda's Advanced Design Studio in Irvine, California, and its current fate is unknown.
== Asphalt 9: Legends ==
The Mazda Furai was added in the Godly Beasts Update as a high Class D car with the following rank statistics:
*Stock rank: 1,372 ()
* rank: 1,712
* rank: 2,095 ()
* rank: 2,486 ()
* rank: 2,853 ()
A grand total of is required to fully upgrade the Mazda Furai from its stock rank: for all upgrades, to apply all import parts, to apply all import parts, and to apply all import parts.
=== Performance ===
At its stock rank, the Mazda Furai has a top speed rating of exactly 290—the same as a stock Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo, and only 0.5 lower than a fully upgraded Volkswagen Electric R—average acceleration rating (71.20), below average handling rating (43.07) with a wide drift radius, and poor nitro efficiency rating (30.12). The Furai can be seen as a more balanced counterpart to the speed-oriented, nitro-deficient TVR Griffith, having a lower top speed in exchange for slightly better performance in most other respects. Because of the Furai's subpar handling and wide drift radius, it loses a lot of speed driving on rough surfaces, and it can take some corners at higher speeds by not drifting.
The Mazda Furai's upgrades give the greatest improvements to its nitro efficiency and handling, while providing the least improvements to top speed and acceleration. With all upgrades, the Furai's top speed rating of 305.5 makes it one of the fastest Class D cars, with only the TVR Griffith having a significantly higher top speed rating, and its acceleration and nitro efficiency ratings are improved to the point where it has decent starts and can exit corners quickly, especially with the use of level 2 nitro or shockwave. However, the Furai's drift radius still remains rather wide, even with its upgraded handling, so it is still faster to steer normally through some corners instead of drifting through them.
=== Usage ===
Due to its high top speed and good acceleration, the Mazda Furai performs best on speed-oriented tracks, such as those located in Himalayas, Shanghai, and Rome. On technical tracks with many turns or sharp corners, like the ones located in The Caribbean or Osaka, the Furai tends to underperform due to its stiff handling and wide drift radius preventing it from keeping its speed up.
In Weekly Competition events, the Mazda Furai can clear the solo reward of winning the race on most locations, which rewards up to 3 times, and it can set run times close to other Class D cars that dominate the top 100 leaderboard. The only exceptions are The Caribbean, where a slower but more agile car, such as the Lotus Elise Sprint 220 or Porsche Taycan Turbo S, is more suitable, and both Himalayas and Shanghai, where the TVR Griffith's sheer top speed gives it a massive advantage over all other Class D cars due to the tracks' long straights.
The Mazda Furai is one of the cars featured in the "Mountain Cat" stages of the Rimac C_Two's Drive Syndicate event. The best : ratio during these stages requires having the Furai unlocked and starred up to .
=== Availability ===
Blueprints for the Mazda Furai were first made obtainable to all players during the Rimac C_Two's Drive Syndicate event, where they could be purchased for . Players could also obtain up to Furai blueprints by playing through the event.
Since the Porsche Season Update, and import parts for the Mazda Furai can be purchased from the Legend Store once the player reaches Garage Level 6, as well as obtained from its own Car Hunt event, held at infrequent intervals.
== Asphalt 8: Airborne==
The Mazda Furai was added in the San Diego Harbor Update as a low Class B car with the following rank statistics:
*Starting rank: 1150
**This was changed to 1213 in the Fast Lane Update.
*MAX rank: 1400 (+250)
**This was changed to 1388 (+175) in the Fast Lane Update.
*MAX+PRO rank: 1547 (+147)
**This was changed to 1507 (+107) in the Fast Lane Update.
*Tuning Kit bonus: +50
**This was changed to +53 in the Fast Lane Update.
*Stock to MAX+PRO rank difference: 265
**This was changed to 294 in the Fast Lane Update.
*Nitro Efficiency: 9/15/18
In the Fifteenth Anniversary Update, the Mazda Furai was moved to Class C as a mid-ranked car in its class, retaining its rank of 1507.
