Mazda Hakaze concept (2007) CAR review

Another week, another new Mazda concept car…

I know what you mean. This is the Hakaze – that’s Japanese for leaf being blown in the wind – and it follows on from the Nagare shown at Los Angeles and the Ryuga at Detroit in Mazda’s line-up of ‘flow’ inspired concept cars. It makes its public debut as next month’s Geneva concept car, alongside the new Sassou-inspired Mazda 2. Rather than let the Mazda 2 steal the show, it’s wheeled out the Hakaze early for an excusive drive for CAR Online.

Isn’t the Hakaze yet another flight of fancy?

Well, it was inspired by the impossibly cool sport of kite surfing, but scratch beneath the veneer of sun, surf and sand, and the Hakaze makes plenty of sense. For a start it sits on running architecture. Beneath the Hakaze’s engaging sheetmetal sits a modified CX-7, with 100mm chopped out of its wheelbase. It’s powered by the same 260bhp 2.3-litre turbocharged direct-injection four-pot from the Mazda 6 MPS, driving the part-time four-wheel-drive layout through a six-speed automatic gearbox. And it’s been engineered to accept Mazda’s (and Ford’s) next-generation Euro V-compliant 2.2-litre turbodiesel, to meet European tastes.