Mazda unveiled the all new RT24-P IMSA endurance racing prototype at the 2016 LA Auto Show. A continuation of the Skyactive prototype racers, the RT24-P was designed completely in-house at Mazda’s R&D center in Irvine California with the purpose of Kodo continuity. Kodo design being the current philosophy that shapes every new Mazda you see today, and the RT24-P certainly shows it with a curvaceous engine cover that links the roof with the rear fenders to create one eye-catching complex curve. Not to mention the very Miata looking face.
For instance, the current Porsche prototypes that have been wining Le Mans start off with nearly vertical front fenders integrate the lighting before arcing up and over the tire creating a flat surface that runs parallel with the rubber tread. Whereas the Mazda has a pair of headlights outlined very much like those of an MX-5, on either side of what looks like the grill opening of a Miata, not to mention how the forward crash structure is integrated into the front end instead of sticking out like a tacked on nosecone. While the current formula for prototype success consists of vertical surfaces, squared of edges and bulging protrusions wherever necessary in favor of maximizing packaging, the Mazda RT24-P would fit in sitting inside a Mazda showroom, and at least from the drivers feet forward, looks much more like its road going counterparts than the rest of the IMSA field.