As of the 2020 Christmas Update, the Furai is now a low Class D car with the following rank statistics:
*Ultimate Rank: 1230 (note: lowest quartile, i.e. bottom 25% of Class D)
*Tuning Kit bonus: +37
*Nitro Efficiency: 7/11/15.5
===Performance===
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v5.5 onwards=
====Peformance as of December 2020====
The Mazda Furai features a moderately low maximum total top speed for Class D of 208.1 mph (334.9 km/h), extremely fast acceleration, extremely good handling, a sharp drifting radius and decent nitro efficiency. Overall, the Furai is one of the best cars at its rank in low Class D.
The Furai's raw top speed is somewhat low for its rank, whereas its nitro speed is somewhat high, though both only by small margins. The Furai doesn't gain any speed from the Tuning Kit for its nitro statistic. The Furai's acceleration is one of the best among vehicles of the same rank, comparable to the various motorcycles found nearby and could be considered its biggest advantage against its competition. The Furai's handling is extremely smooth, potentially one of the best in the entire game, and it is comparable to the handling of the Mazda RX-8 Special Edition (B1671). The Furai's drifting radius is not extremely sharp, unlike the Donkervoort D8 GTO, though this can be considered a good thing, since "oversteering" the Furai and wrecking whilst turning around corners is not really an issue and the Furai's drifting radius is still sharp enough for most purposes. The Furai's nitro efficiency is nothing special though it also isn't terrible. Overall, average/decent nitro efficiency is the Furai's only weakness.
====Multiplayer====
The Mazda Furai's main strengths in Multiplayer are its extremely good acceleration and handling, as well as its sharp drifting radius. The Furai's main downside in Multiplayer is its average/decent nitro efficiency, which is significantly worse than the nitro efficiencies of much of its competition.
The Furai is generally a very competitive car in Multiplayer at rank D1230. The main caveat is that given that the Furai is an vehicle, its rank cannot be changed depending on upgrades, so it cannot be used at lower ranks. However, fortunately, rank D1230 is low enough that the Furai is not extremely susceptible to bad matchmaking against down-tuned overpowered cars from higher ranks, such as the Donkervoort D8 GTO, Porsche 959, Peugeot RCZ R, Renault DeZir, Ariel Atom V8 and Audi R8 e-tron Special Edition. However, these cars can still serve as tough competition. The Furai also faces competition from the Ford F-150, Kawasaki Z800, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive, Mini Cooper S Roadster, Renault CLIO R.S. 200 EDC and Volkswagen Beetle Turbo, which are all part of roughly the same rank bracket as the Furai at MAX+PRO.
====December 2020 Rank Reshuffle====
The Mazda Furai's rank was lowered from C1507 to D1230 in the Christmas Update of December 2020 (note: at the same time, the Furai's nitro efficiency was buffed and it was promoted to ULTIMATE status, so that it doesn't need upgrades anymore). This is the second largest margin that a car has ever had its rank lowered in the history of Asphalt 8: Airborne (only smaller than the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition's reshuffle in the 2021 Summer Update), and aside from the 1967 Chevrolet Impala, which was originally supposed to be in high-end Class A but was subsequently placed in mid-Class D. However, in the case of the Impala, this rank reshuffle occurred before it was released for public usage, whereas the Furai had been at C/B1507 for a very long period of time after having been made available for purchase. The Furai, having been added to the game in September 2014, spent over six years as a low-end Class B car or as a mid-ranked Class C car. This drastic rank reshuffle in December 2020 has fundamentally changed the gameplay mechanics of this car, such that it is generally unrecognisable in terms of speed, rank and nitro efficiency, though its acceleration, handling and drifting are all pretty much still the same and very good.
At the Furai's old rank of C/B1507, it was always a collector's item due to being both extremely expensive to upgrade and due to its very poor nitro efficiency. However, the Furai always had very good acceleration, handling and drifting, so there was always potential for it to be a useful car, and it was mildly useful in Multiplayer, especially when Multiplayer tuning (down-tuning) was generally phased out in 2018 in favour of a preference for MAX+PRO vehicles being used in Multiplayer instead.
As such, the Furai's new rank of D1230 is not really a nerf but is more like a buff, since the Furai is now very unique, interesting and useful. It can definitely be described as a king within its rather niche rank bracket due to its superior acceleration, handling and drifting in comparison to most of its competition. The Furai should be useful in Multiplayer from now on, and it should be capable of helping a player to reach Champion League. The Furai's nitro efficiency was also buffed at the same time that its rank was reshuffled, so this should also make it significantly more useful than it was before at its old rank.
