Funky Little Flyweight Could be B-Segment Buster
It's going to be really hard to avoid excessively using the adjective sassy in describing this concept from Mazda, so I'll just get it out of the way: sassy, sassy, sassy...
Well, actually, it's called Sassou (pronounced sa-so), which is apparently a Japanese term that means having a positive state of mind, of looking
ahead with optimism to the future, which is exactly how I would feel if someone from Mazda Canada called me right now and told me that they will build a production version of the Sassou and bring it to Canada.
Okay... It looks like nobody's calling. I'm still grinning, though, because it is such a cute car, yet somehow still bad-ass looking. I'm guessing that the Sassou is one colour choice away from swinging drastically to either end of the spectrum. Bubble-gum pink and matte black being the polar extremes on my colour scale. I mean, can you just imagine how badass it would look in pink, with maybe some baby blue trim... B-A-D-A-S-S.
If you haven't guessed that this is a small car concept yet, then this is me filling you in. It is mostly a design exercise testing the waters for certain features and general styling direction for the redesign of the Mazda2 (Demio in Japan). It will debut on September 13th at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A straightforward description might call it "a small, lightweight, three-door hatchback," and I really hope they are not kidding when they say lightweight, because it is powered by a three-cylinder gasoline engine
with 1 litre of displacement. I think about the only thing we get with less displacement here in North America is the smart fortwo (lower case intended), dirt bikes and riding mowers, although I could be mistaken about the riding mowers.
Actually, the 1-litre number won't be so anemic considering this is a state-of-the-art turbocharged direct injection (some MZR DISI mumbo jumbo) engine. And while this is the smallest displacement engine Mazda has used since I can't remember when (even the old Euro/Japan-spec 121's had larger engines), I'm sure that Mazda has given it careful consideration and will inform us that it gets 100 miles to the gallon (or like, 5 litres per 100 km), while surpassing an output of 150 horsepower. OK, the numbers won't be quite so impressive, but they will be good with the help of a turbocharger on the performance front and an idle-stop engine shut-down system that will help save gas in stop-and-go traffic.
It's going to be really hard to avoid excessively using the adjective sassy in describing this concept from Mazda, so I'll just get it out of the way: sassy, sassy, sassy...
Well, actually, it's called Sassou (pronounced sa-so), which is apparently a Japanese term that means having a positive state of mind, of looking
 |
| Sassou (pronounced sa-so), is apparently a Japanese term that means having a positive state of mind. (Photo: Mazda Canada) |
Okay... It looks like nobody's calling. I'm still grinning, though, because it is such a cute car, yet somehow still bad-ass looking. I'm guessing that the Sassou is one colour choice away from swinging drastically to either end of the spectrum. Bubble-gum pink and matte black being the polar extremes on my colour scale. I mean, can you just imagine how badass it would look in pink, with maybe some baby blue trim... B-A-D-A-S-S.
If you haven't guessed that this is a small car concept yet, then this is me filling you in. It is mostly a design exercise testing the waters for certain features and general styling direction for the redesign of the Mazda2 (Demio in Japan). It will debut on September 13th at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A straightforward description might call it "a small, lightweight, three-door hatchback," and I really hope they are not kidding when they say lightweight, because it is powered by a three-cylinder gasoline engine
 |
| It is mostly a design exercise testing the waters for certain features and a general styling direction for the redesign of the Mazda2. (Photo: Mazda Canada) |
Actually, the 1-litre number won't be so anemic considering this is a state-of-the-art turbocharged direct injection (some MZR DISI mumbo jumbo) engine. And while this is the smallest displacement engine Mazda has used since I can't remember when (even the old Euro/Japan-spec 121's had larger engines), I'm sure that Mazda has given it careful consideration and will inform us that it gets 100 miles to the gallon (or like, 5 litres per 100 km), while surpassing an output of 150 horsepower. OK, the numbers won't be quite so impressive, but they will be good with the help of a turbocharger on the performance front and an idle-stop engine shut-down system that will help save gas in stop-and-go traffic.