The Furai's new ULTIMATE status is both a blessing and a curse. The Furai no longer requires upgrades, which is very advantageous for players who couldn't previously afford to upgrade it. However, it also can no longer be Multiplayer tuned (down-tuned). Fortunately, the Furai's rank of D1230 is relatively niche and doesn't really bleed into higher rank brackets very much. However, this could very well change in the future, if, for example, a new car is added to the game with slightly better performance at a slightly higher rank, such as D1240.
|-|v1.6-v5.4=
====Original Performance before December 2020====
The Mazda Furai boasts good acceleration and excellent handling capabilities but has an inefficient nitro.
Overall, the Furai is largely a collector's item, as there are very rarely Events that involve the Furai as a top-ranked car, and even then, the Ferrari 458 Italia is a much cheaper but better choice. The Furai's poor nitro efficiency limits its ability to compete in Multiplayer, especially due to the emergence of faster, better cars like the TVR Sagaris and BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage. Coupled with the fact that the Furai uses 28 Rotary Engine cards for its Pro Kits, the Furai isn't the best car to buy.
====December 2020 Rank Reshuffle Comments====
The Furai eventually ceased to require rotary engines for its upgrades in the Fifteenth Anniversary Update in May 2020. The Furai also moved from Class B to Class C in the same update, retaining the same rank after the update as what it had previously. Long before this update, the Furai's old rank was slightly higher, although the change in rank could not really be said to be a nerf, but was rather supposed to place the Furai in the same rank bracket as cars with the same total top speed, since it was previously slightly slow for its rank. Generally speaking, the Furai's performance model did not change very much throughout the period from its inception in September 2014 up until its rank reshuffle in December 2020. The ratio between its raw top speed and nitro never really changed, even though its raw top speed and nitro statistics were tweaked slightly. Overall, the above description of the Mazda Furai's performance applies roughly throughout this entire period.
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===Price===
The Mazda Furai currently costs to purchase.
As of the 2020 Christmas Update, the Furai no longer has any upgrades and has been replaced with the status.
The Furai was made available to all players for free (in the Bundles section) on December 25. It could be claimed as a free gift in the left-most segment of the Bundles screen.
The Mazda Furai was made obtainable by reaching Page 1 with the premium upgrade in the Neon Season. The car costs to buy. Players who already owned the car will get 10x Class D Upgrade instead.
The Furai was obtainable by reaching Tier 37 in the McLaren 720S GT3X Car Hunt 2. Players who already owned the car would get 8x instead.
== Asphalt 7: Heat==
The Mazda Furai is a Tier 4 car. It was added in update 1.1.0 and was only unlockable through its own Special Event.
The Mazda Furai features a very high nitro speed of 316.0 mph, fast acceleration, good handling, a sharp drifting radius and decent nitro efficiency. A unique attribute of the Furai is that most of its speed is stored in top speed rather than in nitro boost; with a nitro boost of only 6.9 mph and a top speed of 309.1 mph (497.7 km/h), the Furai can maintain immense speed even without nitro.
The Furai is one of the best vehicles in the game and, despite its acceleration not being the absolute fastest among its competitors (albeit still very fast), it can still compete with the Renault Alpine A110-50, SSC Tuatara, and Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, especially on longer tracks with 2 or 3 laps and minimal ramps (e.g. Rio). Its nitro speed is fast enough to compete with the stock speed of the Veyron if the Furai’s adrenaline nitro can be sustained.
The Furai is an excellent option for its tier & placement but its restrictive availability makes it rarer than the Alpine A110-50.
Category:Asphalt 7: Heat
Category:Asphalt 7 Tier 4 Cars
Category:Asphalt 8: Airborne
Category:San Diego Harbor Update
Category:New Wave Collection
Category:Enduro Car
Category:Enduro Reward Car
Category:Asphalt 9: Legends
Category:Asphalt 9 Class D cars
Category:Godly Beasts Update
Category:Ultimate Vehicles
Category:Unpurchasable Cars